How Big Oil Built the American Dream — SkimNews
Get the Energy newsletter
Daily energy & climate — solar, EVs, oil, the policy fights and tech bets shaping the transition. Free.
- Big Oil launched a century-long campaign to link fossil fuels with the American way of life, using ads, films, and media partnerships to normalize petroleum-dependent living
- Energy Transfer released a viral ad showing how deeply oil products are woven into daily routines—from dating apps to football—framing a world without oil as unrecognizable
- Union Oil Company began explicitly promoting the 'American way of life' in 1943, spending 30% of its ad budget by 1948 to tie free enterprise and high living standards to oil
- General Motors showcased a fossil-fueled future at the 1939-1940 World’s Fair with 'Futurama,' a massive diorama of highways and skyscrapers that millions viewed as the vision of progress
- Exxon and other oil giants knew about global warming risks by the 1970s from internal research but continued promoting fossil fuel dependency while downplaying climate science
- The Trump administration framed its rollback of climate regulations as 'restoring the American Dream,' echoing oil industry messaging that equates fossil fuels with freedom and prosperity
Why it matters: The fossil fuel industry’s century of cultural engineering helps explain the political and public resistance to climate action today—efforts to phase out gas appliances or electric vehicles aren’t just technological shifts, but perceived threats to a deeply ingrained identity backed by powerful economic interests.
Ask SkimNews
