An etiquette guide to interacting with fossil fuel corporations

One may display various fingers when conversing with fossil fuel interests

So, dear reader, you would like to know how to respond to overtures from Rex Tillerson and other fossil fuel CEOs to you. This has certainly come up with the Democratic National Convention and with Democratic speakers at media events held by The Atlantic, Washington Post, and Politico but sponsored by the American Petroleum Institute. About as alarmingly, the same thing happened at the Republican convention, except that The Atlantic "couldn't find" people on the panel who would represent climate change as real (apparently the other media panels at the RNC had the same problem). The Petroleum Institute got to make opening remarks and distribute propaganda at the events.

So, what to do? You can and should talk to them, but you shouldn't take their money. DNC wasn't taking their money AFAICT, but media companies definitely were. This doesn't have the same wall between advertising and news that publications typically have (and I'm not totally trusting of that wall in any event). Media is screwing up.

As for DNC types attending and speaking, I think the argument for showing up or not are mostly in balance, provided however, that if you show up, you should note that API is no disinterested party and not part of a normal business segment but more like a tobacco industry nonprofit.

So talk to them, don't take their money, and make mention of the issue if you are at a forum sponsored by their money.



Unrelated update:  this MSNBC interview of the Khan family about their Muslim son's sacrifice and Donald Trump is even more moving than the speech at the DNC.

Related update:  sometimes equivalency isn't false. If invited to speak on the RT Network, you should mention on-air that it's a biased tool of the Russian government. I'm not sure if there's payment for appearances, but taking RT's money in return for appearing strikes me as a bad idea.