Oil & Gas Industry Still Running The Same Playbook Dating Back 80 Years - And Lying, Of Course

[hatrack]

EDIT

And despite the industry’s frequent assertions that it’s not subsidized by the federal government, various internal emails from the oil majors tell a different story. In 2021 emails in which Shell is mulling whether to join a major carbon capture project with Exxon Mobil, one executive states that the project moving forward is entirely dependent on dramatically expanding 45Q — the tax credit for carbon capture — from what the government has proposed ($35 to $50 per ton of carbon sequestered) to $100 per ton of carbon sequestered. That price tag — $100 per ton of carbon — is one the industry fought against for decades when the shoe was on the other foot, and folks were talking about taxing carbon as opposed to storing it. Now, being able to store carbon and get the right price for it is critical to the industry, as is the government’s support of that paradigm. “If the government funding and regulations don’t happen, Exxon’s management team will not move forward,” the Shell executive writes.

Throughout the documents, there’s a real sense of urgency around securing a future for gas and scaling up carbon capture (because it magically turns oil into “low-carbon” fuel). Exxon, for example, seems positively jubilant that “IPCC models predict need for CCS as part of future energy mix to reach 2C!”

The documents also make clear that the industry is intent on maximizing a small window of opportunity for CCS — getting the government to invest heavily in this “solution” before everyone figures out it’s not a solution so much as an enabler of the status quo. In a 2017 document outlining the potential for CCS on the Gulf Coast, Shell notes that “the window for CCS to remain relevant with governments and society is closing quickly and action needs to occur within the next decade.”

The industry wants to see so much government funding for CCS locked in that there’s no choice but to continue down that path. And the purpose is clear: enabling the continued burning of fossil fuels. “The value of CCS to Shell is the ability to decarbonize our products,” the document explains. CCS will also help Shell to “retain a larger market share for our products in the energy transition, in addition to reputational value.”

EDIT

https://theintercept.com/2022/12/24/oil-gas-climate-disinformation/

[walkingman]

1. The fossil fuel trade groups along with the media know that

this propaganda works - it did with the tobacco companies for decades. It is all lies and coverups for what they know is a nasty and unnecessary environmental disaster.

The next step will be people moaning about how they were mislead. No, you believed what you wanted to believe and now are playing innocent. We have to unite to move away from this industry ASAP and in my opinion it can't come soon enough.

[2naSalit]

2. So far...

It's been a winning practice. None of those industries have ever lost money.

It's all the same program of bullshit, oil and gas, ranching, timber industry, anything vital is used to scare us into complicity every fucking time.

This will never change until we stop acquiescing to their demands.