Pour le français, cliquez ici.
You may have seen our recent content about fossil fuel misinformation. We’re glad you noticed!
But it’s also false that "natural gas"—essentially methane, a potent greenhouse gas—exports will reduce GHG emissions, that “natural gas” is part of the solution to climate change, and that we need fossil fuel extraction for economic prosperity.
Thing is, the City’s advertising and sponsorship policies currently allow you to say such things.
Of course, these aren’t just falsehoods; they’re dangerous. The fossil fuel industry is literally killing us, whether through air pollution—1 in 7 deaths in Canada is caused by fossil fuel air pollution—or climate change and its attendant wildfires, storms, flooding, and so on.
The City seems concerned that banning fossil fuel ads will violate Charter rights—particularly free speech. While this obviously bears consideration, they’ve already banned tobacco advertising because of its threat to public health.
So why wouldn’t they ban fossil fuel advertising?
That’s what we want to know. We’ve launched this campaign to call attention to the folly of this policy.
City advertising and sponsorship shouldn’t permit fossil fuel promotion—or any climate misinformation, for that matter.
So what can you do? A few things:
- Let your councillor and the mayor know that you oppose fossil fuel promotion in City facilities
- Sign our partner Horizon Ottawa’s petition
- Delegate to Finance and Corporate Services Committee when the issue comes up (possibly Mar 4!)
We originally hoped to run this campaign on City facilities like arenas and bus stops—the exact locations where the fossil fuel industry has been sharing their misinformation—but the cost is prohibitive. But we're exploring advertising elsewhere. If you'd like to help with costs, please let us know! We think this message should be shared widely.
We’d also be happy to hear your suggestions for misinformation one-liners to include in future ads. Please email us your ideas!
Photo credit for the advertisement in the arena: Eugenie Waters.
