Jeff Eshelman IPAA EID

<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">see EID</font><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">See IPAA</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
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</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">i don't see what he complains abot, do i have all NYT? now do below</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">12/20</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="https://www.energyindepth.org/eid-response-to-the-new-york-times/">https://www.energyindepth.org/eid-response-to-the-new-york-times/</a></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><p style="overflow-wrap: break-word; background-image: initial; background-position: 0px 0px; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; border: 0px; margin: 15px 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; outline: 0px; line-height: 21px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style=""><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">A recent&nbsp;<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/11/climate/fti-consulting.html" style="background-image: initial; background-position: 0px 0px; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; outline: 0px; cursor: pointer;">article</a>&nbsp;in the&nbsp;<b style=""><span style="background-image: initial; background-position: 0px 0px; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; outline: 0px;">New York Times</span>&nbsp;</b>made several sensational and dubious allegations about Energy In Depth (EID) and the work that this program does</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">. As the person who started the program back in 2009, I thought it would be useful to provide a short history lesson.</span></font></p><p style="overflow-wrap: break-word; background: 0px 0px rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 0px; margin: 15px 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; outline: 0px; line-height: 21px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">When the Independent Petroleum Association of America (IPAA) launched EID more than a decade ago, the term “fracking” barely registered in Google searches. Opponents of the oil and gas industry no doubt preferred it that way, because they were&nbsp;<a href="https://www.energyindepth.org/issue-alert-degette-bill-targeting-hydraulic-fracturing-to-be-introduced-today-2/?154" style="background: 0px 0px; border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; outline: 0px; cursor: pointer;">advocating for legislation</a>&nbsp;in Congress that would have ended the successful, state-based regulatory structure for hydraulic fracturing that had been in place since the process was invented in the 1940s. Instead, the legislation would have shifted regulatory authority to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. To suggest the trajectory of the shale revolution would have been far different had that happened is perhaps an understatement. <b>The legislation was defeated</b> – as it has been multiple times in the years since – but the conversation about “fracking” would obviously only grow.</font></p><p style="overflow-wrap: break-word; background: 0px 0px rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 0px; margin: 15px 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; outline: 0px; line-height: 21px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">IPAA created the Energy In Depth program to provide timely and valuable information about hydraulic fracturing – everything from the chemicals used during the process and the layers of casing that protect groundwater to the finer details of how the process is regulated across the country. From the early days, EID produced fact sheets and blog posts countering misinformation, and we regularly spoke with media to share resources and our perspectives (we still do). We produced detailed responses filled with source citations and links to government agencies and peer-reviewed research; one of our mantras has always been “don’t just take our word for it.” EID became an indispensable part of the conversation about what was still the early days of the shale revolution.</font></p><p style="overflow-wrap: break-word; background-image: initial; background-position: 0px 0px; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; border: 0px; margin: 15px 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; outline: 0px; line-height: 21px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style=""><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">When the attempt to put EPA in control of hydraulic fracturing failed in Congress, opponents of the industry shifted tactics and began to attack it directly – and with sensationalism. There were dubious accusations of flaming faucets in the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.energyindepth.org/gasland-debunked/" style="background-image: initial; background-position: 0px 0px; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; outline: 0px; cursor: pointer;">Gasland films</a>.</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"> There were the claims of astronomically high methane leakage rates in the United States, based on data from Russian pipelines (no, really), and which the&nbsp;</span><a href="https://www.energyindepth.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/EID_Howarth_fact_sheet5.pdf" style="background: 0px 0px; border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; outline: 0px; cursor: pointer;">scientific community roundly rejected</a><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">.&nbsp;</span></font></p><p style="overflow-wrap: break-word; background-image: initial; background-position: 0px 0px; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; border: 0px; margin: 15px 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; outline: 0px; line-height: 21px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style=""><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">There was research linking fracking to premature births, which upon closer examination was so&nbsp;</span><a href="https://www.energyindepth.org/the-science-behind-generating-headlines/" style="background: 0px 0px; border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; outline: 0px; cursor: pointer;">devoid of scientific rigor</a><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">&nbsp;that the author regretted ever making it public. A self-described “science advisor” to Americans Against Fracking once even claimed that all female energy workers are either “</span><a href="https://www.energyindepth.org/ny-anti-fracking-peer-reviewer-calls-women-energy-workers-prostitutes/" style="background: 0px 0px; border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; outline: 0px; cursor: pointer;">hotel maids or prostitutes</a><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">.” At every step of the way, when misinformation appeared about hydraulic fracturing – and the U.S. oil and gas industry as a whole – EID was often the first to call it out and correct the record. Being first has actually been our goal from the beginning.</span></font></p><p style="overflow-wrap: break-word; background: 0px 0px rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 0px; margin: 15px 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; outline: 0px; line-height: 21px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>Of course, EID’s success has made it a target of industry opponents, who would naturally prefer that their spurious claims go unchallenged</b>. Some have simply disagreed with our perspectives, and we can handle that. But others who cannot win on the substance (and don’t even care to try) have attacked EID directly. They largely point to EID being funded by the oil and gas industry, as if that is something we have hidden: the IPAA logo appears on every page of the EID website! From there, the accusations often devolve into the silly and nonsensical, like suggesting IPAA is just a front, and that the program is&nbsp;<em style="background: 0px 0px; border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; outline: 0px;">actually</em>&nbsp;run by a handful of big companies.</font></p><p style="overflow-wrap: break-word; background: 0px 0px rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 0px; margin: 15px 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; outline: 0px; line-height: 21px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>Let me be clear, as I have been many times before: IPAA owns and directs the Energy In Depth program, and I personally oversee and approve all content. Energy In Depth is even a registered trademark of IPAA.</b></font></p><p style="overflow-wrap: break-word; background-image: initial; background-position: 0px 0px; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; border: 0px; margin: 15px 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; outline: 0px; line-height: 21px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style=""><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">One other “accusation” – on which the&nbsp;<em style="background-image: initial; background-position: 0px 0px; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; outline: 0px;">New York Times</em>&nbsp;focuses its ridiculously biased story – is that IPAA works with a firm called FTI Consulting to do the EID program. But here again, that is not a secret.</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"> We’ve worked with FTI for almost 20 years now – before it was even called FTI. In the context of EID, numerous FTI employees have served as spokespeople for the program over the years, at all times operating under my supervision. They pen blog posts under their own name, provide statements to the media (often utilizing their FTI email addresses), and interact publicly on social media with their FTI affiliations listed. Despite the fact this is readily apparent to anyone, critics continue to try to characterize this partnership as some sort of smoke-filled room conspiracy that no one previously knew about. It’s so silly!