How FUD Plays Out IRL
Fear, uncertainty, and doubt (FUD) are the preferred weapons of the fossil fuel industry’s army of PR specialists, tools in delaying action on climate change solutions. Recently, I got to witness an example of how FUD played out in real life (IRL), and hope that by documenting it here, people reading this can nip it in the bud if they start to see the signs.
One thing I struggle with is coming off as preachy — when I assume the person is going to make a smart decision, especially, I really don’t try to continue to push. So I tend to defer rather than being smartly proactive…something I could use some advice on and something that the world probably needs a lot more of.
Here’s the story.
A friend needed a car, and suggested they were looking at some EVs. Where we live, it’s more or less a no-brainer, especially for people who can plug in at home. I, and several of our common friends, have driven EVs for years, and we all love them. The car buyer I am talking about is generally aligned with progressive politics, so I thought it was a reasonable conclusion that they’d not only clearly see the benefits of an EV, but also clearly see the connection between fossil money and anti-progressive legislation (not to mention wars of aggression). So I didn’t think to be very proactive while my friend was car shopping (and also trying hard not to be preachy). Like many people, the friend is not so media savvy to spot oil propaganda / FUD in the news, and probably ran across some dubious info on the web about a number of things. I should have known, because the same friend has argued with me about climate science in the past even though I’ve been working in the field for 15+ years, and they’re pretty new to the idea. Several times I’ve tried to point out that what they were saying was more or less Exxon’s public stance, too, but this is a concept that maybe isn’t as obvious as it could be.
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They ended up buying a brand new gas-guzzling SUV, and when I saw them pull up in it, I admit I was stunned. Looking back, there were signs I missed.
Sign one: They talked about battery life a few times, without really asking me about mine. Apparently, despite my reassurances, the friend was of the impression that the battery would more than likely completely wear out and need replacing soon after the warranty ran out. It’s “new” tech, we can’t assume people understand it. But it would have been helpful to point out how AA batteries slowly lose capacity, but that the flashlight still works for years, even if it just doesn’t last quite as long. I also could have given the person a pile of data on EV battery life from reputable sources.
Sign two: At one point, the person related that the Volvo’s upfront cost was high — me thinking that this person could potentially afford a $55K vehicle meant I didn’t think twice about suggesting that they could buy a lower cost or a used EV. If I had thought about it and their particular situation, I would have highlighted some great new EVs in a slightly lower price range. I instead talked about the total cost of ownership — missing the point that maybe they didn’t have the up-front money for a down payment, or hadn’t figured out a way to finance the purchase.
Sign three: The person talked about the price of gas. At the time, I made the incorrect assumption that that meant they were over gas. But I should have used that as an opportunity to reiterate how great it would feel to never buy gas again, and also how much it saves to have the higher efficiency of EVs. I would’ve directly sent articles to them about an EV’s total cost of ownership, then talked to them quite a bit about the lack of maintenance, the immense mileage efficiency advantage, the free charging stations around our town, etc.
Sign four: The person asked me about solar for their house, and how that might interact with the vehicle. Rather than talk much about it, I deferred to a friend who has been selling solar for more than a decade and knows this stuff inside and out. But the car-buying friend didn’t reach out — me not being proactive here meant the person didn’t get the correct info.
Sign five: The person also asked how solar would interact with a Level 2 charger. I only have a trickle charge because we live on a small island, and it was never even a question of needing faster charging. Plugging in at even 9 PM and leaving the next day at 7 AM gives my car enough to drive to the other side of our island and back. So I just suggested that they probably wouldn’t need one, and thus shouldn’t get one. But rather than go into why, I just left it at that. Car salesmen and the dealerships prefer to sell gas cars, because it means more revenue for them in the long run as people have to keep bringing it back in for maintenance. And as such, my friend was told they’d need a Level 2, otherwise the trickle charge would only add 2-3 miles of range for every hour charged, and that those Level 2 chargers would cost them as much as $10,000-$15,000 due to the house’s lack of existing 220V outlets. Of course, in most cases, trickle charge typically adds more than this — often double this amount of charge, but until you’ve plugged one in, you’d be inclined to believe an “expert” like an auto sales professional.
Sign six: I overheard the person arguing about organics and GMO labeling, and simply tuned the conversation out. The person’s opinion about GMOs was that they mostly existed to reduce chemical use. Funny enough, completely the opposite is the truth, as most companies in that space make their money by both selling the chemical-dependent/resistant GMO seeds (corn, soy), as well as the chemicals themselves. But there’s a fair bit of GMO FUD out there, too, and yes, there are red herrings about GMO technology helping agriculture in some ways, but again, the grand, grand majority of the GMO industry is chemical dependent seed corn and soy, so it was clear this person could and would miss the big picture. I should have pieced together that they would naturally be easy prey for fossil FUD if they bought into the chemical/GMO industry FUD.
In retrospect, I could have averted this new piece of infrastructure that will support Exxon, Vladimir Putin, and the rest of the world’s worst for the next twenty years of its life if I just thought about all of these signs some more and been more proactive.
Any of you seen similar? Any other signs I missed (happy to add more context and info to this article later)?
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