[Silence]
[Instrumental Intro: Piano, Deep Sub-Bass Synth, Acoustic Guitar, Organ, Saxophone, Drums, Electric Guitar, Percussion]

[Intro]
Look around
(What’s that sound?)
Something’s changing
(And rearranging)

Up above
(From below)
Something’s moving
(Where’d it go?)

The sky is wide
(The world is turning)
Nothing to hide
(The future’s burning)

[Verse 1]
It came in slowly
(Then all at once)
Quietly growing
(Some sort-a cosmic response)

[Refrain]
The atmosphere
(Of fear)…
Did disappear

It’s a takeover
(The future… is sure…)
Taking over the present
(Heaven sent!)

Thanks for giving us…
This fine time!
(It’s fabulous!)

[Verse 2]
Take over the seasons
(Take over the flow)
Take over the reasons
(We thought we should know)

[Bridge]
Is war or peace…
(In the atmosphere!)
Fears release…
(Or fears near?)

[Refrain]
The atmosphere
(Of fear)…
Did disappear

It’s a takeover
(The future… is sure…)
Taking over the present
(Heaven sent!)

Thanks for giving us…
This fine time!
(It’s fabulous!)

[Outro]
Take over
(Discover)
Takeover
(Uncover)

The future
(Is sure)
Present
(A present)
… of the present.

The atmosphere
(Is here)

The takeover
(Is now)

Thanks for giving us…

This fine time!

(It’s fabulous!)

…Absolutely fabulous.

[Fade out]

[Silence]

[End]

From the album “Present Tense“

[Silence]
[Instrumental Intro: snarling electric guitar, rumbling bass, stomping drums, exaggerated macho-rock riff, harmonica, juice harp, fiddle]

[Intro]
Big truck
(Dumb fu, fu, luck)

[Verse 1]
Big truck
(Big smoke)
Big voice
(Big joke)

Rollin’ coal
(Black cloud)
Make it loud
(Make us proud?)

Gasoline
(So cheap)
Burn it deep
(Never sleep)

Chrome and steel
(That’s the deal)
Manly wheels
(How ya feel?)

[Pre-Chorus]
It’s more than fuel
(More than a ride)
It’s an identity
(You wear it with pride)

Don’t touch my truck
(Don’t touch my way)
Don’t tell me
(How I should play)

Big truck
(Dumb fu, fu, buck)

Shout it out:
Big truck!
(Dumb fu, fu, bluck)

[Instrumental, Banjo Solo, Harmonica, Fiddle]

[Refrain]
Petro-Masculinity
(Testosterone insanity)
Blowin’ smoke
(Up yer ass)
Noose tied rope
(“Do not pass”)

Petro-Masculinity
(Ego boasting vanity)
Petro-Masculinity
(Missing simple humanity)
Petro-Masculinity
(Promoting the calamity)

[Verse 2]
Breadwinner
(That’s the role)
Worker
(With no soul)

Factory town
(Shut it down?)
What went wrong?
(Look around?)

Suburban dream
(Gasoline)
Big machine
(Mean machine)

Drive alone
(Own the road)
Pay the toll
(Carry the load)
Big truck
(Dumb fu, fu, buck)

Shout it out:
Big truck!
(Dumb fu, fu, bluck)

[Refrain]
Petro-Masculinity
(Testosterone insanity)
Blowin’ smoke
(Up yer ass)
Noose tied rope
(“Do not pass”)

Petro-Masculinity
(Ego boasting vanity)
Petro-Masculinity
(Missing simple humanity)
Petro-Masculinity
(Promoting the calamity)

[Verse 4]
Rolling coal
(Here we go!)
Smoke the road
(Watch it blow!)

“I don’t care!”
(See me burn!)
“I won’t change!”
(I can’t learn!)

A cloud of diesel
(Up in the air)
A cloud of meaning
(Totally unaware)

[Bridge]
Big truck
(Dumb fu, fu, schmuck)

Shout it out:
Big truck!
(Dumb fu, fu, schmuck)

[Break]
Blow it out!
(BLOW IT OUT!)

Burn it up!
(BURN IT UP!)

Make it loud!
(MAKE IT LOUD!)

What’s that cloud?

[Silence]

Big truck
(Dumb fu, fu, schmuck)

Shout it out:
Big truck!
(Dumb fu, fu, schmuck)

[Refrain]
Petro-Masculinity
(Testosterone insanity)
Blowin’ smoke
(Up yer ass)
Noose tied rope
(“Do not pass”)

[Final Bridge]
Fuel becomes freedom
(Freedom becomes pride)
Pride becomes anger
(When challenged from outside)

And anger becomes politics
(Politics becomes power)
Power protects the system
(Hour after hour)

[Final Refrain]
Petro-Masculinity
(Testosterone insanity)
Blowin’ smoke
(Up yer ass)
Noose tied rope
(“Do not pass”)

Petro-Masculinity
(Ego boasting vanity)
Petro-Masculinity
(Missing simple humanity)
Petro-Masculinity
(Promoting the calamity)

Petro-Masculinity
(What does freedom mean?)
Petro-Masculinity
(What does strength redeem?)

