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Shell using Fortnite, TikTok, etc. to convince kids fossil fuels are cool

kotaku.com

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Re: Shell using Fortnite, TikTok, etc. to convince kids fossil fuels are cool

#21

Post by OmarShehata »

bad_user wrote: post #16

I understand this is cringe, but: > one of the many entities directly responsible for destroying our planet Do any of you believe this narative? Honest question: isn't the destruction of the planet due to the 8 billion people that have to be fed, clothed, housed, entertained? Aren't fossil fuels directly responsible for the industrial revolution and people not starving anymore? I get that "Big Oil" might have delayed…

Some people really do follow this line of thinking all the way down to "the industrial revolution was therefore bad for humanity", but I think most people would agree that not true, so these simple narratives must be incomplete

Jason Crawford has a really good analysis of this sentiment, trying to understand why people think this, on his Roots of Progress blog: https://rootsofprogress.org/the-spiritual-benefits-of-materi...

Re: Shell using Fortnite, TikTok, etc. to convince kids fossil fuels are cool

#22

Post by [deleted] »

bad_user wrote: post #16

I understand this is cringe, but: > one of the many entities directly responsible for destroying our planet Do any of you believe this narative? Honest question: isn't the destruction of the planet due to the 8 billion people that have to be fed, clothed, housed, entertained? Aren't fossil fuels directly responsible for the industrial revolution and people not starving anymore? I get that "Big Oil" might have delayed…

[deleted]

Re: Shell using Fortnite, TikTok, etc. to convince kids fossil fuels are cool

#23

Post by cm2012 »

bad_user wrote: post #16

I understand this is cringe, but: > one of the many entities directly responsible for destroying our planet Do any of you believe this narative? Honest question: isn't the destruction of the planet due to the 8 billion people that have to be fed, clothed, housed, entertained? Aren't fossil fuels directly responsible for the industrial revolution and people not starving anymore? I get that "Big Oil" might have delayed…

Also oil is insanely cleaner to burn than coal or wood

Re: Shell using Fortnite, TikTok, etc. to convince kids fossil fuels are cool

#24

Post by ravenstine »

On a topic not directly related to the article, there's a book written by a former CEO of Shell called "Why We Hate the Oil Companies" that's rather interesting. In summary, his points are that oil is not necessarily good or bad, but that the lack of effective energy policies and the inherent challenges of the field incentivize bad practices by oil companies, while simultaneously these companies fail to communicate their positive role in civilization as the media routinely use them as a punching bag. I'm not excusing what Shell is doing or has done in the past, but the book provides a nuanced take for anyone interested in the topic.

Re: Shell using Fortnite, TikTok, etc. to convince kids fossil fuels are cool

#25

Post by voidmain0001 »

bad_user wrote: post #16

I understand this is cringe, but: > one of the many entities directly responsible for destroying our planet Do any of you believe this narative? Honest question: isn't the destruction of the planet due to the 8 billion people that have to be fed, clothed, housed, entertained? Aren't fossil fuels directly responsible for the industrial revolution and people not starving anymore? I get that "Big Oil" might have delayed…

https://www.cnn.com/2022/05/25/africa/shell-oil-spills-niger...

Couldn’t the oil companies have included environmental responsibility in their work and not just have focused on profits?

Re: Shell using Fortnite, TikTok, etc. to convince kids fossil fuels are cool

#26

Post by Timshel »

bad_user wrote: post #16

I understand this is cringe, but: > one of the many entities directly responsible for destroying our planet Do any of you believe this narative? Honest question: isn't the destruction of the planet due to the 8 billion people that have to be fed, clothed, housed, entertained? Aren't fossil fuels directly responsible for the industrial revolution and people not starving anymore? I get that "Big Oil" might have delayed…

Lol nice euphemism "delayed some reforms".

As of today I'll argue that no true reform has been done, externalities of burning fossil fuel are absolutely not taken into account.

And it's been delayed by something like half a century ? (cf https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-64241994)

Re: Shell using Fortnite, TikTok, etc. to convince kids fossil fuels are cool

#27

Post by Grimblewald »

bad_user wrote: post #16

I understand this is cringe, but: > one of the many entities directly responsible for destroying our planet Do any of you believe this narative? Honest question: isn't the destruction of the planet due to the 8 billion people that have to be fed, clothed, housed, entertained? Aren't fossil fuels directly responsible for the industrial revolution and people not starving anymore? I get that "Big Oil" might have delayed…

> "Big Oil" might have delayed some reforms

Is the understatement of the century. They knew about global warming from internal research close to a decade before public science was able to gather enough data to raise alarm bells. Over that decade big oil spent time not researching greener alternatives or options for improving things but rather prepared for the globe spanning disinformation campaign you've so lightly referred to as delaying some reforms.

Big oil is a major reason for why 8 billion people are being fed, clothed, and entertained unsustainably. We don't need oranges avaliable year round. We don't need North Sea salmon in pacific Islands. We especially don't need to import so much most is thrown out as waste.

There is a lot wrong with the world right now, and population management needs to be part of the conversation but we are not yet at a point where the volume of people is simply unsustainable. We are unlikely to reach that point as well, since population growth seems to slow naturally as populations hit carrying capacity.

Re: Shell using Fortnite, TikTok, etc. to convince kids fossil fuels are cool

#28

Post by danbruc »

Instead, Shell—a massive oil company and one of the many entities directly responsible for destroying our planet—wants you all to know just how rad its fossil fuel products are, and even made a whole Fortnite world for you to enjoy!

Sure, spreading oil propaganda and trying to influence policies despite very well knowing of the negative consequences is bad, maybe even evil behavior. But making it sound like Shell singlehandedly destroyed the planet is just ignorant. Without us, the consumers, and our desire for the products made from that oil and gas, Shell would not have pumped a single barrel out of the ground or sunk an oiltanker somewhere in the process. The convince of having a car, consuming cheap electricity, getting plastic toys from China delivered across the globe the next day and spending your holiday at the other end of the world is what destroyed the planet.

Re: Shell using Fortnite, TikTok, etc. to convince kids fossil fuels are cool

#29

Post by itomato »

tomp wrote: post #8

Fossil fuels caused the greatest progress in history of mankind, and resulted in decimation of disease, famine and poverty. Green movement has spent the last 50 years opposing nuclear power, otherwise we would have decarbonised at least 90% already (like France has).

The personal atomic jet pack?
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