What the oil industry doesn’t want you to know - Stephanie Honchell Smith

翻译人员: Tianyun Liu 校对人员: Sue Lu

In summer 1997, a full-page ad appeared in The New York Times.

1997年夏季，《纽约时报》 刊登了一个整版广告，

The message, from the Global Climate Coalition,

广告主是全球气候联盟。

issued a dire economic warning about the US embracing the Kyoto Protocol,

广告发出严峻的经济警告， 反对美国接受《京都议定书》，

a treaty to curb greenhouse gas emissions.

即遏制温室气体排放的条约。

But beneath the veneer of smiling children was something much more insidious:

广告图片里孩子们面带微笑， 掩藏着幕后操纵者不可告人的目的：

a multi-million dollar campaign propped up by questionable data

这是一项耗资数百万美元， 使用可疑数据来支撑的宣传活动，

and backed by some of the world's most powerful companies.

并得到一些世界上最强大公司的支持。

The Global Climate Coalition was itself a front for the oil industry—

全球气候联盟本身就是石油行业的掩护——

established to sow doubt and confusion about climate action.

目的是引起对气候行动的怀疑和困惑。

But the real story starts decades earlier.

但是真实的故事始于几十年前。

In the 1970s, oil companies employed some of the world's top atmospheric scientists,

在 1970 年代，石油公司 雇用了一些世界顶尖的大气科学家，

as they needed to understand weather-related risks to their equipment

因为他们需要了解 与天气相关的设备风险，

and to assess the environmental impact of new projects.

并评估新项目的环境影响。

By the late 1970s, these scientists, along with their counterparts in academia,

到 1970 年代末，这些科学家 以及学术界的同行得出结论，

had concluded that burning fossil fuels created a build up of atmospheric carbon,

燃烧化石燃料会积聚大气中的碳，

which would impact the climate by trapping heat

从而捕获热量

and increasing surface temperatures.

和提高地表温度，造成气候变化。

They warned that an increase of even a few degrees could be catastrophic

他们警告说， 即使升高几度也可能是灾难性的，

and accurately predicted events such as rapid Arctic warming

并且准确预测北极快速变暖

and the melting of Antarctic ice sheets.

和南极冰盖融化等事件。

Throughout the 1980s, oil industry reps met repeatedly to discuss these dangers,

在整个 1980 年代， 石油行业代表反复开会讨论这些危险，

acknowledging the risk that their product posed to the future of humanity.

承认他们的产品对人类未来构成的风险。

However, instead of warning the public,

但是，他们没有警告公众，

or using this knowledge to pivot towards renewable energy sources,

也没有利用这些知识转向可再生能源，

they doubled down on oil.

But in the late 1980s, scientists sounded the alarm about climate change,

但是在 1980 年代后期， 科学家们敲响了气候变化警钟，

raising public awareness, and leading to calls for government action.

提高了公众意识， 并呼吁政府采取行动。

In response, the oil industry launched what would become a decades-long,

作为回应，石油行业发起了长达数十年、

multi-billion-dollar PR campaign

耗资数十亿美元的公关活动，

to discredit the very science they helped pioneer.

以抹黑他们帮助开创的科研的信誉。

They utilized the same PR firms that had previously helped the tobacco industry

他们使用了 以前帮助烟草业在吸烟危害方面

mislead the public about the harms of smoking.

误导公众的那些公关公司。

Oil companies directly lobbied government officials

石油公司直接游说政府官员,

and covertly funded dozens of organizations

秘密资助了全球气候联盟

like the Global Climate Coalition,

等数十个组织，

whose objective was to obscure the scientific consensus on climate change

其目标是掩盖关于气候变化的科学共识

and humanity's role in creating it.

以及人类在制造气候变化中的作用。

They attacked credible scientists

他们攻击了有诚信的科学家,

and bankrolled advertisements disguised as op-eds,

资助了伪装成评论文章的广告，

which falsely exaggerated the degree and significance

旨在不实夸大气候模型

of uncertainty in climate models

不确定性的程度和重要性，

and used that uncertainty as an excuse to dismiss the science entirely.

