In October 2024 the panhandle of Florida and western North Carolina were decimated by hurricane Helene. It is already expected to be one of the 10 most expensive disasters in the world. So far 216 are confirmed dead and over 600 people are missing. A week later hurricane Milton has grown to a category 5 storm overnight and is getting ready to strike the west coast of Florida.
We are living in an age of consequences.
In the 2022 the 3 part PBS Frontline series “The Power of Big Oil” outlined our collective failure to address the climate change. For decades the fossil fuel industry has known about the consequences of carbon, methane and GHG emissions. The truth of their research was hidden from public view and instead the oil and gas industry pursued a policy of delay, misdirection and hopium.
“We can’t solve the climate crisis without addressing the misinformation crisis.” Rep. Ro Khanna.
In the 1990s, researcher and Professor Tony Ingraffia devised new strategies to extract oil from shale; this process became known as fracking. As a result of its adoption, natural gas became marketed as part of the climate solution; “gas burns cleaner than coal or oil”. As fracking expanded, gas replaced coal as the main energy source in the US. Ruefully Ingraffea later admitted, “I came to understand the impact of methane on the climate.” Methane is 80 times more potent as a GHG in terms of raising planetary temperatures than CO2.
In 2011, Ingraffea published a report from Cornell that cited methane as a major contributor to the climate crisis. While there was a massive hostile reaction to this report, it was in fact accurate and correct in its findings.
In addition, Oil company engineers like Exxon engineer Dol-Lon Chang also realized that with the expansion of fracking, lightly regulated fracking wells would release huge amounts of Methane which has a much worse GHG footprint than carbon.
MIT in contrast pushed back against the Cornell study. MIT published a report titled “The Future of Natural Gas”. The study criticized the Cornell study and it was funded by the fossil fuel industry. This study provided cover to politicians, including Obama, to promote the expansion of fracking.
“The fact that these chemicals are invisible has allowed the oil industry to ignore their release of methane.” Sharon Wilson, methane hunter.
While expanding fossil fuel production, the fossil fuel industry pushes back on the energy transition while promoting new schemes like “Carbon Capture and Sequestration” and “Blue Hydrogen”. Prof Charles Harvey, an expert in carbon capture, had this to say… “Carbon capture is not the direction to go to stop the climate crisis.”
For all of their promises and commitments, fossil fuel companies refuse to change their industry for the sake of the planet. “There is no realistic way to eliminate hydrocarbons from the energy mix.” Charif Souki, fossil fuel CEO. Yet many countries have managed to make huge progress doing just that. Norway, Sweden, Portugal, Costa Rica…
For all of the growth of solar, wind, storage and EVs over the past 4 years in the US, Russell Bloom, WSJ reporter, concludes “We are still in a fossil fuel age…”
The reality is fossil fuel profits are poured into conservative think tanks, advertising, marketing, and lobbying against wind, solar and other renewables and in favor of oil, gas, and methane.
Today as we deal with the impacts of hurricanes Helene and Milton we are reaping the deadly fruit of what has been sewn.
Only by divesting from fossil fuels, and animal agriculture, can we deny these actors the capital to continue their destructive work. Changing how you invest, as individuals and as businesses, has an impact on what civilization and the planet will look like in 10, 20 or 100 years. Vote with your dollars…
Contact me at james.cox@glic.com to learn more.
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Email: james.cox@glic.com
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2024- 7167158.1 exp 10/26