The American multinational oil company, Chevron has current television ads which sound like the trailers for global warming documentaries. "Our lives demand oil," the narrator says, and continues with "Oil, energy, the environment. It is the story of our time." The ad goes on to cite a few facts: "It took us 125 years to use the first trillion barrels of oil. We'll use the next trillion in 30." The ads are similar to British Petroleum's ads which claim they now stand for "beyond petroleum."

Chevron's manager of external affairs said, "We say we're an oil company, and we say the world will need oil and natural gas, and we're very direct about that. But we're also saying we need to invest in alternatives in a way that makes economic sense."

Henry Ford is rolling in his grave. The American automobile manufacturer was ahead of his time. His Model T ran on corn ethanol, and he envisioned a time when cars would run on ethanol. However, as former Republican strategist Kevin Phillips outlined in his book American Theocracy: The Perils and Politics of Radical Religion, Oil, and Borrowed Money in the 21st Century, the U.S. became enamored with petroleum after World War One. Phillips comments in his book, "America's prevailing 20th corporate, transportation, energy, and residential infrastructure was being shaped around petroleum."

Chevron's ads do not mention Ford's vision, or how the oil industry trumped it. Should viewers be surprised? Advertisements from top oil companies claiming they are going "green" should remind viewers that the roots of public relations, and advertisements, come from propaganda. In 1916 U.S. President Woodrow Wilson asked journalist George Creel to head up the Committee on Public Information. The purpose of the Committee was to market World War One to a reluctant public. The father of public relations, Edward Bernays was on the Committee.
Propaganda is all around us in the 21st century, creeping like the kudzu vines that grow in the American south no matter how much they are chopped or sprayed with pesticides
green because they have invested in renewables, but they leave out the fact they are a century late. The cliche, better late than never, does not apply. The planet is burning because it is filled with greenhouse gases.
green because they have invested in renewables, but they leave out the fact they are a century late. The cliche, better late than never, does not apply. The planet is burning because it is filled with greenhouse gases.