并以该不确定性为借口完全否定科学。

These "advertorials" grabbed reader's attention with titles like

这些 “广告性文章” 以博眼球的标题吸引读者，

"Lies They Tell Our Children," and "Unsettled Science."

比如，“他们对我们的孩子撒谎” 以及“悬而未决的科学”。

The industry also capitalized on lingering Cold War anxieties

该行业还利用了挥之不去的冷战焦虑，

that equated government regulation with socialism.

将政府监管等同于社会主义。

Thus, at the very moment the world was poised to act,

因此，在世界准备采取行动的那一刻，

oil companies shifted the conversation away from the actual science

石油公司将话题 从真正的科学转移开来，

and turned it into a debate about protecting freedom.

变成一场关于保护自由的辩论。

By doing so, they took a non-partisan, uncontentious topic

他们选择了一个无党派、无争议的话题，

and transformed it into a hot-button political issue.

将其变为一个热点政治问题。

After George W. Bush became president in 2001,

乔治·W·布什 于 2001 年就任总统后，

oil lobbyists successfully pushed his administration to replace officials

石油游说者成功地推动他的政府撤掉

who agreed with mainstream science

赞同主流科学的官员，

with ones who opposed environmental regulations.

换上反对环境监管的官员。

When Bush pushed the US out of the Kyoto Protocol,

当布什推动美国退出京都议定书时，

his administration credited the Global Climate Coalition

他的政府将其归功于全球气候联盟

with influencing his decision.

对他的影响。

But the oil industry's PR campaigns didn't end with their Kyoto victory.

但是石油行业公关活动 并未止于京都胜利。

They've continued to shape the climate conversation,

他们继续左右气候对话，

pushing propaganda and co-opting climate language.

推动误导性宣传并挪用气候语言。

British Petroleum, for example, popularized the phrase "carbon footprint,"

例如，英国石油公司 推广了“碳足迹”一词，

an idea which in practice effectively shifts climate responsibility

在实践中有效地帮着将气候责任

from the industry to the consumer.

从工业转移到了消费者身上。

To this day, the industry massively overemphasizes their investment

时至今日，石油行业仍然 夸大其词对绿色能源的投资，

in green energies, such as biofuels,

例如生物燃料，

which represent just 1% of their budgets.

实际上仅占其预算的 1％。

And they employ legions of lobbyists, who attend UN climate meetings

他们还雇用了大批游说者， 参加联合国气候会议，

and work to water down the language of IPCC climate assessment reports.

努力淡化联合国政府间气候变化委员会 （IPCC）气候评估报告措辞。

In this, they're allied with oil-producing countries,

在这方面，它们与石油生产国结盟，

which also have a vested interest in continued fossil fuel use.

继续使用化石燃料也符合 这些国家的既得利益。

While the oil companies now acknowledge that burning fossil fuels

尽管石油公司现在承认燃烧化石燃料

contributes to climate change,

导致气候变化，

they deny having misled the public,

但他们否认误导了公众，

arguing that their messaging always reflected the scientific consensus.

争辩他们的信息始终反映科学共识。

But an extensive paper trail shows otherwise.

但是大量的文件记录表明情况并非如此。

While oil companies' profits reach all-time highs,

尽管石油公司利润持续创下历史新高，

climate change costs the public billions of dollars each year.

气候变化每年给公众造成 数十亿美元的损失。

Extreme weather events and decreasing air quality kill millions of people annually.

极端天气事件和空气质量下降 每年造成数百万人死亡。

Meanwhile, the culture of doubt the oil industry created remains widespread,

同时，石油工业制造的 怀疑文化仍然普遍存在，

polarizing the issue, and delaying meaningful action.

使问题两极分化， 延误了有意义的行动。

But it doesn't have to be this way.

但事情不一定非得是这样。

We can still reclaim the conversation and change course,

我们仍然可以重启对话并改变方向，

embracing renewable energies and sustainable practices

采用可再生能源和可持续实践，

to protect both our planet and our future.

保护我们的地球和未来。