"In The Petroleum Papers, Dembicki draws from confidential oil industry documents to uncover for the first time how companies like Exxon, Koch Industries, and Shell built a global right-wing echo chamber to protect oil sands profits--a misinformation campaign that continues to this day. He also tells the high-stakes stories of people fighting back: a Seattle lawyer who brought down Big Tobacco and is now going after Big Oil, a Filipina activist whose family drowned in a climate disaster, and a former Exxon engineer pushed out for asking hard questions. With experts now warning we have less than a decade to get global emissions under control, The Petroleum Papers provides a step-by-step account of how we got to this precipice--and the politicians and companies who deserve our blame.
Introduction -- I: The first warnings (1959-2013) -- II: The early construction of denial (1968-1988) -- III: Solutions known and sabotaged (1988-2002) -- IV: A public awakening (1997-2008) -- V: Blame Canada (2006-2010) -- VI: The climate goes to court (2008-2014) -- VII: Well-oiled allies (2016-2019) -- VIII: The right to live (2020-2022) -- Epilogue.