Ever feel that however you vote fossil fuels always win? The oil & gas industry manipulates politics in the shadows and public opinion in plain sight. Here's how to spot their tricks and call them out... theecologist.org/2026/oct/27/...
Andrew Simms
Andrew Simms
@andrewsimms.bsky.social
Political economist, campaigner & author. Co-author the original Green New Deal, devised Earth Overshoot Day & jointly, the Fossil Fuel Non Proliferation Treaty. Co-director New Weather Inst, other roles: https://www.newweather.org/about-us/andrew-simms/
2.2K followers140 following206 posts
If you want to know why political decisions keep going in favour of the heavily polluting oil & gas industry against all scientific advice and economic common sense - this might have something to do with it - find out what they're up to...👇
🚨 An anonymous source has sent the Ministry for the Climate Emergency BOGOFF: The Oil and Gas Industry Public Affairs Handbook. It sets out 21 tactics for keeping fossil fuels burning, from greenwashing and lobbying to front groups and fossil fuel finance. 📖 www.badverts.org/campaign-upd...
Andrew Simms reposted
While we were discussing how to end perverse polluter advertising that fuels climate chaos, the UK's Energy Minister Miatta Fahnbulleh was on BBC News promoting Shell and the Jackdaw gasfield approval by wearing a jacket adorned with a Shell logo h/t @lindaaspey.bsky.social
I am here at tonight’s Badvertising event on Ending Polluter Advertising in London, with this highly esteemed panel. I’ll try to share any gems dropped
Andrew Simms reposted
I am here at tonight’s Badvertising event on Ending Polluter Advertising in London, with this highly esteemed panel. I’ll try to share any gems dropped
Fossil fuel advertising was surely not the biggest factor in the government’s decision to back drilling gas from Jackdaw (looking at you, Unite & GMB) but ads like this at Labour Conference in September certainly didn’t help. SO if you’re in London this evening: actionnetwork.org/events/endin...
It’s bad enough we stand on the precipice of climate collapse, it’s far worse that the advertising industry is helping to push us over the edge. The new A-Z of Badvertising from the Ministry for the Climate Emergency (via @crisortunity.bsky.social & myself) spells out how they are doing it 👇👇👇
The Ministry for the Climate Emergency presents the A-Z of Badvertising, a new public information campaign that reveals the dirty tricks used by the ad industry to promote highly polluting products and lifestyles.🤥🛢️ 👉Learn more at www.badverts.org/campaign-upd...
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Replying to @thegreenrunners.bsky.social
TGR undertaking some close formation flying at the Ealing HM. Our team have brought their own water (they’re not taking the single use plastic bottles on offer) and are declining the “free” race merch. Taking a stand and running with joy 💚 @badvertising.bsky.social @flightfreeuk.bsky.social
Andrew Simms reposted
Andrew Simms reposted
We are running the race on oil, just like Wizz Air Ealing HM. Green Runners need fuelling just like any other runner. The TGR crew are on hand to dispense oily refreshments along the route. End sportswashing. #ClimateCrisis @badvertising.bsky.social @flightfreeuk.bsky.social
It’s not normal in a health & climate crisis to actively promote highly polluting products that make things worse. Congrats to Bristol - the latest city to end ads for things like fossil fuels, flights and SUVs. @badvertising.bsky.social @adfreecities.bsky.social www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
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"...the models that predict more warming are looking like the most accurate" - and far from the first time this has been said. BBC News - The clues that hint our planet might be heating faster than we realised - BBC News www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Fifa's "commitment to an open and democratic consultation", reminded me of the "We come in peace" scene from the film Mars Attacks... www.bbc.co.uk/sport/footba...
Andrew Simms reposted
Andrew Simms reposted
Athletes are among society's most influential. Yet, despite caring deeply about the climate crisis, many feel unable to speak out. In a pioneering new programme, Oxford University is helping athletes step into climate leadership. 👇 Share the application 👉 leadership.climate.ox.ac.uk/join-us/
Heathrow is not just passing on the cost of airport expansion in higher ticket prices, but in: - noise pollution - mental health - local disruption - air pollution - more illness - an increasingly torched planet You have to mention the costs not on the ticket www.theguardian.com/business/202...
As Aramco's World Cup sponsorship drifts on like a toxic cloud, over at the sweltering Tour de France cycling is beginning to see it has a new doping scandal, fossil fuels. Here’s Matt Rendell, long-term Tour commentator, explaining why for the Cool Down Network www.cyclingweekly.com/news/youre-n...
Andrew Simms reposted
Zeno ain't got nothing on this. How do you solve the climate crisis? Slice emissions into parts small enough that each one "won't materially influence" anything. Jackdaw is 0.02%, so it doesn't count. Run that logic on every source and the whole crisis politely disappears.
For those who love their background briefings, as the semi-final game plays out in Atlanta, here's the Cool Down sheet on the host venue... www.cooldownclimate.org/s/Atlanta_Wo...
FIFA made this the most polluting World Cup ever and ignored expert heat safety advice, but new research shows climate impacts 4x more than the event itself from companies using it as a global advertising billboard for polluting products and lifestyle. www.cooldownclimate.org/latest/the-w...
F1 advert for the petrol car economy declared heat hazard due to climate consequences of the petrol car economy... www.bbc.co.uk/sport/formul...
London cabbies tell Wimbledon to drop dangerous SUVs for driving elite players around. Wimbledon is sponsored by Land Rover and sport needs to stop being a billboard for poor life choices... www.thetimes.com/uk/london/ar...
