The toxic fossil economy has infiltrated every aspect of our lives, from the fuels in our homes and vehicles, to the everyday products and foods we consume. From Poison for Profit to the Power of a United Front: A Funders' Guide to Understanding the Toxic Fossil Economy helps us see the fossil economy as a whole. Within the guide, we trace how a shared analysis and more strategic collaboration is illuminating the powerful forces driving the fossil economy, and how once-siloed efforts are uniting in a coordinated and effective response.
Page 7: “Narratives are about confronting something that looks immovable and all mighty, but with the right questions generating tiny holes in that thinking. Through those tiny holes, little bits of light shine through. In those are opportunities for freedom, transformation, doubt and free thinking that are needed in civil processes.”
Oxfam International, Narrative Power & Collective Action: Conversations with people working to change narratives for social good, part 2, October 2020, 13, https://oxfamilibrary.openrepository.com/bitstream/handle/10546/621085/bk-narrative-power-collective-action-part2-211020-en.pdf?sequence=1.
Page 10: “From extraction to processing, manufacturing to use and disposal, the toxic fossil economy poisons people and ecosystems at every stage.”
Environmental and Energy Study Institute, “Climate, Environmental, and Health Impacts of Fossil Fuels,” 17 December 2021, https://www.eesi.org/papers/view/fact-sheet-climate-environmental-and-health-impacts-of-fossil-fuels-2021.
Page 10: “The damage is cumulative and growing exponentially: climate change, loss of biodiversity, and a looming health crisis from exposure to toxic chemicals.”
Phys.org, “Fossil fuels drive climate, health and biodiversity crises, scientists warn,” 31 March 2025, https://phys.org/news/2025-03-fossil-fuels-climate-health-biodiversity.html.
Page 10: “Microplastics - both those created by design and those caused by the breakdown of plastic - contaminate every corner of the globe and have been discovered in waterways; soils; and the bodies of people, plants and animals. Microplastics are associated with inflammation, impaired immune systems, deteriorated tissues, altered metabolic functions, abnormal organ development, and cell damage.”
Center for International Environmental Law, Plastic & Health: The Hidden Costs of a Plastic Planet, February 2019, 2-3, 7-8, 29, 35-41, 51-58, https://www.ciel.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/Plastic-and-Health-The-Hidden-Costs-of-a-Plastic-Planet-February-2019.pdf.
Page 10: Additional links to support 'A Lifecycle of Harm' content can be found at:
Global Climate & Health Alliance, Cradle to Grave: The Health Toll of Fossil Fuels and the Imperative for a Just Transition, https://climateandhealthalliance.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/C2G-Report-low-_res-English.pdf.
Deep Science Ventures, Toxicity: The Invisible Tsunami – How pervasive toxicity threatens human and planetary survival, https://www.deepscienceventures.com/toxicity.
Page 11: “Roughly 14% of oil and 8% of fossil gas (misleadingly labelled “natural” gas) are processed into chemical feedstocks. These feedstocks are the primary drivers of fossil fuel demand growth, and their production is projected to increase by 50% by 2050.”
International Energy Agency, The Future of Petrochemicals: Towards more sustainable plastics and fertilisers, October 2018, 4, https://iea.blob.core.windows.net/assets/bee4ef3a-8876-4566-98cf-7a130c013805/The_Future_of_Petrochemicals.pdf.
E&E News, “Why the oil industry may thrive without gasoline,” 28 February 2024, https://www.eenews.net/articles/why-the-oil-industry-may-thrive-without-gasoline/.
Page 11: “In parallel, the coal-to-chemicals sector is also booming.”
Chemical & Engineering News, “Coal is set to surge as a chemical raw material,” 23 October 2025, https://cen.acs.org/business/petrochemicals/Coal-set-surge-chemical-raw/103/web/2025/10#:~:text=Of%20the%2047%20coal%2Dto,and%20Pakistan%201%2C%20Urgewald%20says.
