BBC airs documentary series ‘Big Oil v The World’

Big Oil v the World, BBC’s new three-part documentary series on the fossil fuel industry and its impact on the environment, aired its first episode.

The BBC series aims to tell “the story of what the fossil fuel industry knew about climate change more than four decades ago.”

Entitled ‘Denial’ the first of three episodes shared stories from scientists that worked for Exxon saying they had evidence of how fossil fuels would cause climate change in the 1970s and early 80s.

BBC documentary aims to expose Big Oil’s knowledge of climate change

The film drew upon thousands of recently discovered documents to showcase “how the oil industry went on to mount a campaign to sow doubt about the science of climate change”.

No one from ExxonMobil appeared on the programme, but said in response to the documentary that its statements on climate change “are, and always have been, truthful, fact-based, transparent and consistent with the contemporary understanding of mainstream climate science”.

With the recent heatwave hitting the UK, causing Scotland’s hottest day on record as a result of climate change, Big Oil v the World comes at a crucial time for the planet.

Reviews of Big Oil v The World

The Telegraph’s Anita Singh said it told an incomplete picture.

“We were told that the film-makers drew on documents from the Exxon archive, which is held by the University of Texas. Were these all new revelations?

“How much damage did this one company do? How to quantify Big Oil’s contribution to today’s “climate chaos”? The picture felt incomplete.”

Stuart Jefferies of the Guardian said it “reveals the lies oil lobbyists told to undercut democracy, prevent action against global heating – and bring our planet to the brink“.

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When is the next episode of Big Oil v The World?

Airing next Thursday at 9 pm and the following week at the same time, the next two episodes ‘Doubt’ and ‘Delay’ will continue to chart Fossil Fuel’s impact on our planet.

In the coming weeks, the series will cover how the industry continued to avoid taking action against climate change despite scientists becoming increasingly certain of the impact of fossil fuels on the planet moving into the 2000s.

Christine Todd Whitman, George W Bush’s former environment chief, tells the story of how the industry successfully lobbied President Bush to reverse course on his campaign promise to regulate carbon emissions.

Big Oil v the World will end on Thursday 4th August with an episode focussing on “How the 2010s became another lost decade in the fight against climate change – as the move to natural gas delayed a transition to more renewable sources of energy.”