If it were possible, this makes the UK political persecution of voices speaking out in solidarity with Palestinians even more horrific... BBC News - UN commission of inquiry says Israel committing genocide in Gaza by deliberately targeting children www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
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Since Aramco is advertising itself pitchside on the world's biggest stage, here's a reminder that it has caused more planet-heating carbon emissions than any other corporation in history carbonmajors.org
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See that Aramco logo around the pitch? A group of football players led by @djwheeler7.bsky.social, including World Cup player Morten Thorsby, spoke out against this sponsorship deal recently. And they weren't the first, they followed groups of female players and male players before them. #WorldCup
Please enjoy this from our brilliant colleagues in South Africa, Politically Aweh. With South Africa in the opening game here is a unique, refreshing, no holds barred perspective on the Aramco/FIFA World Cup, and its treatment of people and the climate youtu.be/kgBYYLP9j-w?...
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The IEA estimates that clean energy and efficiency saved the five largest fuel-importing regions around $260 billion in avoided fossil fuel imports in 2025 alone. That is not only a climate benefit. It is independence. www.forbes.com/sites/we-don...
The competition that goads climate change with record emissions and fossil fuel sponsors falls victim to extreme weather... The literary device pathetic fallacy is alive and well 👌🏼 Lightning halts pre-World Cup friendly in Texas - www.bbc.co.uk/sport/footba...
Matt Rendell's exposé for the New York Times of Barcelona's Foundation embroiled in sportswashing fossil fuel companies in the Amazon, who leave a toxic trail in their wake. Football talks about clean sport, that also means kicking dirty sponsors out www.nytimes.com/athletic/728...
I find it astonishing that climate change is not even mentioned until the 25th paragraph of this story, well after something about a German YouTuber winning a cheese rolling contest (I kid you not 😶) BBC News - Hottest May day on record in UK as temperatures pass 34C www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
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BREAKING: Professional footballers from around the world have told FIFA that it is not doing enough to protect players and fans. In a new open letter, players demand that FIFA strengthens its heat protection measures and drop its fossil fuel sponsor. www.bbc.com/sport/articl...
Players back last week's health experts call for new FIFA measures to protect the game from extreme heat and stop promoting fossil fuel companies who make it worse. The BBC speaks to letter signatory, Norwegian star, Morten Thorsby... www.bbc.co.uk/sport/articl...
Cost, risks of Sizewell C nuclear plant are “immediate, substantial and borne by the public”, says National Audit Office (in least surprising conclusion of the week) www.theguardian.com/business/202...
Get briefed or get burned - the Cool Down Network has checked on some of the World Cup host cities most prone to extreme weather and come up with some climate city guides - they show just how reckless FIFA is being with the future of the game, its players and fans - read more... 👇
NEW BRIEFING: The Hot Six Cities - When the World Cup Boils Over 🌡️⚽ In a series of briefings, we provide an overview of the climate vulnerable cities FIFA is bringing football to during this year's tournament. First - Atlanta. 🧵 1/8 📖 Full briefing. 👇
It's too hot and getting hotter, meanwhile FIFA promote planet heating fossil fuels and put players, officials and fans at risk... See our latest via the Cool Down Network 👇👇
🚨 FIFA World Cup heat safety guidelines are “impossible to justify”, say leading health experts. And FIFA’s ongoing promotion of fossil fuels represents “a conflict of interest with the protection of player welfare”. 🧵 1/8 Letter 👉 www.cooldownclimate.org/latest/open-...
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Wonderful to celebrate Europe Day with this invitation from our Green European friends 10 years of suffering outside the EU is enough! It's time we began the journey home to EU membership #EuropeDay www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
I hope its clear to Labour now (not guaranteed), that their aggressive pivot to the right merely fuelled rather than neutralised the far-right threat... www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/c1... Election results 2026 live: Early Labour losses in English council results - BBC News
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Has your city banned climate-polluting adverts? Well, back in 2024, Sheffield did just that. Since then, publicly-owned space has been reclaimed from harmful industries. Here’s why the ban came about, and how your city can do the same. 🧵 www.badverts.org/campaign-upd...
Omits to mention that damage to roads worsening the pothole plague is being driven by the trend toward larger, heavier SUVs. Reverse that trend, especially get SUVs out of cities = fewer potholes... Potholes fuel voter frustration before elections - what can be done? www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
And then of course there's: "The threat to a habitable planet from abundant jet fuel, and frequent flying"... BBC News - The threat to summer holidays looming with jet fuel shortages - BBC News www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Andrew Simms reposted
Amsterdam is one of the world's most popular cities. And now, it's even better. The city’s fossil fuel ad ban is now in effect - making it the first capital globally to take on polluter ads. 🎉 The story. 🧵 1/5 Wish your city was like Amsterdam? 👇 www.badverts.org/campaign-upd...
Andrew Simms reposted
Andrew Simms reposted
⏪ In 2024, Edinburgh reclaimed public space from polluting industries by passing a fossil fuel ad ban. Wish your city cared about climate pollution? Here’s Edinburgh’s story and how you can turn your city into a polluter ad-free zone. 🧵 1/5 Take action 👉 www.badverts.org/campaign-upd...
Andrew Simms reposted
Replying to @greenprofgreen.bsky.social
And here’s the op-ed where we first proposed the idea back in 2018. www.theguardian.com/commentisfre... Thanks @greenprofgreen.bsky.social It is indeed a huge moment.
Andrew Simms reposted
Tech billionaires are ‘doom prepping’ by building luxury bunkers as their algorithms pump out damaging content, wreck mental health, and supercharge fossil fuel advertising. Read the part 2 of Andrew Simms’ article on the lethal alignment of polluter and cyber elites 👇🧪
A lethal alignment part 2 - how polluter and cyber elites underpinned by the demands of advertising and the attention economy drive a right wing political agenda - for Scientists for Global Responsibility (SGR) and published in two parts by The Ecologist 👇 👇👇 theecologist.org/2026/apr/14/...