Learning From Our Mistakes: Corporate Front Groups and the Limits of Revelation in Climate Politics

Abstract

Fossil fuel companies have made major investments in mobilizing citizen support in recent decades, funding advocacy groups to stoke climate denial, doubt, and delay. Scholars and activists have tended to condemn these “front groups” as corporate mouthpieces, calling for new laws mandating disclosure of the financial relationship between companies and their political scions. Critiques like these tap into vital political impulses; however, they have failed to fully keep pace with evolving corporate strategies. Today many industry-backed groups openly identify their corporate sponsors, framing companies’ largesse as a means to amplify the voices of unionized pipefitters, local business leaders, and others who want to commend the positive impacts of fossil fuel production. Many so-called “front groups” are not hiding, which renders critical exposé moot. In response, this essay argues for the usefulness of investigating the social bonds and affective experiences of participants in pro-fossil fuel campaigns. The feelings of community, precarity, and risk that help these campaigns cohere can act as important sites of intervention for climate action. I suggest that scholars must consider the limitations of exposé and develop strategies to intercede in the more open ties between fossil fuel companies and their publics.