Culture & Ethics
The Yankees Already Beat the Dodgers at One Thing
The Yankees recently dropped Hess Oil from their outfield scoreboard. But in LA, the Dodgers’ Big Oil sponsorship with 76 gas is on full display in the 2024 World Series.
The Dodgers and the Yankees in the World Series. That’s the zenith of baseball rivalries and I’m rooting for the home team. Which is why I hate to say it, but the Yankees have already beaten the boys in blue at one thing: their climate commitment. As of this season, the Yankees dropped their most …
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CONTINUE READINGThe Dangerous Embrace of Convenient Narratives Over Inconvenient Truths
As it turns out, Nature doesn’t care what stories you post on social media or spin on TV.
When lying becomes seen as legitimate political discourse, we’re in deep trouble. It’s short step from blaming people for imaginary crimes to rounding them up and or using force to stop them. That’s why climate scientists get death threats. And yet, whatever threats are made or carried out, reality will remain what it is. You can denounce climate change as a Chinese hoax, but that won’t stop the warming waters of the Gulf from sending incredible storms your way.
CONTINUE READINGStill Crazy After All These Years
There’s been an alarming growth of conspiracy theories, often antisemitic ones, to explain extreme weather events.
Were the Democrats or lithium mining companies or international bankers behind Hurricane Helene? Is geoengineering a conspiracy to take over the planet? These conspiracy theories abound — not just in the corners of the Internet but in political figures like RFK Jr. and Marjorie Taylor Greene. And they’re beginning to influence state legislatures, including one that just banned geoengineering.
CONTINUE READINGA Good Day to Drop Big Oil
Major league sports teams like to talk about sustainability measures on Green Sports Day, which is Oct. 6. They should do something about their fossil fuel sponsors.
On Sunday, October 6, sports teams throughout the U.S. will participate in something called Green Sports Day, an annual event to promote sustainability in sports. Often, it’s a chance for a franchise to promote the recycling or energy conservation that goes on at its stadium. One thing these teams almost certainly will not be talking …
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CONTINUE READINGThe Dirty Truth Behind a Feel-Good Energy Story
The San Francisco 49ers just became the first NFL team to buy sustainable aviation fuel. But that move is overshadowed by Big Oil sponsorships in sports.
Did you see the story about a new ‘NFL first’? The San Francisco 49ers announced that it was the first NFL franchise to buy sustainable aviation fuel or SAF —enough to fly from San Francisco to LA for their Sunday game against the LA Rams. The story generated headlines, the way any “first” tends to. …
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CONTINUE READINGOil and Gas Sponsorships in Major League Sports
A survey of sponsorships across six major league sports leagues in the U.S. reveals more than 60 deals with high-polluting companies.
If California Attorney General Rob Bonta attends a home game to cheer on his local NBA team—the Sacramento Kings—he may encounter sponsorship ads promoting not one but two of the oil companies he’s suing for allegedly deceiving the public about climate change. Then again, Attorney General Bonta, a former soccer player and self-described soccer dad, …
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CONTINUE READINGLet’s Make Tomorrow “National Climate Awareness Day”
Here’s the case for setting aside a day to think about climate change, and why that day should be Aug. 23
Creating National Climate Awareness Day would send a message about the importance of climate change. It would also provide an occasion to educate Americans about the issue. If it can also celebrate modern science, and the contributions of women to science, all the better. And all it would take is a Presidential proclamation.
CONTINUE READINGLuminosity
The story behind today’s energy efficient lighting and a forgotten episode in the culture wars.
The conservative fight to save an obsolete lighting technology – the incandescent bulb — has something to tell us about current environmental disputes and the nature of culture wars.
CONTINUE READINGMajor League Soccer’s LAFC Has a Big Oil Problem Too
The Dodgers are not the only LA sports team sullying their brand by taking oil money. Beloved soccer club LAFC recently renewed a partnership with Chevron.
BMO Stadium, the home of Los Angeles Football Club, is revered as one of the best places to watch soccer in the U.S., thanks to forward-thinking design and good vibes among their famously devout fans. BMO has even been called the future of stadium design. So, it’s all the more jarring that LAFC allows Big …
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CONTINUE READINGWhy are the Dodgers Sullying Their Brand With Big Oil?
As fossil fuel advertising increasingly comes under fire, it’s time for the ball club to call ‘strike three’ on 76.
On a recent trip to the Ravine, a friend and I couldn’t help but be struck by the prominence of advertisements for 76, a gas station company owned by the Big Oil conglomerate Phillips 66. A couple of giant 76 signs sit atop the two main Dodgers scoreboards; their placement is such that they dominate …
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