Big Oil’s billions are bankrolling climate denial

On July 29, in a tacky display of support for the auto industry, Lee Zeldin, administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, declared that President Donald Trump’s administration is reconsidering the endangerment finding, a statement explaining that greenhouse gases harm human health and welfare, at a truck dealership in Indianapolis. Zeldin, appointed to spearhead Trump’s campaign for environmental deregulation, sought to dismantle the monumental finding from the start of his appointment, but has only now taken concrete steps toward that reality.

Established in 2009, the endangerment finding is the basis for environmental regulation in the United States, protecting citizens from pollution perpetuated by a variety of forces: primarily vehicles and power plants. The finding consists of hundreds of pages of scientific analysis, concluding that six greenhouse gases pose a significant threat to American society. Considering dismantling this legal basis contradicts 97% of climate scientists over the past few decades who believe that human-caused climate change is happening, partly through our admission of greenhouse gases.

Yet, the Trump administration believes the finding’s revocation will save American taxpayers billions each year. Repealing the endangerment finding might save on government spending allocated to monitoring environmental contaminants, but the climate implications will certainly cost more.

In a world plagued by extreme weather, heat and an increase in pollution, the likely explanation for the consistent influence of climate denial is that a collection of large oil companies — often referred to as Big Oil — consistently pays large sums of money to install officials in office. The world’s largest oil companies hinder any sort of shift toward sustainability in the United States by deliberately creating dependent monetary relationships within political, educational and social media spheres to perpetuate climate change denial. 

The companies included in the Big Oil distinction are familiar, including names like Exxon, BP, Chevron, Shell and Valero Energy, and they have exorbitant amounts of money to spend as they see fit. In 2023, one of the hottest years Earth’s climate has faced in recent history, these companies were among several that pulled in record-breaking profit, while also raking in $760 billion in taxpayer dollars. These subsidies are not only supported by the Trump administration. Previous administrations, regardless of party affiliation, maintained these oil subsidies as well. However, the Trump administration remains singularly focused on the $54 billion saved through mass environmental deregulation rather than ending $760 billion worth of subsidization of Big Oil companies.

American politicians maintain funding for Big Oil companies by way of subsidization, preferential litigation and tax breaks, and oil companies reciprocate by donating massive sums of money to many of their campaigns through powerfully backed lobbying efforts. The decisions in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission opened American elections to funding from Big Oil, allowing for increased meddling. In the 2024 election cycle alone, Big Oil companies spent $445 million on several races, with the majority of funding going to Trump and Republican candidates in Congress. Supporting corporate interest in American democracy with massive subsidy funding inherently dilutes that democracy, giving major corporations significant impact on election outcomes. 

Political spending is not the only effect of Big Oil’s hand in American society. Spending also reaches into American universities, potentially perpetuating misinformation and impacting research while seeking to impact education. Several well known universities still accept major donations from fossil fuel companies, notably including Princeton University, American University, Cornell University, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and University of California, San Diego. American University’s board of trustees includes Gaurdie Banister, who is also on the board at Marathon Petroleum Corporation. Even more concerningly, from just these six universities, 1,507 academic articles were funded by oil and gas interests, suggesting there is significant corporate influence in academic spheres. 

Big Oil representatives exist within universities in an influential way. American universities having Big Oil representatives on their board while taking money from oil companies are modes of impact on the way future world leaders will be educated at numerous institutions. Big Oil does not give money away out of the goodness of its heart or free of strings; there is motivation behind it. University funding builds loyalty and dependence between universities and Big Oil companies. This threatens to impact research conducted at universities as well as the decision-making processes undertaken by administrators within university systems. 

Big Oil’s quest for influence on American discourse around climate change and fossil fuels manifests in social media campaigns in a similarly deceptive manner. Companies promote diverse causes, including green initiatives, social justice and sports in order to distract and deflect attention from the mass destruction fossil fuels inflict in the modern world. When companies outwardly appear to support sustainability, the general public is less aware of problems those corporations cause. Notably, Big Oil spent $10 million in 2020 on Facebook ads and $5.6 billion in 2024 on sports marketing to curry favor in public opinion. Oil companies externally claim support for the Paris Climate Accords and carbon neutrality while fostering misinformation and funding a backslide in progress against climate change.

Though they tried to deny it individually, many oil companies knew about the warming impact of fossil fuels as early as 1959 and have quietly recognized it only recently. It may appear from ad campaigns and mission statements that these companies have joined the fight against climate change. Yet, these are false initiatives, coined as “greenwashing,” meant to distract from any sort of meaningful push toward sustainability and diverting responsibility for climate decimation on consumers instead of corporations. Big Oil companies even coined the term “carbon footprint” to perpetuate the idea that individual carbon usage could possibly outweigh fossil fuels’ carbon emissions. The language that politicians utilize around climate change and energy is impactful, and Big Oil groups have coined several phrases to deflect public criticisms, like changing language around a major greenhouse gas – methane – to natural gas. Leaders in oil industries consistently position methane natural gas as a climate-friendly replacement for fossil fuels through lobbying, while methane is a greenhouse gas 80 times more effective at trapping heat than carbon dioxide.

The public cannot let recognition distract from the multitude of ways that Big Oil puppeteers large institutions in American society. Every single oil company continues to fund misinformation, works to elect people that will deny climate change and deflects responsibility. Any positive effort by Big Oil is simply a tactic to garner support, slow sustainability initiatives and perpetuate mass climate denial in the United States so they can continue to bring in billions of dollars in profits at the expense of the American people. 

It will be a massive undertaking to tear power away from Big Oil, but there are specific actions that would constitute major steps toward doing so. Refusing to support politicians and universities that are actively taking money from oil companies is imperative. Refuse to vote for those who accept large amounts of money from oil corporations. Knowing where the money comes from and what it means will be key to stopping the deliberate manipulation of public opinion and knowledge. 

The United States is among the largest carbon emitters in the world, and Big Oil companies cannot evade scrutiny when their industry is at the root of perpetuating the climate crisis. Their profit will always take precedence over Earth’s climate, no matter how unlivable it becomes in the near future. Their profit will always supersede human safety, unless we take considerable action against Big Oil’s hand in American politics, education and media.

Elena Nicholson is a Senior Opinion Editor from Basking Ridge, NJ. She writes about environmental issues and climate change in her column “Climate Watch.” She can be reached at elenagn@umich.edu. 

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