</span></font></p><p style="overflow-wrap: break-word; background: 0px 0px rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 0px; margin: 15px 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; outline: 0px; line-height: 21px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Of course, only a program as successful as EID could receive such breathless attacks from opponents of our industry. And to be clear, I am including the reporter from the&nbsp;<em style="background: 0px 0px; border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; outline: 0px;">New York Times</em>&nbsp;who filed this latest story in that category:<b> last month, in a tweet she later deleted,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2020/oct/28/new-york-times-asleep-at-the-switch-over-journalis/" style="background: 0px 0px; border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; outline: 0px; cursor: pointer;">she linked the U.S. oil and gas industry to “white supremacy,”</a>&nbsp;and her&nbsp;<a href="https://www.insidesources.com/nytimes-keeps-reporter-on-energy-beat-despite-tweet-linking-industry-to-white-supremacy/" style="background: 0px 0px; border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; outline: 0px; cursor: pointer;">editors have heretofore done nothing</a>&nbsp;about it. </b>Such a vile and disgusting accusation is a perfect example of why we have a program like EID to rebut misinformation that all too often proliferates in the media.</font></p><p style="overflow-wrap: break-word; background: 0px 0px rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 0px; margin: 15px 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; outline: 0px; line-height: 21px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">As a final point, the&nbsp;<span style="background: 0px 0px; border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; outline: 0px;">New York Times</span>&nbsp;says Energy In Depth “has been central to the fossil fuel industry’s championing of fracking.” On that point, at least, we couldn’t agree more.</font></p></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">politico:</font></div><div><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 344.854px 1em 0px; font-family: Georgia, Times, " times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" serif="serif" line-height="line-height" em="em" font-size="font-size" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: 700;">NYT UNEARTHS FOSSIL FUELS ASTROTURFING CAMPAIGN:&nbsp;</span>The New York Times is out with a deep dive on what appears to be an expansive, yearslong corporate influence campaign on run by the global consulting firm&nbsp;<span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: 700;">FTI</span>&nbsp;purporting to show grassroots support for fossil fuels but was really funded by oil and gas giants like&nbsp;<span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: 700;">Exxon</span>, a push that “often obscure the industry’s role, portraying pro-petroleum groups as grass-roots movements,” the Times’&nbsp;<span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: 700;">Hiroko Tabuchi&nbsp;</span><a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/11/climate/fti-consulting.html" target="blank" style="box-sizing: border-box; transition: all 0.25s ease 0s; text-decoration-line: none;">reports</a>. “One of FTI’s largest shareholders, the investment firm BlackRock, won kudos this year for saying it would&nbsp;<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/14/business/dealbook/larry-fink-blackrock-climate-change.html" target="blank" style="box-sizing: border-box; transition: all 0.25s ease 0s; text-decoration-line: none;">put environmental sustainability</a>&nbsp;at the center of its investment approach,” Tabuchi notes.</font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 344.854px 1em 0px; font-family: Georgia, Times, " times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" serif="serif" line-height="line-height" em="em" font-size="font-size" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">— “As part of its services to the industry, FTI monitored environmental activists online, and in one instance an employee created a fake Facebook persona — an imaginary, middle-aged Texas woman with a dog — to help keep tabs on protesters. Former FTI employees say they studied other online influence campaigns and compiled strategies for affecting public discourse. They helped run a campaign that sought a securities rule change, described as protecting the interests of mom-and-pop investors, that aimed to protect oil and gas companies from shareholder pressure to address climate and other concerns.”</font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 344.854px 1em 0px; font-family: Georgia, Times, " times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" serif="serif" line-height="line-height" em="em" font-size="font-size" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">— In a statement, Exxon&nbsp;<a href="https://corporate.exxonmobil.com/News/Newsroom/News-releases/2020/1112_ExxonMobil-statement-regarding-inaccurate-New-York-Times-story" target="blank" style="box-sizing: border-box; transition: all 0.25s ease 0s; text-decoration-line: none;">accused</a>&nbsp;Tabuchi of an "obvious bias against the oil and gas industry," and said it would refuse to work with her but did not address her charges specifically.&nbsp;<span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: 700;">Energy In Depth</span>, the pro-industry news site launched by the&nbsp;<span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: 700;">Independent Petroleum Association of America</span>&nbsp;and featured in the Times report,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.energyindepth.org/eid-response-to-the-new-york-times/" target="blank" style="box-sizing: border-box; transition: all 0.25s ease 0s; text-decoration-line: none;">penned a blog post</a>&nbsp;refuting what they say are "sensational and dubious allegations" leveled by the Times.</font></p></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></div><div><p style="background-repeat: no-repeat; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 20px; line-height: 1.75rem;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-repeat: no-repeat; box-sizing: border-box;">IRVING, Texas&nbsp;</span>– The New York Times story published on November 12 entitled “How One Firm Drove Influence Campaigns Nationwide for Big Oil” is a biased and inaccurate misrepresentation of our relationship with trade associations and other organizations and illustrates precisely why we refused to comment or work with the author of this article. <b>We requested the following statement be included in the story, which the author and her editors ignored and refused to print in full:</b></font></p><p style="background-repeat: no-repeat; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 20px 40px; line-height: 1.75rem;"><span style="background-repeat: no-repeat; box-sizing: border-box;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“ExxonMobil will not work with Ms.Tabuchi because of her obvious bias against the oil and gas industry, illustrated by her baseless claim alleging industry links to white supremacy, which the New York Times has refused to address appropriately. We will engage with New York Times reporters who follow basic rules of journalism and provide fair treatment to our company and industry.”</font></span></p><p style="background-repeat: no-repeat; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 20px; line-height: 1.75rem;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">This reporter’s foundational bias against the oil and gas industry is well documented&nbsp;<a rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.insidesources.com/nytimes-keeps-reporter-on-energy-beat-despite-tweet-linking-industry-to-white-supremacy/" target="blank" title="This link opens a new browser window." style="background-repeat: no-repeat; box-sizing: border-box; touch-action: manipulation; text-decoration-line: none; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);">here</a>&nbsp;and in other sources.</font></p></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">ref</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" /><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">no lnx twt</font></font></font></font></font></font></font></div><div>
</div><div><a href="https://insidesources.com/nytimes-keeps-reporter-on-energy-beat-despite-tweet-linking-industry-to-white-supremacy/">https://insidesources.com/nytimes-keeps-reporter-on-energy-beat-despite-tweet-linking-industry-to-white-supremacy/</a></div><div>
</div><div>NEWS</div><div>Energy</div><div><b>NYTimes Keeps Reporter On Energy Beat Despite Tweet Linking Industry to ‘White Supremacy’</b></div><div><b>Posted to Energy November 03, 2020 by Todd Shepher</b>d</div><div>
</div><div>
</div><div>A New York Times reporter who said the oil and gas industry is linked to white supremacy is still on the energy sector beat, despite complaints she can’t provide objective coverage, emails obtained by InsideSources show.</div><div>
</div><div><b>“I’ve been thinking a lot about fossil fuels and white supremacy recently,” Times climate change reporter Hiroko Tabuchi tweeted on Oct. 1. “Almost every single oil executive, lobbyist, spokesperson I’ve dealt with is white and male. It’s difficult not to see the link.</b>”</div><div>
</div><div>[twt]</div><div>
</div><div>One day after the tweet, a top executive with the American Petroleum Institute emailed Times climate editor Hannah Fairfield, who in turn tried to allay their concerns.</div><div>
</div><div>“We agree that the tweets you cited were overly opinionated,” Fairfield said to the executive. “Hiroko herself made the decision to delete them from her account. However, we are confident that her reporting on the industry has been accurate and fair, and has adhered to the high journalistic standards of the New York Times.”</div><div>