Page 12: “95% of manmade chemicals are derived from fossil fuel feedstocks, and the chemical industry also emits 5% of all greenhouse gases.”
PwC, “Sustainable chemicals pathways,” 26 June 2024, https://www.pwc.com/gx/en/issues/business-model-reinvention/how-we-fuel-and-power/net-zero-chemicals-industry-transformation.html.
Page 13: “Roughly 70,000 household items are made from these fossil-based chemicals.”
World Resources Institute, “Fossil Fuels Are in Everything from Plastics to Makeup, but Cleaner Alternatives Are Emerging,” 17 April 2024, https://www.wri.org/insights/defossilizing-us-chemical-production.
Page 13: “Plastic is one of the most pervasive materials on the planet, and nearly every piece of plastic begins its lifecycle as a fossil fuel that was processed into complex chemical mixtures.”
Center for International Environmental Law, Fueling Plastics: Fossils, Plastics, & Petrochemical Feedstocks, 20 September 2017, 1, https://www.ciel.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/Fueling-Plastics-Fossils-Plastics-Petrochemical-Feedstocks.pdf.
Page 13: “Annual plastic output has grown from under 2 million tons in 1950 to more than 400 million tons today.”
Science Daily, “More than 8.3 billion tons of plastics made: Most has now been discarded,” 19 July 2017, https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/07/170719140939.htm.
Page 13: “Single-use packaging accounts for roughly 40% of current plastic production and contributes disproportionately to the accumulation of plastic waste in the environment and in our bodies.”
Plastic Pollution Coalition, “Single-Use Plastic Explained: Health & Environmental Impacts of Single-Use Plastic,” accessed 9 March 2026, https://www.plasticpollutioncoalition.org/guides/singleuseplastics/healthimpacts.
Page 16: "As early as the 1960s, industry scientists understood the toxic nature of ‘forever chemicals’ on human health, and they knew that fossil fuel use would drive up atmospheric carbon dioxide and raise global temperatures."
Annals of Global Health, “The Devil they Knew: Chemical Documents Analysis of Industry Influence on PFAS Science,” 1 June 2023, https://annalsofglobalhealth.org/articles/10.5334/aogh.4013.
Center for International Environmental Law, Smoke and Fumes: The Legal and Evidentiary Basis for Holding Big Oil Accountable for the Climate Crisis, November 2017, 11-14, https://www.ciel.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/Smoke-Fumes.pdf.
Page 18: “Prior to 1964, when the U.S. Surgeon General named smoking a national health hazard, work on tobacco was splintered. Doctors treated lung cancer, families struggled with addiction, and advocates focused on youth-targeted advertising. Once the tobacco industry’s deceptive practices were exposed, advocates across medicine, law, education, and policy united around a common goal. Their coordinated action reshaped public understanding and behavior. The outcome secured sweeping protections and major policy victories that saved countless lives.”
Centers for Disease Control, Tobacco – Surgeon General’s Reports, “A History of the Surgeon General's Reports on Smoking and Health,” 15 May 2024, https://www.cdc.gov/tobacco-surgeon-general-reports/about/history.html.
Page 18: “Other countries around the world have also taken on the tobacco industry in similar ways, with similar results.”
Stanford Economic Review, “That Time a South American Country Fought Big Tobacco—and Won,” 9 January 2023, https://stanfordeconreview.com/2023/01/09/commentary-that-time-a-south-american-country-fought-big-tobacco-and-won/.
World Health Organization, “WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control,” accessed on 9 March 2026, https://www.who.int/europe/teams/tobacco/who-framework-convention-on-tobacco-control-(who-fctc).
Emissions Unleashed: The Climate Crisis and America’s Petrochemical Boom
Too Toxic to Ignore: Confronting the Petrochemical Threat in Europe
Toward Fossil Fuel–Free Food: Why Collaboration Between Food & Energy Systems Players Is Key
Power Shift: Why We Need to Wean Industrial Food Systems Off Fossil Fuels
Frack to Fork: Fossil Fertilizers Harm Health, Climate, and Food Systems