E. Bruce Harrison
E Bruce Harrison | |
|---|---|
| Born | April 3, 1932 Alabama, US |
| Died | January 16, 2021 |
| Occupation | propagandist |
| Known for | Public relations Greenwashing |
| Spouse | Patricia de Stacy Harrison |
E Bruce Harrison (born April 3, 1932) was a reporter, PR professional and a controversial figure known as the father of modern greenwashing.
Early life
[edit]Born to Emmett Bruce and Jenelle Williams Harrison, E Bruce Harrison studied at University of Alabama, where he became the lead editor of the school's newspaper. He graduated in 1954, and went on to work as a political reporter in Georgia[citation needed].
Career
[edit]In his early career, Harrison worked as a reporter and later the managing editor for two newspapers in Alabama and Georgia, prior to moving to Washington DC to act as the press secretary to a Member of the House of Representatives[citation needed].
He founded the E. Bruce Harrison Company in 1973, a PR firm which represented some of America's largest corporations, including General Motors and Du Pont, as well as international chemical and fossil fuel companies such as BP and Monsanto.
In 1999, PRWeek included Harrison into its Hall of Fame, and followed this in 2000 by naming him as one of the '100 Most Influential Public Relations Professionals of the 20th Century'.[1]
Greenwashing
[edit]The publication of Rachel Carson's Silent Spring in 1962 created the first wave of enviromental action, and caused concern amongst industrial corporations across the US. Harrison, who was working for the Manufacturing Chemists' Association, led a campaign to defame Carson and avoid the implementation of new regulations to restrict pesticides and industrial pollution, a campaign that Harrison and the Association ultimately lost.[2][3]
Following the creation of new environmental legislation and the creation of the EPA, Harrison was employed by the American Petroleum Institute as a lobbyist and PR representative. In this role he created the National Environmental Development Association (NEDA), a lobby group that represented a coalition of chemical, mining, oil and gas companies which sought to limit further regulation and sow misinformation about the environmental and climate impacts of fossil fuels.[4]
NEDA was the first client of his own PR firm, Harrison & Associates, which he co-founded with his wife, Patricia - who would later work as the co-chair of the Republican National Committee and as a staffer in George W Bush's state department. Harrison and his agency, are acknowledged as the creators of modern greenwashing, producing misinformation and disinformation campaigns for companies including General Motors, Monsanto and BP. His work has had a lasting impact on promoting misinformation about climate change, particularly in misleading the public about the economic costs of mitigating the impacts of climate change.[5][6][7]
References
[edit]- ^ "Beltway PRSA inducts 50 into hall of fame". www.prweek.com. PR Week. 4 October 1999.
- ^ "E. Bruce Harrison: The godfather of greenwashing". www.drilled.media. Drilled. 6 July 2021.
- ^ "There can be no compromise on a burning planet". www.thenation.com. The Nation. 27 October 2021.
- ^ "The audacious PR plot that seeded doubt about climate change". www.bbc.com. BBC. 23 July 2022.
- ^ "Spin doctors have shaped the environmentalism debate for decades". www.washingtonpost.com. Washington Post. 21 February 2021.
- ^ "Hellbound". www.motherjones.com. Mother Jones. 1 September 1994.
- ^ "'Truth has nothing to do with who wins the argument': New details on Big Oil's campaign to defeat climate action". www.pbs.org. PBS. 19 April 2022.