</div><div>Times executive editor Dean Baquet added in a subsequent email that he and other “senior editors” had consulted with Fairfield about the response. “We believe strongly that we have taken appropriate steps,” Baquet said.</div><div>
</div><div>However, there is no indication that the New York Times has taken any steps. Tabuchi is still covering the petroleum industry for the paper.</div><div>
</div><div>“I am at a loss in justifying to our executives why we would engage with a reporter who believes our entire industry and its executives are linked to white supremacy, something we strongly denounce,” the API official fired back to Baquet in response.</div><div>
</div><div>The official’s name was blacked out in the emails provided to InsideSources by a source close to the matter who requested anonymity because they were not authorized to divulge the emails or speak on the subject.</div><div>
</div><div>The API official added that allowing Tabuchi to simply delete the tweet without any correction or apology was “insufficient” and that Tabuchi’s comments were “in direct violation of your own handbook on ethical journalism.”</div><div>
</div><div>“Your institution is too good to look the other way on such a blatant lack of professionalism and neutrality,” he continued. “She has lost the confidence of our organization and I imagine any reader who views her troubling comments.”</div><div>
</div><div>An online version of the Times handbook for journalists says, “Staff members are free to discuss their own activities in public, provided their comments do not create an impression that they lack journalistic impartiality or speak for The Times.”</div><div>
</div><div>A request for comment from the Times was not returned.</div><div>
</div><div>Officials with API tell InsideSources they are still under the impression that no further disciplinary action has been taken.</div><div>
</div><div>“The reporter’s comments were <b>deeply offensive </b>and downright wrong about our industry,” said API’s senior vice president of communications Megan Bloomgren.</div><div>
</div><div>“We immediately raised the reporter’s comments to the highest levels of the New York Times since they directly violated the paper’s handbook on ethical journalism, and while we exchanged emails and had a meaningful discussion, the copy editing team took no action. Deleting tweets doesn’t delete inherent bias.”</div><div>
</div><div>When journalists delete tweets, they often publish an explanation for the deletion. But no such tweet appears to have been sent from Tabuchi to her more than 126,000 followers. Her current Twitter timeline only goes back to September 21, indicating she’s deleted her previous posts.</div><div>
</div><div>The simmering controversy over Tabuchi’s tweet illustrates how the social justice issue is being injected into the oil and gas debate as the country is grappling with questions of race and fairness after a summer of protests.</div><div>
</div><div><b>“Police violence and pollution are more connected than you might realize,” </b>Tabuchi said in a since-deleted tweet from September. <span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">“This investigation documents how the fossil fuel industry finances police groups in major U.S. cities, while polluting majority Black and brown communities.”</span></div><div>
</div><div><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">In another deleted tweet, Tabuchi quoted an environmental activist who said, “Fossil fuel facilities are disproportionately — let me say that again, disproportionately — located in communities of color. From southwest Detroit to Baytown, Texas to Cancer Alley in Louisiana, communities of color are in the crosshairs of this pollution.</span>”</div><div>
</div><div>Pennsylvania is a top natural gas producer in the country, especially as hydraulic fracturing technologies — usually called “fracking — have come to dominate the field and have unleashed a decade of new productivity for the industry. A 2017 study by API estimated that Pennsylvania is home to 322,600 fracking jobs.</div><div>
</div><div>About the Author</div><div>
</div><div>Todd Shepherd</div><div>Todd Shepherd is editor of the Delaware Valley Journal. He also covers politics and energy policy for InsideSources.</div></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/11/climate/fti-consulting.html">https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/11/climate/fti-consulting.html</a></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" /><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></div><div><b>How One Firm Drove Influence Campaigns Nationwide for Big Oil</b></div><div>FTI, a global consulting firm, helped design, staff and run organizations and websites funded by energy companies that can appear to represent grass-roots support for fossil-fuel initiatives.</div><div>
</div><div>The headquarters of FTI, which has a prominent role in influence campaigns supporting fossil fuels, in Washington.]</div><div>
</div><div>By Hiroko Tabuchi</div><div><b>Nov. 11, 2020</b></div><div>
</div><div>In early 2017, the Texans for Natural Gas website went live to urge voters to “thank a roughneck” and support fracking. Around the same time, the Arctic Energy Center ramped up its advocacy for drilling in Alaskan waters and in a vast Arctic wildlife refuge. The next year, the Main Street Investors Coalition warned that climate activism doesn’t help mom-and-pop investors in the stock market.</div><div>
</div><div>All three appeared to be separate efforts to amplify local voices or speak up for regular people.</div><div>
</div><div>On closer look, however, the groups had something in common: They were part of a network of corporate influence campaigns designed, staffed and at times run by FTI Consulting, which had been hired by some of the largest oil and gas companies in the world to help them promote fossil fuels.</div><div>
</div><div><p style="margin: 0px 0px 1.71429rem; padding: 0px; border: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 1.71429; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">...</p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 1.71429rem; padding: 0px; border: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 1.71429; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">An examination of FTI’s work provides an anatomy of the oil industry’s efforts to influence public opinion in the face of increasing political pressure over climate change, an issue likely to grow in prominence, given President-elect Joseph R. Biden Jr.’s pledge to pursue bolder climate regulations. The campaigns often obscure the industry’s role, portraying pro-petroleum groups as grass-roots movements.</p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 1.71429rem; padding: 0px; border: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 1.71429; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><b>As part of its services to the industry, FTI monitored environmental activists online, and in one instance an employee created a fake Facebook persona — an imaginary, middle-aged Texas woman with a dog — to help keep tabs on protesters.</b> Former FTI employees say they studied other online influence campaigns and compiled strategies for affecting public discourse. They helped run a campaign that sought a securities rule change, described as protecting the interests of mom-and-pop investors, that aimed to protect oil and gas companies from shareholder pressure to address climate and other concerns....</p></div></div><div><blockquote style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">FTI employees also staffed two news and information sites, Energy In Depth and Western Wire, writing pro-industry articles on fracking, climate lawsuits and other hot-button issues. <b>Former employees familiar with Energy In Depth said the site’s content had direction from Exxon Mobil, </b>one of the major clients of the FTI division that worked on these oil and gas campaigns.</font></blockquote><blockquote style=""><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">The Energy In Depth website notes its affiliation with an energy trade group [ipaa?] that Exxon is a member of, though not Exxon’s role in directing content that the site published.&nbsp;</font><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div style=""><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style=""><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">This article is based on interviews with a dozen former FTI employees, including former managing directors, a review of hundreds of internal FTI documents and an examination of the digital trail of domain-name registrations and other details left by the creation of the websites. </span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">In all, FTI has been involved in the operations of at least 15 current and past influence campaigns promoting fossil-fuel interests in addition to its direct work for oil and gas clients.</span>

<span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Matthew Bashalany, an FTI spokesman, disputed the idea that FTI worked behind the scenes for these groups.&nbsp;</span><b style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">[FTI lies in its own defense]</b><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">[1] “We hide behind no one,” he said.</span>

