Hower Impact fires the fossil fuel industry

Throughout my many travels, I’ve seen everything from melting glaciers in the Himalayas and on Kilimanjaro to rising seas consuming low lying islands in the Caribbean. In my home state of California, I’ve witnessed extreme wildfires become commonplace — and nearly lost an aunt to one a few years ago when Paradise burned. The climate crisis rages around us — and the fossil fuel industry is to blame.

From what I’ve seen, sustainability communication in the fossil fuel industry is intellectually lazy at best — and greenwashy at worst. I’m convinced that the only authentic fossil fuel industry sustainability story is one where a company decides to stop selling fossil fuels. And that will always be a fairy tale. 

Hower Impact has never worked for a fossil fuel company. And today, I am happy to announce that it never will. We have signed the Clean Creatives pledge committing to never work with the fossil fuel industry — now or ever.

While this might sound like a big “no duh” for a business focused on communicating sustainability, too many agencies and consultancies are trying to have it both ways. They purport to be purpose-driven because they help companies with sustainability communication and reporting — yet they won’t refuse that sweet fossil fuel money. As a business owner, I understand the allure. Fossil fuels companies often pay double the going rate for sustainability communication and reporting contracts because of course they do.

Running a business isn’t easy — and we all gotta eat, right? But I’ve concluded that no fossil fuel funded sandwich is going to sit well. Despite talks of supporting an “energy transition” — the fossil fuel industry continues to move full speed ahead with its plans to do what it does best. Most fossil fuel companies produced more fossil fuels in the seven years after the Paris Agreement than in the seven years before the Agreement’s adoption, according to a new report from Carbon Majors. And only 57 fossil fuel and cement producers — including Chevron, ExxonMobil and BP — are linked to 80 percent of global emissions generated since the Paris Agreement. Meanwhile, fossil fuel executives at Exxon are blaming consumers for the world not being on track to meeting climate commitments. 

I’ve heard some consultants make the argument that “the work is going to be done whether or not we take the contract, so we might as well be the ones who profit from it.” And there’s the faint hope that “if you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em and change ‘em from the inside.” For some of the larger agencies and consultancies, the multimillion dollar deals with fossil fuel companies are just too luscious to lose. 

While I stand firm in my belief that corporate sustainability has never been about perfection — and every company is on a journey — I haven’t seen a single fossil fuel company that has demonstrated an authentic commitment to urgent decarbonization. We are out of time — the next two years will be critical in the global effort to address the climate crisis, as UN Climate Change Executive Secretary Simon Stiell recently said. 

I applaud agencies like Allison and Gale for having the courage to sign the Clean Creatives pledge and turn away what could potentially be millions of dirty dollars. I recognize that Hower Impact also is forgoing potentially game-changing contracts. But I want to grow this business the right way — and that means only working with companies committed to decarbonization.

I urge my fellow sustainability communicators to join me and others in taking this pledge. We have a responsibility as storytellers to use our powers of persuasion for the betterment of humanity — and not to sow disinformation or doubt about what nearly every scientist on the planet has been warning us about for years. And I ask folks working in house to ask your agency partners if they have signed the pledge — and only work with those who refuse to partner with the fossil fuel industry. 

It’s time to take decisive action on cutting carbon so that we can build a future that doesn’t suck. To any company committed to making this happen — Hower Impact is here to help tell your story.