Petro-Masculinity
(The cultural engine)

[Outro]
Big truck
(Big smoke)

Big ego
(Big joke)

Rollin’ coal
(Missed school)

[Fade out]
Petro-Masculinity
(Ego boasting vanity)
Petro-Masculinity
(Missing simple humanity)
Petro-Masculinity
(Promoting the calamity)

Big truck
(Dumb fu, fu, stuck)

Shout it out:
Big truck!
(Dumb fu, fu… yuck)

[Instrumental Outro: guitar feedback, diesel-like bass rumble, drums gradually slowing into a single heartbeat]

[Fade out]

[End]

[Silence]

About the Song
Petro-Masculinity: The Cultural Engine

A related concept helps explain the cultural dimension of fossil-fuel politics: petro-masculinity.

Political scientist Cara Daggett introduced the term in her 2018 paper Petro-Masculinity: Fossil Fuels and Authoritarian Desire. Daggett argues that fossil-fuel systems can become connected not only to economic interests but also to identity, masculinity, authority, and resistance to social change.

The central idea is that fossil fuels can represent more than energy.

They can represent:
independence
personal freedom
economic security
traditional gender roles
national power
resistance to perceived cultural change

Fossil-fuel identity
During the twentieth century, American masculinity became closely associated with breadwinning, industrial employment, suburban development, automobile ownership, and inexpensive gasoline.

As a result, challenges to fossil-fuel consumption can sometimes be interpreted culturally rather than simply economically.

An electric vehicle, public transportation, reduced meat consumption, or restrictions on fossil-fuel use can be portrayed not merely as policy choices but as attacks on traditional identity.

This helps explain the cultural significance of behaviors such as “rolling coal,” in which modified diesel vehicles deliberately produce large quantities of exhaust smoke. The behavior can function as a form of political or cultural expression rather than transportation alone.
Petro-masculinity and authoritarianism

Daggett’s framework connects fossil-fuel dependence with authoritarian desire, particularly where climate action is interpreted as a threat to established gender roles, economic autonomy, or social status.

The connection to fossil fascism can therefore be understood at two levels:
Petro-masculinity is the cultural and identity dimension.
Fossil fascism is the political and institutional dimension.

The former can help create emotional resistance to changes in the energy system; the latter describes political structures and movements that defend fossil-fuel power.

From the album “Present Tense“

[Silence]
[Instrumental Intro: distorted blues guitar, pounding toms, industrial bass, distant marching rhythm]

[Intro]
Hut, 2, 3, 4
(Tell that lie once more)
Hut, 2, 3, 4
(Throw a stone then shut the door)
Once more…
(Hut, 2, 3, 4)

[Verse 1]
Black smoke rising
(From the ground)
Power building
(All around)

Dig it deeper
(Pump it out)
Don’t ask questions
(Don’t you doubt)

[Pre-Chorus]
Mentally ill
(Drill, baby, drill)
Rotten soul
(Gonna take a toll)

[Refrain]
Fossil fascism
(Drivin’ the schism)

Blood and soil
(Souls you’ll spoil)
Black fuel
(Fossil fool)

Imperialism
(Colonialism)
Authoritarian politicians
(White nationalism)
Racialized Division

Fossil fascism
(Drivin’ the schism)

[Verse 2]
It’s not simply
(What’s in the tank)
It’s the system
(And the rank)

Who controls it?
(Who gets paid?)
Who decides
(What plans are made?)

Energy becomes
(Identity)
Fuel becomes
(Sovereignty)

“Drill it deeper!”
(Drill it more!)
“Keep the old ways!”
(That’s the score!)

Anyone who
(Questions why)
Is obviously…
(Enemy!)

[Verse 3]
Fossil capital
(Needs protection)
Build a fortress
(Against correction)

Change the law
(Change the rules)
Call the critics
(Climate fools)

Block the movement
(Shut it down)
Keep the carbon
(In the ground?)

[Refrain]
Fossil fascism
(Drivin’ the schism)

Blood and soil
(Souls you’ll spoil)
Black fuel
(Fossil fool)

Imperialism
(Colonialism)
Authoritarian politicians
(White nationalism)
Racialized Division

Fossil fascism
(Drivin’ the schism)

[Bridge]
Mentally ill
(Drill, baby, drill)
Rotten soul
(Gonna take a toll)

Fear!
(Power!)