<span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">“We summarily reject as false, misleading and <b>defamatory </b>the general narrative and specific claims,” he said. “We hold ourselves to the highest professional and ethical standards of conduct; when and where shortfalls are identified in this regard, they are addressed appropriately.”</span></font></div></blockquote><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">This is just a reminder that the real war in America is over winning hearts and minds. The goal for rich and powerful people and interests is gaining and maintaining wealth and power. The goal for the masses, or the mob as the radical right sees it, is a better deal based on less economic inequality and special interest over public interest influence (i.e., money and power).&nbsp;</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">This is an all-out war of dark free speech (lies, deceit, irrational emotional manipulation, self-serving motivated reasoning, etc.) against the masses. Unfortunately, dark free speech is more powerful than honest free speech. The playing field is heavily tilted in favor of the rich and powerful as it usually is and has been throughout history.</font></div></div></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">full txt</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 17px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">fTI, a global consulting firm, helped design, staff and run organizations and websites funded by energy companies that can appear to represent grass-roots support for fossil-fuel initiatives.</font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 17px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">In early 2017, the Texans for Natural Gas website went live to urge voters to “thank a roughneck” and support fracking. Around the same time, the Arctic Energy Center ramped up its advocacy for drilling in Alaskan waters and in a vast Arctic wildlife refuge. The next year, the Main Street Investors Coalition warned that climate activism doesn’t help mom-and-pop investors in the stock market.</font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 17px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">All three appeared to be separate efforts to amplify local voices or speak up for regular people.</font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 17px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">On closer look, however, the groups had something in common: They were part of a network of corporate influence campaigns designed, staffed and at times run by FTI Consulting, which had been hired by some of the largest oil and gas companies in the world to help them promote fossil fuels.</font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 17px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">An examination of FTI’s work provides an anatomy of the oil industry’s efforts to influence public opinion in the face of increasing political pressure over climate change, an issue likely to grow in prominence, given President-elect Joseph R. Biden Jr.’s pledge to pursue bolder climate regulations. The campaigns often obscure the industry’s role, portraying pro-petroleum groups as grass-roots movements.</font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 17px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>As part of its services to the industry, FTI monitored environmental activists online</b>, and in one instance an employee created a fake Facebook persona — an imaginary, middle-aged Texas woman with a dog — to help keep tabs on protesters. Former FTI employees say they studied other online influence campaigns and compiled strategies for affecting public discourse. They helped run a campaign that sought a securities rule change, described as protecting the interests of mom-and-pop investors, that aimed to protect oil and gas companies from shareholder pressure to address climate and other concerns.</font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 17px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">FTI employees also staffed two news and information sites, Energy In Depth and Western Wire, writing pro-industry articles on fracking, climate lawsuits and other hot-button issues. Former employees familiar with Energy In Depth said the site’s content had direction from Exxon Mobil, one of the major clients of the FTI division that worked on these oil and gas campaigns.</font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 17px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The Energy In Depth website notes its affiliation with an energy trade group that Exxon is a member of, though not Exxon’s role in directing content that the site published.</font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 17px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">This article is based on interviews with a dozen former FTI employees, including former managing directors, a review of hundreds of internal FTI documents and an examination of the digital trail of domain-name registrations and other details left by the creation of the websites. In all, FTI has been involved in the operations of at least 15 current and past influence campaigns promoting fossil-fuel interests in addition to its direct work for oil and gas clients.</font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 17px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Matthew Bashalany, an FTI spokesman, disputed the idea that FTI worked behind the scenes for these groups. “We hide behind no one,” he said.</font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 17px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“We summarily reject as false, misleading and defamatory the general narrative and specific claims,” he said. “We hold ourselves to the highest professional and ethical standards of conduct; when and where shortfalls are identified in this regard, they are addressed appropriately.”</font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 17px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">An Exxon spokesman, Casey Norton, said he would not comment on the findings because he considered the reporter to be biased against the fossil fuel industry. Kathleen Sgamma, a spokeswoman for the Western Energy Alliance, which funds Western Wire, said her group had been open about its partnership with FTI and about its approach to fracking.</font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 17px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>The business of corporate consulting and public relations is vast, and countless companies routinely provide media outreach, public messaging, crisis management and other services. FTI is among them, and it has taken up an important role in helping promote the messages of the fossil fuel industr</b>y.</font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 17px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Those messages have sometimes run counter to the scientific consensus that the world must burn less oil and gas to avoid the worst effects of global warming. <b>Texans for Natural Gas</b>, for example, has downplayed the magnitude of emissions of methane, the prime component of natural gas and a potent greenhouse gas, from oil and gas production.</font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 17px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">FTI’s work is the latest chapter in a long history of campaigns by the fossil fuel industry, political strategists and public relations professionals to influence climate policy. The industry has faced tough headwinds this year, in particular, as demand for oil and gas has tumbled amid the pandemic.</font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 17px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Founded in 1982 in Annapolis, Md., as a firm tha<b>t provided expert witnesses and presentations for litigation, </b>FTI has grown into a multinational firm that employs almost 5,000 people in 28 countries. Its business spans a wide range of services, from business consulting to crisis communications.</font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 17px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style=""><b style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">One of FTI’s largest shareholders, the investment firm BlackRock,</b><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"> won kudos this year for saying it would put environmental sustainability at the center of its investment approach. </span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 153, 0);">Main Street Investors, one of FTI’s projects, has spoken out against shareholders who press corporations on climate and other issues — an effort that would seem to be in conflict with BlackRock’s stance.</span></font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 17px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Mr. Bashalany, the FTI spokesman, said the firm’s work “in no way contravenes — nor is it misaligned with” BlackRock’s statement. <b>BlackRock declined to comment.</b></font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 17px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="bold" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: 700;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="">‘Do something big’</font></span></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 17px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">On a clear day in July, a plane soared over America’s biggest oil and gas field with a banner trailing behind it that read: “Thank you essential oil and gas workers.”</font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 17px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style=""><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">“We wanted to do something big, and what’s bigger than an airplane with a banner?” Elizabeth Caldwell of</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"> Texans for Natural Gas said in a statement. The group, which describes itself as a local organization representing “citizens and officeholders, business owners and students” with more than 400,000 supporters, is funded by oil and gas companies including<b> XTO Energy, an Exxon subsidiary,</b> according to its website.</span></font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 17px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style=""><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">The statement identifies Ms. Caldwell as “a spokeswoman for the</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"><b style=""> grass-roots organization.” </b>She is also a director at FTI, according to her LinkedIn page</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">. (There was nothing unusual about an organization receiving corporate support and public relations help, FTI’s spokesman said.)