Naomi Klein argued in her 2014 book This Changes Everything: Capitalism vs. the Climate that “our economic system and our planetary system are now at war” As US Drills ‘Towards Disaster,’ Report Warns Anything Less Than Urgent Green New Deal Will Be ‘Too Little, Too Late’ As the scientific community warns the world must dramatically and rapidly slash carbon emissions to avert global climate disaster, the …
The Next Financial Crisis Lurks Underground: Fueled by debt and years of easy credit, America’s energy boom is on shaky footing
By Bethany McLean, NYTimes.com Ms. McLean, whose book about Enron was turned into an Oscar-nominated documentary, is the author of a new book about the fracking industry. Sept. 1, 2018 About 20 years ago, an entrepreneur named George Mitchell proved that it was possible to get lots of oil and gas out of parts of the earth long thought to be sucked dry, …
CIEL: Story of industry knowledge of harms and climate change goes back at least to 1958
In the past year, we’ve uncovered more evidence of the fossil fuel industry’s early knowledge of climate change. Since the 1950s and 60s — more than half a century ago — companies like ExxonMobil and Shell have been researching climate change and acknowledging climate risks internally. By the 1970s, oil companies were using that knowledge to protect their own investments …
Report: Nearly a Quarter of U.S. Greenhouse Gas Emissions Come from Public Lands
On November 23, the Trump Administration discreetly published a new report from the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) that found about one-quarter of all U.S. carbon emissions come from fossil fuel extraction operations on public lands. The report measured national carbon emissions between 2005 and 2014 and calculated that 23.7 percent of those emissions were generated on public lands by the …
Is Exxon Conning Its Investors?
A New York State lawsuit charges that the oil giant has not properly accounted for the climate risks at the core of its business. By The Editorial Board, Nov. 25, 2018 The editorial board represents the opinions of the board, its editor and the publisher. It is separate from the newsroom and the Op-Ed section. In August, a lawyer for Exxon Mobil told a …
Fossil Fuel Companies Kill With Impunity. Why Are Their Leaders Not In Jail?
November 23rd, 2018 by Steve Hanley on Clean Technica Over the course of 2018, I have started emphasizing how the extraction and sale of fossil fuels is like a neighbor who pumps the contents of his septic system onto your front lawn and expects you to pay to clean up his mess. Only under the most absurd economic theory could such antisocial and irresponsible …
Digitization allied to technology learning curves in solar PV, wind and batteries are creating disruption in energy, the world’s largest sector
September 11th, 2018 by Joshua S Hill in Clean Technica The rapid growth of clean technologies is expected to cause fossil fuel demand to peak in the 2020s, according to a new report from Carbon Tracker, serving to put at risk trillions for investors ignorant of or unwilling to participate in the transition to a low-carbon economy. The new report from independent financial …
How unstable the fracking industry is
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/09/01/opinion/the-next-financial-crisis-lurks-underground.html excerpt: The fracking industry’s financial foundation is unstable: Frackers haven’t proven that they can make money. “The industry has a very bad history of money going into it and never coming out,” says the hedge fund manager Jim Chanos, who founded one of the world’s largest short-selling hedge funds. The 60 biggest exploration and production firms are not generating enough cash …
CO2’s Role in Global Warming Has Been on the Oil Industry’s Radar Since the 1960s
Historical records reveal early industry concern with air pollutants, including smog and CO2, and unwanted regulation. By NEELA BANERJEE et al., 13 Apr 2016 Documents reveal that the risks of climate change were being discussed in the inner circles of the oil industry in the 1960s, earlier than previously documented. Credit: Photo of Exxon’s Bayway oil refinery in New Jersey by …
In all clean electric California generation would only take 39% of the land area fossil fuels do today
Mark Jacobson on Clean Technica, 26 Aug 2018 SB 100, a bill now pending in the California legislature, would transition California to 100% zero-carbon, effectively all renewable, electricity by 2045. Our studies provide a way to do this for all energy sectors (electricity, transportation, heating/cooling, and industry). Robert Bryce, a Senior Fellow of the Manhattan Institute, a think tank that …