Description
The oil industry today sponsors dozens of citizen advocacy organizations. Often called 'front groups' or 'astroturf,' they have become key actors in fossil fuel companies' political efforts across the US and Canada. People for Oil digs into these groups and the day-to-day ways they shape our energy future. Drawing on interviews with pro-oil organizers and citizen joiners, Tim Wood explains why these groups form, why people join, and how these organizations intervene in governance. He shows that while we tend to think of all corporate grassroots mobilization as financially secretive, many campaigns today are openly sponsored and long-lasting. This allows industry lobbyists to stake a claim to representing citizen voice. By making sense of the backstage logics and affective politics of pro-oil organizing, People for Oil equips readers to better understand important new players in today's climate and energy politics.
Table of Contents
1. Introduction; 2. The making of a Petro-public; 3. Pro-oil mobilization today; 4. Joining up: the rationales, rewards, and risks of participation; 5. The citizen reserve; 6. Power through the people: turning citizens into lobbyists and vice versa; 7. Beyond the front: towards a new critical approach to corporate mobilization.