Identity!
(Scour the “our”!)

[Break]
Mentally ill
(Drill, baby, drill)
Rotten soul
(Gonna take a toll)

[Refrain]
Fossil fascism
(Drivin’ the schism)

Blood and soil
(Souls you’ll spoil)
Black fuel
(Fossil fool)

Imperialism
(Colonialism)
Authoritarian politicians
(White nationalism)
Racialized Division

Fossil fascism
(Drivin’ the schism)

[Final Refrain]
Fossil fascism
(Drivin’ the schism)

Blood and soil
(Souls you’ll spoil)
Black fuel
(Fossil fool)

Imperialism
(Colonialism)
Authoritarian politicians
(White nationalism)
Racialized Division

Fossil fascism
(Drivin’ the schism)

Fossil fascism
(Protectin’ the system)

Black fuel
(Political tool)

Fossil fascism
(Drivin’ the schism)

[Outro]
Pump it up
(Guard the gate)

Burn it down
(Seal our fate)

Mentally ill
(Drill, baby, drill)
Rotten soul
(Gonna take a toll)

[Instrumental Outro: industrial guitar riff dissolving into feedback, marching drums gradually falling apart]

[Silence]

[End]

About the Song
Fossil Fascism: Protecting Fossil Capital

Fossil fascism is related to, but distinct from, ecofascism.

The term has been used by scholars studying the intersection of fossil-fuel dependence, authoritarian politics, nationalism, racism, and opposition to climate action. Recent scholarship defines fossil fascism as a political, legal, and cultural system centered on an ultra-nationalist defense of fossil-fuel extraction while suppressing opposition to it.

In simplified terms:

Ecofascism accepts ecological crisis but blames the “outsider.”

Fossil fascism protects the fossil-fuel system and attacks those who seek to change it.
From “Blood and Soil” to “Black Fuel”

The historical roots of ecofascist thought are often connected to European romantic nationalism and the “Blood and Soil” tradition, in which land, national identity, and racial identity became intertwined.

Fossil fascism has a different historical lineage.

Political scientist Cara Daggett and other scholars have used the concept to examine the relationship between fossil fuels, authoritarian politics, nationalism, and racialized power. Andreas Malm and the Zetkin Collective further developed the concept in White Skin, Black Fuel, connecting fossil-fuel development to the history of European imperialism, colonialism, and racial hierarchy.

The underlying argument is that fossil fuels are not simply an energy source. They can also become embedded in political institutions, economic power, national identity, and cultural ideas about social hierarchy.

From the album “Present Tense“

[Silence]
[Instrumental Intro: electric piano, dark psychedelic acoustic guitar, pulsing bass, distant feedback]

[Verse 1]
First they say
(It isn’t real)
Nothing here
(That you can feel)

Just a cycle
(Just the weather)
Nothing’s changing
(Not together)

[Refrain]
Denial and delay
(Can’t last another day)
The cost too high to pay
(Denial and delay)

… just go away

[Verse 2]
Then the story
(Starts to change)
Now that warming
(Isn’t strange)

[Refrain]
Denial and delay
(Can’t last another day)
The cost too high to pay
(Denial and delay)

… just go away

[Instrumental, Acoustic Guitar and Electric Piano Jam]

[Bridge]
Is it denial?
(Is it delay?)
Is it doubt?
(Or a way?)

What uncertainty
(Do we stress?)
What consequences
(Do we suppress?)

[Refrain]
Denial and delay
(Can’t last another day)
The cost too high to pay
(Denial and delay)

… just go away

[Break]
Go away
(You can’t sway)
Denial
(Go away)
… you can’t stay

[Outro]
Denial and delay
(Can’t last another day)
The cost too high to pay
(Denial and delay)

You can look away
(But it won’t go away)
You can say
(Just go away)

But the world won’t
(Go away)

[Outro]
Denial and delay
(Can’t last another day)
The cost too high to pay
(Denial and delay)

… just go away

[Instrumental Outro: distorted guitar, pulsing bass, feedback fading into silence]

[Fade out]
[Silence]
[End]

About the Song
Climate Denial and Climate Delay

The most familiar form of climate misinformation is outright denial: rejecting the existence, severity, or human cause of climate change.

Political rhetoric has also attacked renewable energy through claims that wind turbines, solar power, or other clean-energy technologies are inherently dangerous or economically destructive. Some of these claims have been challenged by scientific evidence, while others involve legitimate questions about environmental impacts that require quantitative comparison rather than political rhetoric.

As public acceptance of climate change has increased, however, the political emphasis has increasingly shifted from denying the problem to opposing proposed solutions. Researchers commonly describe this strategy as climate delay.