</span></font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 17px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style=""><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Acting as Texans for Natural Gas representatives, FTI employees have launched pro-industry petitions, produced videos and reports on the importance of the</span><b style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"> Permian Basin</b><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"> oil field, and written</span><b style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"> opinion pieces for local newspapers</b><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"> supporting fossil fuels. </span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">The site features testimonials from three women, two of whom are represented with stock photos and one with a photo used without permission from the Flickr page of a photographer in the Philippines.</span></font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 17px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">FTI’s Mr. Bashalany acknowledged the use of the stock photos and said adjustments would be made to avoid confusion. He said the supporters and testimonials were real.</font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 17px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 153, 0);">Texans for Natural Gas has also shared misleading information about greenhouse gas emissions. In 2018, it issued a study inaccurately claiming that emissions of methane had decreased significantly in the heart of Texas oil country at the height of the fracking boom.</font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 17px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">To arrive at that conclusion, scientists say, the report tallied data from the Environmental Protection Agency that the agency itself states does not represent overall emissions: The numbers, which are reported by the energy industry about a limited number of compressor stations and other facilities, do not include emissions from the area’s thousands of wells.<b> The data are “too low by at least a factor of two, and quite likely more,” said Robert W. Howarth, a professor at Cornell University who has researched methane emissions.</b></font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 17px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">FTI stood by the report, calling its findings “on track with broader trends in Texas’ oil fields.”</font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 17px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Texans for Natural Gas is just one campaign run with the help of<b> FTI employees. Others include: Citizens to Protect PA Jobs, New Mexicans for Economic Prosperity, the Liberty Energy Project and the Arctic Energy Center,</b> according to interviews, internal documents and an examination of the digital trail of domain-name registrations and other details left by the creation of the websites.</font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 17px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Another such organization, the <b>Marcellus Shale Coalition</b>, said of FTI in a statement: “We are proud to have them as a contract partner, especially when it comes to direct and transparent media support.”</font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 17px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="bold" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: 700;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="">‘Susan,’ the fake Facebook user</font></span></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 17px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style=""><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Within FTI, a group called StratCom, short for Strategic Communications, focuses on industry messaging campaigns.</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"> In the United States, the group is led by </span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 153, 0);">Brian Kennedy, former press secretary for the office of the House minority leader and a former spokesman for Transocean, the drilling contractor involved in the 2010 BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.</span></font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 17px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>The StratCom group studied environmental protesters on behalf of the driller Apache Energy. </b>Apache was seeking to drill near Balmorhea State Park in Texas and was concerned that protesters were planning camps similar to those set up to oppose the Dakota Access Pipeline, according to two people with direct knowledge of the work.</font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 17px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">One FTI document prepared for Apache, dated Jan. 25, 2017, included a link to a list of groceries and camp supplies compiled by organizers, which the document said provided a hint of the proposed camp’s size.</font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 17px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">The fictitious Facebook profile — of a Texas woman named Susan McDonald who likes ice cream, the movie “Annie” and her local farmers’ market — was also intended to help FTI keep tabs on activists, former FTI employees said. The “friends” list on the fake profile, which remained present on Facebook as of Wednesday, includes one current and one former FTI employee.</font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 17px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Mr. Bashalany of FTI said, “A Facebook profile was created by a <b>former </b>employee to monitor social media anonymously. This was wrong, and it is against our policy.”</font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 17px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Apache declined to comment on the substance of the reporting.</font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 17px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style=""><b style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">StratCom employees also studied and developed strategies designed to influence public discourse, according to five former employees</b><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">. An internal document dated Nov. 20, 2015, </span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">laid out various techniques. The “Semantic Nitpicker,” the document explained, “asks an endless series of questions.” The “Dog Typing on a Keyboard” uses “very poor grammar, spelling and punctuation and posts frequently to clutter up the thread and make it hard to read.”</span></font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 17px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 153, 0);">A successful effort, the document advised, might use several commenters, “each with an assigned role.”</font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 17px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Mr. Bashalany said senior managers were never aware of the document and it “never informed any activities or approaches to social or digital media engagement of any kind.”</font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 17px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>Other campaigns used common techniques, buying social media ads to target people with interests in Alaska and energy and steer them toward the Arctic Energy Center, an industry-funded site that promoted drilling in the waters off Alaska and in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.</b></font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 17px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style=""><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 153, 0);">Exxon was a backer of the Arctic Energy Center, </span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">according to documents and people who worked on the project. An FTI presentation prepared for Exxon, dated July 13, 2016, showed Exxon was scheduled to spend $120,000 over six months across social-media platforms, a draft budget dated the previous month shows.</span></font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 17px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">The Arctic Energy Center’s website has since been taken down.</font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 17px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="bold" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: 700;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="">Climate lawsuit spurs action</font></span></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 17px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">In 2018, as New York City moved to sue Exxon Mobil and other fossil fuel companies, claiming that the companies had defrauded shareholders by downplaying climate change, a team within FTI’s StratCom group prepared a pushback.</font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 17px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">The task at hand was to produce an article and tweets for Energy In Depth, the pro-industry site. The target:<b> Mayor Bill de Blasio of New York, who was under fire at the time for his SUV use.</b></font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 17px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">According to an internal planning calendar, one tweet should show “Bill de Blasio in a giant SUV, wearing shirt that says WAR ON FOSSIL FUELS, or maybe a speech bubble with WAR ON FOSSIL FUELS!”</font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 17px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>New York lost that court battle.