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How social media has become a critical tool for advancing the interests of the Canadian oil industry Petroturfing presents an incisive look into how Canada's pro-oil movement has leveraged social media to rebrand the extractive economy as a positive force. Adapting its title from the concept of astroturfing, which refers to the practice of disguising political and corporate media campaigns as grassroots movements, the book exposes the consequences of this mutually informed relationship between social media and environmental politics. Since the early 2010s, an increasingly influential network of pro-oil groups, organizations, and campaigns has harnessed social media strategies originally developed by independent environmental organizations in order to undermine resistance to the fossil fuel industry. Situating these actions within the broader oil culture wars that have developed as an outgrowth of contemporary right-wing media, Petroturfing details how this coalition of groups is working to reform the public view of oil extraction as something socially, economically, and ecologically beneficial. By uncovering these concerted efforts to influence the \"energy consciousness,\" Jordan B. Kinder reveals the deep divide between Canada's environmentally progressive reputation and the economic interests of its layers of government and private companies operating within its borders. Drawing attention to the structures underlying online political expression, Petroturfing highlights the limitations of social media networks in the work of promoting environmental justice and contributing to a more equitable future.

In the autumn of 1932, when Canada had massive agricultural surpluses and hunger was afflicting millions of Soviet citizens, a proposal to trade Canadian cattle for Soviet fuels attracted considerable public support. Negotiated by a syndicate of Canadian businessmen, the cattle–oil barter deal was initially stalled because Conservative prime minister R.B. Bennett was ideologically opposed to it. Soviet documents suggest that this was not the end of the story. Revisiting the cattle–oil barter in light of these documents complicates current accounts of Canadian–Soviet relations in this period and raises questions about the Bennett government’s attitude to international trade and sensitivity to the kind of public pressure exerted by the proposal’s many Canadian supporters. In spite of major obstacles, the potential mutual benefit of the project nearly overcame ingrained mutual distrust.

There may also be concerns that aban- doning fossil-fuel resources in Canada could lead to economic collapse. In fact, the oil and gas industry accounts for only 5% of the Canadian economy.6 The latest United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report7 con- cluded that shifting hundreds of billions of dollars into renewable energy from fossil fuels and cutting energy waste would take only 0.06% off of our usual 1.3%-3.0% annual global economic growth.8 It has also been estimated that nonfossil-fuel industries create six to eight times as many jobs per dollar invested as fossil-fuel companies.9 Divestment for physicians is particularly important because we cannot, in good conscience, be strong advocates for addressing climate change while profiting from fossil-fuel companies. Many physi- cians have already made a commitment to divest from other unhealthy industries such as tobacco. Every Canadian physi- cian can start by raising the issue with their investment adviser and encouraging their own university, hospital and medi- cal society to divest from fossil fuels and reinvest in renewable-energy sources.

The Panama Canal was one of the largest public investments of its time. In the first decade of its operation, the canal produced significant social returns for the United States. Most of these returns were due to the transportation of petroleum from California to the East Coast. The United States also succeeded in leveraging the threat of military force to obtain a much better deal from the Panamanian government than it could have negotiated otherwise. “I took the Isthmus.” President Theodore Roosevelt, 1904“Why, it's ours, we stole it fair and square.” Senator Samuel Hayakawa, 1977

The US and Canada enjoy one of the largest trading partnerships in the world, with energy serving as a vital component of that relationship. Canada exports 1.96 million barrels of oil per day to the US, according to the energy Information administration. A large portion of Canadian oil coming to the US is extracted from the oil sands in Alberta at high cost to the environment. With climate change becoming a vital global issue, many US leaders have begun to criticize Canada for sanctioning the dirty oil extraction process. In response to criticisms, the Canadian government has attempted to provide solutions. In 2007 Alberta became the first region in North America to pass legislation limiting the greenhouse gas emissions of \"large industrial facilities,\" with the goal of eventually reducing emissions by 12%. The environmental impacts of the oil sands could cause a rift in the US-Canada trading partnership.