The basic argument changes from:

“Climate change isn’t happening.”

to:

“Climate change may be happening, but addressing it will cause even greater economic or social damage.”

This framing can emphasize immediate costs—higher energy prices, job losses, grid reliability, restrictions on vehicles or industrial activity—while giving less attention to the long-term economic costs of continued warming.
Government-sponsored challenges to climate science

A prominent recent example was the U.S. Department of Energy’s July 2025 publication of A Critical Review of Impacts of Greenhouse Gas Emissions on the U.S. Climate. The report was produced by five scientists assembled by Energy Secretary Chris Wright and argued, among other things, that the economic damages from CO₂-induced warming may be smaller than commonly believed and that aggressive mitigation policies could be more harmful than beneficial.

Carbon Brief subsequently conducted a detailed fact-check with climate scientists and reported more than 100 statements it characterized as false or misleading, including claims involving the economic consequences of climate change, extreme weather, and the interpretation of scientific literature.

The significance of such disputes is not simply whether individual claims are correct. It is also about which scientific evidence is selected, which uncertainties are emphasized, and how those choices are translated into public policy.

From the album “Present Tense“

[Silence]
[Instrumental Intro: dark psychedelic guitar riff, pulsing bass, distorted organ, fast driving drums]

[Intro]
The sky is changing
(The window’s clear)
The heat is rising
(Year after year)

You can call it weather
(You can call it fate)
But the evidence
(Is at the gate)

[Verse 1]
Once they said
(It isn’t real)
Nothing happening
(Nothing to feel)

Then the record
(Started showing)
And the temperatures
(Kept on going)

So the story
(Changed its name)
“Too expensive”
(Who’s to blame?)

From denial
(To delay)
Push the problem
(One more day)

[Refrain]
Outright denial
(Is no longer sustained)
Rial in mistrial
(Lying can’t be maintained)

Just look out your window
(Look out your backdoor)
Everybody’s come to know
(We can’t take it any more)

[Verse 2]
Close the border
(Guard the gate)
Protect the resources
(While we wait)

[Refrain]
Outright denial
(Is no longer sustained)
Rial in mistrial
(Lying can’t be maintained)

Just look out your window
(Look out your backdoor)
Everybody’s come to know
(We can’t take it any more)

[Verse 3]
“Not today
(Maybe next year)
Not our problem
(Nothing to fear)”

[Bridge]
Climate, power
(And identity)
The problem – our
(Is reality)

[Break]
Look out!
(The window!)
Look about!
(The backdoor!)

[Instrumental: escalating psychedelic jam, wah-wah guitar, organ, pounding bass]

[Final Refrain]
Outright denial
(Is no longer sustained)
Rial in mistrial
(Lying can’t be maintained)

Just look out your window
(Look out your backdoor)
Everybody’s come to know
(We can’t take it any more)

Who gets to survive?
(Who gets the choice?)
Who remains alive?
(Who gets the voice?)

[Outro]
Look out your window…
(If you need to know)
You want more, more, more…
(Look out your backdoor…)

About the Song
🌎 FROM CLIMATE DENIAL TO CLIMATE AUTHORITARIANISM
Who gets to survive climate change?
Climate politics is evolving.

As outright denial becomes harder to sustain, the narrative can shift from:

“Climate change isn’t happening.”
→ “Fixing it will cost too much.”
→ “Blame the outsiders.”
→ “Protect our resources.”

This article examines four related concepts:

🔹 Climate denial & climate delay
🔹 Ecofascism
🔹 Fossil fascism
🔹 Petro-masculinity

These aren’t interchangeable terms. Each describes a different way climate change, energy, identity, economics, and political power can become intertwined.

The central question is increasingly not simply whether the climate is changing—but how society explains the change, assigns responsibility, and responds to it.

Who gets to survive climate change?

Climate misinformation is no longer limited to simply denying that the planet is warming. As climate change becomes increasingly difficult to dismiss, the political narratives surrounding it have evolved—from outright denial, to attacks on climate science, to opposition to climate policy, and, in more extreme forms, to narratives that blame immigrants and other marginalized populations for environmental decline.

These narratives are not identical. They operate through different mechanisms and identify different enemies. But they can overlap, creating a broader political strategy in which climate science, energy policy, immigration, race, gender, and national identity become interconnected.

The International Panel on the Information Environment’s 2025 assessment concluded that powerful actors—including corporations, governments, and political parties—intentionally spread inaccurate or misleading narratives about anthropogenic climate change, contributing to declining public trust and political inaction.

From Climate Denial to Climate Authoritarianism: Fossil Fascism, Ecofascism, and Petro-Masculinity

From the album “Present Tense“