</b></font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 17px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">According to its website, Energy In Depth is a project of the Independent Petroleum Association of America, a trade organization representing hundreds of mostly smaller oil and gas producers. FTI employees familiar with the project said the site’s content had direction from Exxon. FTI employees also wrote much of the content published on Energy In Depth.</font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 17px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 153, 0);">In a statement, an Independent Petroleum Association of America senior vice president,<b> Jeff Eshelman</b>, said “support for Energy In Depth comes from a wide segment of industry.”</font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 17px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Mr. Bashalany, the FTI spokesman, said, “Any contention that it is supported in whole or even substantially in part by one company is categorically false.” He said FTI staff members reach out to companies, academics and others for input, “not the other way around.”</font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 17px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style=""><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Energy In Depth, along with the other industry-funded site tha</span><b style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">t FTI helps run, Western Wire,</b><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"> has been central to the fossil fuel industry’s championing of fracking. Both sites, </span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">staffed by FTI writers, have pushed back against the #ExxonKnew campaign </span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">waged by environmental activists, which claims that the company knew about climate change for decades yet blocked action to confront it.</span></font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 17px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="bold" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: 700;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="">‘This is really fishy’</font></span></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 17px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">In spring 2018, Nell Minow noticed a tweet from a new group, one she had never heard of, seeming to support small investors. Ms. Minow, vice chair of ValueEdge, a firm that advises investors, and a longtime advocate for mom-and-pop investors, was excited.</font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 17px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“I thought, ‘Great, a shareholder group! I need to know about them,’” she said. “Then I started looking into them and thought, this is really fishy.”</font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 17px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style=""><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Though the group, </span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"><b style="">Main Street Investors, </b>described itself as representing small investors, it was started by a number of industry organizations, including the National Association of Manufacturers. Main Street has criticized the ability of pension funds and other powerful investors to influence companies’ policies on matters like climate and the environment.</span></font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 17px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Working for the National Association of Manufacturers, FTI produced a study arguing that activist shareholders tend not to help shareholder value. The report’s five authors were employees of the consulting firm Compass Lexecon, a wholly owned FTI subsidiary. The Main Street Investors website is now offline.</font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 17px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style=""><b style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">FTI also worked with the Independent Petroleum Association of America, the industry group associated with Energy In Depth, to start DivestmentFacts.com, </b><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">which warns that divesting from fossil fuels — a growing trend among university endowments and pension funds — could cost those institutions millions of dollars.</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 153, 0);"> At least six academic papers published on Divestmentfacts.com were by professors who, in addition to their university jobs, were also working for Compass Lexecon, the FTI subsidiary.</span></font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 17px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>FTI monitored Ms. Minow after she publicly said Main Street Investors </b>was using “inflammatory language, unsupported assertions, and out-and-out falsehoods” to spread its message. Internal memos show FTI employees compiled reports on her background, noting, among other things, that she was once dubbed “the C.E.O. killer” by Fortune magazine for her record of ousting underperforming executives. FTI also tracked her tweets in a spreadsheet.</font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 17px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">FTI’s Mr. Bashalany said that no attempt had been made to hide any of the report authors’ affiliation. He said neither FTI through its Compass Lexecon subsidiary nor its clients “had any influence whatsoever over the form or direction” of the reports. FTI staff conducted “some basic biographic research” of Ms. Minow, he said, “but that’s it — we did nothing else.”</font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 17px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style=""><b style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">This month, the Independent Petroleum Association of America, t</b><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">he oil and gas lobby group, announced it had launched a major initiative to support oil and gas companies looking into adopting environmental, social and governance strategies. In its announcement, the group stressed the</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"> importance of efforts that were “<b>authentic</b> and effective.”</span></font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 17px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Its partner in the endeavor is FTI.</font></p></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">off bs</font></div><div><div class="component-wrap" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: inherit; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 60px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; position: relative; flex-flow: column-reverse wrap; background-color: rgb(252, 252, 252);"><h1 class="headline-main" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: inherit; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.875rem; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 2.5625rem; vertical-align: baseline; transition: opacity 0.3s ease 0s; opacity: 1;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">fTI Consulting Expands Forensic and Litigation Consulting Capabilities in France with Appointment of Senior Managing Director Cyril Naudin</font></h1></div><div class="component-wrap" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: inherit; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 60px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; position: relative; flex-flow: column-reverse wrap;"><div class="rte-wrapper" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: inherit; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 20px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: initial; vertical-align: baseline; overflow: auto !important;"><p style="font-weight: inherit; background-color: rgb(252, 252, 252); -webkit-font-smoothing: inherit; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.875rem; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 26px; vertical-align: baseline; letter-spacing: 0.01em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><location value="LU/fr..paris" idsrc="xmltag.org" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: inherit; box-sizing: border-box;">PARIS</location>,&nbsp;<chron style="-webkit-font-smoothing: inherit; box-sizing: border-box;">May 03, 2022</chron>&nbsp;(GLOBE NEWSWIRE) --&nbsp;<org value="NYSE:FCN" idsrc="xmltag.org" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: inherit; box-sizing: border-box;">FTI Consulting, Inc.</org>&nbsp;(NYSE: FCN) today announced the appointment of&nbsp;<a href="https://www.globenewswire.com/Tracker?data=s5F68zOMFULveIL-6fCiZReZN5lX76i88izniekrZ25pIaSFbhGu-Nb91keJ-szOLSneSeYKVllyTRdEqPNyUNkU-QVJhhbowPxbFN6E2MSoEFiR1yyZdQF4awLYNE1z" rel="nofollow" target="blank" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: inherit; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; text-decoration-line: none; cursor: pointer; transition: color 0.1s ease-in 0s;"><person style="-webkit-font-smoothing: inherit; box-sizing: border-box;">Cyril Naudin</person>&nbsp;</a>as a Senior Managing Director within the&nbsp;<org style="-webkit-font-smoothing: inherit; box-sizing: border-box;">Forensic and Litigation Consulting</org>&nbsp;segment, based in&nbsp;<location value="LU/fr..paris" idsrc="xmltag.org" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: inherit; box-sizing: border-box;">Paris</location>.