People For Oil

This book provides a behind-the-scenes look at how the oil industry mobilizes citizen support through grassroots advocacy organizations.

This book goes behind-the-scenes to explain how fossil fuel companies mobilize citizen support. Looking at pro-oil advocacy organizations, it shows how these groups form, why people join, and how these alliances intervene in government policy. The book will appeal to those interested in climate change, corporate power, or grassroots politics.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.