Doerr hired an oil PR firm, so we made sure everyone knows about it
Dear Coalition Supporters,
Happy start of summer break! Hope you’re able to relax after such a crazy year.
While we were trying to cut the Doerr School of Sustainability’s problematic fossil fuel funding ties, another was formed. The Doerr School hired the Brunswick Group to improve its image, a PR firm known for greenwashing fossil fuel giants like BP and Saudi Aramco. Not to mention its other dubious clients and practices. Such a development is detailed in this recent The Guardian article, check it out and spread widely!
Certainly, this is a reflection on our movement’s power: the Doerr School’s reputational problems stem from the fossil fuel ties we have been speaking out against, over and over again. Rather than addressing the root cause of the reputational problems (the oily ties), they instead hired an oil PR firm.
This decision was made after little to no input from students. A CoalitionTrue organizer spoke out against this in a Sustainability Student Advisory Council meeting — interestingly, during her talk, three Brunswick Group representatives abruptly left.
Below are some quotes from the article!
Climate reporter Dharna Noor’s article on Stanford Doerr School’s hiring of the Brunswick Group to help with its public relations strategy. She dives into the broader context of fossil fuel ties at Doerr and how this PR development can affect them.
Some Quotes
“‘I think you can make the case that Brunswick’s specialty is in greenwashing’” — Duncan Meisel, Clean Creatives’ Executive Director
“I was mad and disappointed” — Amanda Campos, Public Policy and Earth Systems undergraduate student
“‘The very fact that Brunswick does work with big oil means that it is very good at what it does, for better or for worse’” — Varun Shirhatti, Earth Systems undergraduate student
“But Hersbach said Doerr’s relationship with Brunswick ‘probably won’t help’ efforts to encourage the institution to cut ties with fossil fuel companies. ‘They’re not going to be saying, yes, stop working with our clients,’” — Thomas Hersbach, CoalitionTrue organizer and policy fellow at the Stanford Woods Institute for the Environment
“‘Even if the researchers are really not influenced, it skews the agenda…We’re not going to get a Stanford Chevron Center for Shutting Down Refineries Because They’re Giving People Cancer … even though we need to shut down refineries.’” — Thomas Hersbach
from www.theguardian.com/us-news/article/2024/jun/17/stanford-pr-firm-fossil-fuels
NYC’s Summer of Heat
If you haven’t yet heard about the Summer of Heat campaign against Wall Street banks’ financing of fossil fuels, check out their websiteand this Common Dreams article.A bunch of actions are coming up — sign up here to stay informed, especially if you’re in NYC for the summer!
In Solidarity,
