What’s Going On?

At the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia this year, The Atlantic has hosted and Politico is planning to host events sponsored by the American Petroleum Institute (API).

Backed by polluters like ExxonMobil, API has spent millions of dollars denying the basic science of climate change. Earlier this month, it was one of the groups Senate Democrats called out for “perpetrating a sprawling web of misdirection and disinformation to block action on climate change.”

On top of that, as Inside Climate News recently reported, API has done all of this despite potentially knowing more than 30 years ago that the world was warming due to carbon-dioxide emissions and that it could have serious consequences for the planet.

At the DNC events hosted by Politico and The Atlantic, API is promoting its Vote4Energy “voter education project.” Vote4Energy calls for an “all-of-the-above energy strategy” with “increased production of oil and natural gas,” all while the science points to our desperate need to get off fossil fuels for good.

What Can I Do?

Climate Hawks Vote has launched a petition calling for members of the Democratic Party to boycott any events hosted by the American Petroleum Institute. Sign their petition and then share it on Facebook and Twitter.

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The Nation has long covered the oil industry’s campaign to cast doubt on the science of climate change. Most recently, Zoë Carpenter spoke with Senator Sheldon Whitehouse about the campaign to hold the fossil-fuel industry accountable and covered a forum held by the Congressional Progressive Caucus and the Sustainable Energy and Environment Coalition titled “Oil Is the New Tobacco.” Earlier this year at The Nation, Bill McKibben looked at reports that fracking is having a far more dramatic effect on climate change than we initially thought.