</font></p><p style="font-weight: inherit; background-color: rgb(252, 252, 252); -webkit-font-smoothing: inherit; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.875rem; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 26px; vertical-align: baseline; letter-spacing: 0.01em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><person style="-webkit-font-smoothing: inherit; box-sizing: border-box;">Mr. Naudin</person>&nbsp;has more than 20 years of experience assisting French and international companies and their legal counsel on strategic forensic and financial crime investigations and compliance matters. He is the most recent addition to the&nbsp;<org style="-webkit-font-smoothing: inherit; box-sizing: border-box;">Forensic and Litigation Consulting</org>&nbsp;segment in&nbsp;<location value="LC/fr" idsrc="xmltag.org" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: inherit; box-sizing: border-box;">France</location>, following the December appointment of&nbsp;<a href="https://www.globenewswire.com/Tracker?data=bS62Fmv3dvl5SnvWQv-37dS5mgMlEUdTRw5KGD8HSfY96HWpQdbHVLAROAysAo7UhAitqpza5PrT1yJJmpi7uRge7iZlFuADSoMeh04bx5xre4vwsJNTgcJp4xma4Jk3qPGfB7DTg-A-C--h7Rs6DGiGi8ErDngVibLopXcwvlqEqLNV1YoyA2-Kan7fnO3aCQlTtAAB0LXb_MJOYlOfwrPTGKg2Az95aW3MjrhhjHb4Tcm4FwgEwCF3VPXi_EBj" rel="nofollow" target="blank" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: inherit; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; text-decoration-line: none; cursor: pointer; transition: color 0.1s ease-in 0s;"><person style="-webkit-font-smoothing: inherit; box-sizing: border-box;">Karl Payeur</person>&nbsp;</a>as leader of the French practice.</font></p><p style="font-weight: inherit; -webkit-font-smoothing: inherit; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.875rem; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 26px; vertical-align: baseline; letter-spacing: 0.01em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style=""><span style="background-color: rgb(252, 252, 252);">“I am delighted to welcome Cyril to the&nbsp;</span><org style="background-color: rgb(252, 252, 252); -webkit-font-smoothing: inherit; box-sizing: border-box;">Forensic and Litigation Consulting</org><span style="background-color: rgb(252, 252, 252);">&nbsp;team in France,” said&nbsp;</span><a href="https://www.globenewswire.com/Tracker?data=TU_uegqECwL6xtIjmlEGNhf5QA8TmjZGlaX7IfURZGXTp2gi4cPhv54Jpb8REzKtAPrPIm4jfc2Vqnjz_W8hvSlEGJyw7oCxsH7bTdcG8_zttYqoUXQLK4Hi70M1KZnb" rel="nofollow" target="blank" style="background-color: rgb(252, 252, 252); -webkit-font-smoothing: inherit; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; text-decoration-line: none; cursor: pointer; transition: color 0.1s ease-in 0s;"><person style="-webkit-font-smoothing: inherit; box-sizing: border-box;">Karen Briggs</person>&nbsp;</a><span style="background-color: rgb(252, 252, 252);">, Head of&nbsp;</span><org style="background-color: rgb(252, 252, 252); -webkit-font-smoothing: inherit; box-sizing: border-box;">EMEA Forensic and Litigation Consulting</org><span style="background-color: rgb(252, 252, 252);">&nbsp;and Technology at&nbsp;</span><org value="NYSE:FCN" idsrc="xmltag.org" style="background-color: rgb(252, 252, 252); -webkit-font-smoothing: inherit; box-sizing: border-box;">FTI Consulting</org><span style="background-color: rgb(252, 252, 252);">. “With his wealth of </span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">investigations and compliance</span><span style="background-color: rgb(252, 252, 252);"> experience, Cyril’s appointment supports our goal of becoming the leading provider of forensic, investigation, compliance and technology services in&nbsp;</span><location value="LC/fr" idsrc="xmltag.org" style="background-color: rgb(252, 252, 252); -webkit-font-smoothing: inherit; box-sizing: border-box;">France</location><span style="background-color: rgb(252, 252, 252);">&nbsp;and across the EMEA region.”&nbsp;&nbsp;</span></font></p><p style="font-weight: inherit; background-color: rgb(252, 252, 252); -webkit-font-smoothing: inherit; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.875rem; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 26px; vertical-align: baseline; letter-spacing: 0.01em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><person style="-webkit-font-smoothing: inherit; box-sizing: border-box;">Mr. Naudin</person>&nbsp;leads and conducts regulatory and internal investigations in&nbsp;<location value="LC/fr" idsrc="xmltag.org" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: inherit; box-sizing: border-box;">France</location>&nbsp;and abroad, dealing with allegations of fraud, bribery and corruption, including electronic data review. He assists international companies and public-sector entities in the assessment or implementation of their compliance programmes, mainly in the context of Sapin II and the ISO 37001 norm requirements: corruption and fraud risk assessment, implementation of specific procedures, set-up of whistleblowing systems, design and implementation of accounting controls, and fraud and corruption-related seminars, including assisting organizations during controls carried out by the French anticorruption agency (Agence Française Anticorruption).&nbsp;<person style="-webkit-font-smoothing: inherit; box-sizing: border-box;">Mr. Naudin</person>&nbsp;also provides clients with compliance expertise, including corporate intelligence services, compliance audit and anti-bribery and anti-corruption due diligence in the context of M&A operations.</font></p><p style="font-weight: inherit; background-color: rgb(252, 252, 252); -webkit-font-smoothing: inherit; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.875rem; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 26px; vertical-align: baseline; letter-spacing: 0.01em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Prior to joining&nbsp;<org value="NYSE:FCN" idsrc="xmltag.org" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: inherit; box-sizing: border-box;">FTI Consulting</org>,&nbsp;<person style="-webkit-font-smoothing: inherit; box-sizing: border-box;">Mr. Naudin</person>&nbsp;led the forensic advisory and compliance practice for&nbsp;<location value="LC/fr" idsrc="xmltag.org" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: inherit; box-sizing: border-box;">France</location>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<location value="LR/afr" idsrc="xmltag.org" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: inherit; box-sizing: border-box;">Africa</location>&nbsp;at a Big Four firm.</font></p><p style="font-weight: inherit; background-color: rgb(252, 252, 252); -webkit-font-smoothing: inherit; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.875rem; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 26px; vertical-align: baseline; letter-spacing: 0.01em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Commenting on the appointment,&nbsp;<person style="-webkit-font-smoothing: inherit; box-sizing: border-box;">Mr. Naudin</person>&nbsp;said, “I am pleased to join the Investigation & Compliance team of FTI Consulting’s&nbsp;<org style="-webkit-font-smoothing: inherit; box-sizing: border-box;">Forensic and Litigation Consulting</org>&nbsp;segment. It’s an exciting time to be part of&nbsp;<org value="NYSE:FCN" idsrc="xmltag.org" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: inherit; box-sizing: border-box;">FTI Consulting</org>&nbsp;in&nbsp;<location value="LC/fr" idsrc="xmltag.org" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: inherit; box-sizing: border-box;">France</location>&nbsp;and I have been impressed by the level of expertise and quality since joining the firm. I look forward to working with Karen, Karl and the team and contributing to the continued growth of our team and the French practice.”</font></p><p style="font-weight: inherit; background-color: rgb(252, 252, 252); -webkit-font-smoothing: inherit; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.875rem; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 26px; vertical-align: baseline; letter-spacing: 0.01em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><org style="-webkit-font-smoothing: inherit; box-sizing: border-box;">The Forensic and Litigation Consulting</org>&nbsp;segment at&nbsp;<org value="NYSE:FCN" idsrc="xmltag.org" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: inherit; box-sizing: border-box;">FTI Consulting</org>&nbsp;provides multidisciplinary, independent dispute advisory, investigative, data acquisition and analysis, and forensic accounting services to the global business and legal community. The team supports clients facing high-stakes litigation, arbitration, compliance investigations and regulatory scrutiny.</font></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: inherit; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.875rem; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 26px; vertical-align: baseline; letter-spacing: 0.01em; text-align: justify;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style=""><span style="background-color: rgb(252, 252, 252); font-weight: 700; -webkit-font-smoothing: inherit; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;">About&nbsp;<org value="NYSE:FCN" idsrc="xmltag.org" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: inherit; box-sizing: border-box;">FTI Consulting</org></span><br style="-webkit-font-smoothing: inherit; box-sizing: border-box;" /><org value="NYSE:FCN" idsrc="xmltag.org" style="background-color: rgb(252, 252, 252); font-weight: inherit; -webkit-font-smoothing: inherit; box-sizing: border-box;">FTI Consulting, Inc.