The Australian oil and gas sector understood the danger posed by fossil fuel combustion back in the ’70s

The following is an extract from Slick: Australia’s Toxic Relationship with Big Oil (UQP) by Royce Kurmelovs. It is in stores July 30.

It was 1972 when the Australian oil and gas industry appears to have first publicly acknowledged the link between burning fossil fuels and the greenhouse effect. In this period those who gathered considered themselves “Men of Science”. They were skilled engineers and scientists who considered themselves equipped with the skills to tackle the world’s problems, so there was no fear in addressing the subject.

Against this backdrop, an internal tug of war was playing out within the industry at the time: “town gas”, made from coal, was being phased out and replaced by so-called “natural gas”, causing conflict between coal and gas producers.