</org><span style="background-color: rgb(252, 252, 252); font-weight: inherit;">&nbsp;is a global business advisory firm dedicated to helping organisations manage change, </span><b style="background-color: rgb(252, 252, 252);">mitigate risk</b><span style="font-weight: inherit;"><span style="background-color: rgb(252, 252, 252);"> and resolve disputes: financial, legal, operational, political & regulatory,</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"> reputational and transactional</span><span style="background-color: rgb(252, 252, 252);">. With more than 6,900 employees located in 30 countries,&nbsp;</span></span><org value="NYSE:FCN" idsrc="xmltag.org" style="background-color: rgb(252, 252, 252); font-weight: inherit; -webkit-font-smoothing: inherit; box-sizing: border-box;">FTI Consulting</org><span style="background-color: rgb(252, 252, 252); font-weight: inherit;">&nbsp;professionals work closely with clients to anticipate, illuminate and overcome complex business challenges and make the most of opportunities. The Company generated&nbsp;</span><money style="background-color: rgb(252, 252, 252); font-weight: inherit; -webkit-font-smoothing: inherit; box-sizing: border-box;">$2.78 billion</money><span style="background-color: rgb(252, 252, 252); font-weight: inherit;">&nbsp;in revenues during fiscal year 2021. In certain jurisdictions, </span><span style="background-color: rgb(252, 252, 252);"><b>FTI Consulting’s services are provided through distinct legal entities that are separately capitalised </b></span><span style="background-color: rgb(252, 252, 252); font-weight: inherit;">and independently managed. For more information, visit&nbsp;</span><a rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.globenewswire.com/Tracker?data=eggJHvj1KYywNd2uTXbPcp9HBnAHJAD4LK9BbKnLqn2XtLT1wFoifxV7K5BqWSkvhrnGXv6gd9qpqvt_Dtx3_2219S3RVefS17GhMv_ZbkQ=" target="blank" style="background-color: rgb(252, 252, 252); font-weight: inherit; -webkit-font-smoothing: inherit; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; text-decoration-line: none; cursor: pointer; transition: color 0.1s ease-in 0s;">www.fticonsulting.com</a><span style="background-color: rgb(252, 252, 252); font-weight: inherit;">&nbsp;and connect with us on&nbsp;</span><a rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.globenewswire.com/Tracker?data=cxYLm_0kOfrFiYk6WfUCbydGd-5-fLLPvsRiUu5GLmgbLAsNwFQB34TggvYBRiOtNS6ZylhzQazQwLuIdcDbSPo7s4dU0IVnW0GgccgP5Ec=" target="blank" style="background-color: rgb(252, 252, 252); font-weight: inherit; -webkit-font-smoothing: inherit; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; text-decoration-line: none; cursor: pointer; transition: color 0.1s ease-in 0s;">Twitter (@FTIConsulting)</a><span style="background-color: rgb(252, 252, 252); font-weight: inherit;">,&nbsp;</span><a rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.globenewswire.com/Tracker?data=99_wwfXkrkH4Ce3_j-yRt69meItNJfLCuLsVMc6bEDR5CZuVhOPRw_MlrNvsfzugkoRDYo38e92cpfdPKK1vJkJcoP1CFZcfGnU9gP4NiOo=" target="blank" style="background-color: rgb(252, 252, 252); font-weight: inherit; -webkit-font-smoothing: inherit; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; text-decoration-line: none; cursor: pointer; transition: color 0.1s ease-in 0s;">Facebook</a><span style="background-color: rgb(252, 252, 252); font-weight: inherit;">&nbsp;and&nbsp;</span><a rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.globenewswire.com/Tracker?data=fuubYSbtQjwjdOZlKsxMUmtdmwHc9Hm3wK0fedOIt-5HZfmD8eeRyTlASRULovNLZ6cJfQXrJKjUdloqjJ3LReI-YUSTkYegciD0rYmtcIM=" target="blank" style="background-color: rgb(252, 252, 252); font-weight: inherit; -webkit-font-smoothing: inherit; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; text-decoration-line: none; cursor: pointer; transition: color 0.1s ease-in 0s;">LinkedIn</a><span style="background-color: rgb(252, 252, 252); font-weight: inherit;">.</span></font></p><p style="font-weight: inherit; background-color: rgb(252, 252, 252); -webkit-font-smoothing: inherit; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.875rem; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 26px; vertical-align: baseline; letter-spacing: 0.01em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="-webkit-font-smoothing: inherit; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: 700; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;"><org value="NYSE:FCN" idsrc="xmltag.org" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: inherit; box-sizing: border-box;">FTI Consulting, Inc.</org>&nbsp;</span><br style="-webkit-font-smoothing: inherit; box-sizing: border-box;" />555 12<sup style="-webkit-font-smoothing: inherit; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit;">th</sup>&nbsp;Street NW<br style="-webkit-font-smoothing: inherit; box-sizing: border-box;" /><location value="LU/us.dc.wash" idsrc="xmltag.org" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: inherit; box-sizing: border-box;">Washington, DC</location>&nbsp;20004<br style="-webkit-font-smoothing: inherit; box-sizing: border-box;" />+1.202.312.9100</font></p><p style="font-weight: inherit; background-color: rgb(252, 252, 252); -webkit-font-smoothing: inherit; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.875rem; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 26px; vertical-align: baseline; letter-spacing: 0.01em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="-webkit-font-smoothing: inherit; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: 700; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;">Investor Contact:</span><br style="-webkit-font-smoothing: inherit; box-sizing: border-box;" /><person style="-webkit-font-smoothing: inherit; box-sizing: border-box;">Mollie Hawkes</person><br style="-webkit-font-smoothing: inherit; box-sizing: border-box;" />+1.617.747.1791<br style="-webkit-font-smoothing: inherit; box-sizing: border-box;" /><a rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.globenewswire.com/Tracker?data=BevqwXJAq8-XEQ05wnqp745YdUATKSAr4uVc2ESGyTSJDNHEjs5m4mpCx1N7XlXUI4VvygAchj8N6PL9eP3mjBkHp5UuF2_FNo9OneTHD75ylVxUBQkx0GEcV_aLSv0N" target="blank" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: inherit; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; text-decoration-line: none; cursor: pointer; transition: color 0.1s ease-in 0s;">mollie.hawkes@fticonsulting.com</a></font></p><p style="font-weight: inherit; background-color: rgb(252, 252, 252); -webkit-font-smoothing: inherit; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.875rem; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 26px; vertical-align: baseline; letter-spacing: 0.01em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="-webkit-font-smoothing: inherit; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: 700; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;">Media Contact:</span><br style="-webkit-font-smoothing: inherit; box-sizing: border-box;" /><person style="-webkit-font-smoothing: inherit; box-sizing: border-box;">Matthew Bashalany</person><br style="-webkit-font-smoothing: inherit; box-sizing: border-box;" />+1.617.897.1545<br style="-webkit-font-smoothing: inherit; box-sizing: border-box;" /><a rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.globenewswire.com/Tracker?data=4kytA5oUw0Bzo99382tL4LnxBGjN5PVEkLZruYCLKjSgbD98x3b5raH1DeL2HXfA1tc_H_MQDFWV7AYUqbHL8K-PQmhImluH32MLVLaPOXOhLpbASaG8rsFvT1pvLfvdLbaWvlBhLYc3mJUceHwRfA" target="blank" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: inherit; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; text-decoration-line: none; cursor: pointer; transition: color 0.1s ease-in 0s;">matthew.bashalany@fticonsulting.com</a></font></p></div></div></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" /><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">GASLAND DEBUNKED REGIONS</font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></div><div>KEY ISSUES</div><div>AUTHOR: JEFF ESHELMAN</div><div>
</div><div>&nbsp;Apr 26, 2022</div><div>John Kerry Walks Back Natural Gas Comments, But Confusion Lingers</div><div>
</div><div>&nbsp;Mar 28, 2022</div><div>American Oil & Natural Gas Producers Want to Increase Production – But Hurdles Remain</div><div>
</div><div>&nbsp;Mar 16, 2022 1&nbsp;</div><div>Supply Chain Issues Are Hitting the Oil and Natural Gas Industry Too</div><div>
</div><div>&nbsp;Feb 24, 2022 1&nbsp;</div><div>Tapping the U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve Won’t Lower Prices At The Pump This Time Either</div><div>
</div><div>&nbsp;Nov 18, 2021</div><div>The U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve Is For Emergencies, Not Balancing Markets</div><div>
</div><div>&nbsp;Sep 10, 2021</div><div><b>WTAS: ‘Methane Fee’ Would Raise Household Energy Costs</b></div><div>
</div><div>&nbsp;Aug 16, 2021</div><div>“Air” Apparent: Activists Roll Out Widely Discredited Shale Researchers To Attack Low-Carbon Hydrogen Technology</div><div>
</div><div>&nbsp;Jul 12, 2021</div><div>Media, Activist Group Aim to Build a Fracking Straw Man, But Come up Empty On Negative Impacts</div><div>
</div><div>&nbsp;Nov 12, 2020</div><div>EID Response to the New York Times</div><div>
</div><div>&nbsp;Feb 26, 2013</div><div>IPAA and EID Explain to Feds Why LNG Exports Make Sense</div><div>
</div><div>&nbsp;Jul 24, 2012</div><div><b>Two Thumbs Up for API Film Festival</b></div><div><b>...</b><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">colleague Chris Tucker was there from EID to talk about&nbsp;</span><a href="http://www.truthlandmovie.com/" style="background: 0px 0px rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; outline: 0px; cursor: pointer;">Truthland</a><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">.&nbsp; API’s Karen Moreau introduced us to&nbsp;</span><a href="http://www.landandlibertyfoundation.org/2012/01/the-empire-state-divide-parts-1-3/" style="background: 0px 0px rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; outline: 0px; cursor: pointer;">Empire State Divide</a><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">, while Phelim McAleer discussed his documentary&nbsp;</span><a href="http://fracknation.com/" style="background: 0px 0px rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; outline: 0px; cursor: pointer;">FrackNation</a><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">, which is still in the production phase but expected to be released soon.&nbsp; Other films included The Grand Energy Transition by Robert A. Hefner, III, and Switch – A Smarter Energy Future....</span></div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" /><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></div><div>&nbsp;Nov 11, 2011 2&nbsp;</div><div>Sundown for Krugman</div><div>12345</div><div>logo</div><div>A PROJECT Of IPAA,2022.&nbsp;</div></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></div>