Climate Change Thread

[Seamus Fermanagh]

While wildfires in California and Australia make international news on a regular basis, this goes well under media radar:

https://www.theguardian.com/world/20...s-drought-heat



And this goes largely unreported, as well:

https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/im...res-in-siberia



But hey, there's no such thing as climate change, right?

Course not. Good to go. All those thermometers over the last century and a half were all wrong.

[ReluctantSamurai]

Why articles like this are so misleading (I would've expected far better from Politico):

https://www.politico.com/news/2020/1...a-texas-432043

“It absolutely helps Trump, not only in Pennsylvania, but also in Texas, Ohio and several other key states,” said Charlie Gerow, a GOP strategist in Pennsylvania who has worked on presidential campaigns. “I think even Biden realized that he stepped in it last night. You could see him trying to back-walk it.” [referring to Biden's comments on transitioning away from oil]

“The vice president’s comment about ending oil and gas development in the very near future certainly hurts his chance to lock down working-class voters in northeastern Pennsylvania and throughout Pennsylvania,” Yudichak said. “We can’t dismiss building-trade, construction trade workers. We need to make sure that they don’t feel forgotten.”

That certainly isn't the only article like that (insinuating that Biden's "transition from oil" was a mistake), but I use Politico a lot as reference material, so it's disappointing to see such a lack of depth in that article.

Energy companies themselves are making plans for a "transition", although they seem to be banking on the demand for petrochemicals in plastics to shore up their profits:

https://www.forbes.com/sites/scottca...ould-backfire/

Nonetheless, many industrial companies are in the process, or have already implemented carbon-reducing policies:

https://www2.deloitte.com/us/en/insi...ransition.html

Our survey respondents reported that their companies either already had a plan in place or were developing a strategy to reduce reliance on fossil fuels: eighty-seven percent of chemical company executives, 92 percent of power and utilities executives, and 92 percent of oil and gas industry executives responded affirmatively to these statements. Across sectors, the top drivers of decarbonization included customer focus and digital technologies supporting energy efficiency and decarbonization. Notably, 56 percent of oil and gas respondents indicated that plan metrics were tied to executive compensation. And when asked if a low-carbon future would have a positive, neutral, or negative impact on the future of their organization, more than 60 percent of oil and gas respondents answered that it would have a positive impact.

Decarbonization trends are having a mixed impact on the oil and gas sector. Increasingly, oil and gas companies are sourcing renewable energy for their needs. And while most do not have a renewables plan per se, 49 percent of respondents plan to switch to cleaner fuels or renewables in their facilities and field operations, according to our survey results. This is particularly true of the larger oil and gas companies, as 61 percent of respondents from this group noted that increasing reliance on clean fuels and renewables was core to their strategy. A similar trend has emerged in the chemical sector: fifty-seven percent of chemical executives reported that their company had invested in using renewables to reduce emissions and waste. In addition, the half of chemicals executives surveyed reported that their company had increased use of renewable energy for production, though this trend is more pronounced among larger chemical companies than at medium or small companies.

One aspect of this investment in new technology is the venture capital investments that international oil and gas companies are making in clean energy technologies. The larger companies are building their portfolios in areas such as clean energy and EV charging; many have also formed venture capital arms and pursued partnerships and acquisitions in the clean tech space. [...] the volume of transactions in clean energy concluded by large oil and gas companies across the globe has almost doubled over the past decade.While the deal volume by these companies in the solar and wind industries has begun to decline, growth in battery storage picked up sharply in 2019. Investments in EV charging have also increased from 2017, as have investments in biofuels and hydrogen.

Customers now perceive that not all energy molecules are the same, and many are showing a growing preference for “green” energy, in power and in oil and gas. This has led many companies across various sectors to differentiate their products and change their production processes where possible. A majority of power executives polled reported their organization has committed to providing more electricity sourced from renewables to their customers. Demand for clean energy is rising fast as corporations boost renewable procurement and carbon emission reduction targets and realize cost savings on wind and solar, even with the PTC and ITC phasedown. This is evident in the 2019 increase of power purchase agreements for renewable energy signed by corporate consumers: 14 GW of bilateral renewables PPA in 2019, up from 8.5 GW in 2018 [...]

Many shareholders and investors have begun to apply pressure on companies to focus on lower-carbon operations and curtail carbon emissions by reducing their carbon footprint and reducing reliance on fossil fuels. BlackRock’s January 2020 letter to clients emphasizing the growing impact of sustainability on investment returns and outlining initiatives to increase their focus on sustainability helped set a broader tone underlining the attractiveness of low-carbon industries and businesses. And a growing investor preference for sustainable companies and sustainability funds was already evident even before this announcement.

Oil and gas company executives are well aware of this market sentiment. Among the CEOs we surveyed, 68 percent indicated that the key component of their low-carbon strategy was a focus on low-carbon fuels (though that also includes natural gas). Oil and gas executives surveyed identified “consumer support for reducing carbon emissions” as one of the top drivers for the industry’s transition toward a sustainable, low-carbon future.

Then there's this:

https://www.vox.com/2020/10/23/21530299/trump-biden-debate-oil-wind-solar

Survey after survey shows widespread support for cleaner energy amongst Americans.

Of course Fox News is whipping up a fabricated frenzy over all this:

https://www.foxbusiness.com/markets/...iden-move-away

“Six-dollar gas is coming if Trump isn’t re-elected,” Continental Resources founder Harold Hamm told FOX Business on Friday after the former vice president outlined his approach to energy policy at Thursday night's debate in Nashville, Tenn.

“If Biden is elected and his plan on energy is adopted, he will send America into a deep depression and millions of jobs will be lost in Texas, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Michigan, Oklahoma, North Dakota and we will once again be beholden to foreign rogue regimes for our energy,” Hamm argued.

Even though energy execs themselves are preparing for some sort of transition away from fossil fuels, the GOP is so desperate for anything to try and reverse current polls, that we can expect more of this type of bullshit in the next week.

Even corporate Democrats like two vulnerable House Democrats in oil-producing states, Kendra Horn in Oklahoma and Xochitl Torres Small in New Mexico, immediately distanced themselves from Biden on this, showing duplicity is not restricted to Republicans.

[ReluctantSamurai]

With all the discussion of the harm CoviDon can do before he has to vacate the Oval Office, this kind of harm has the potential to last generations, unlike some of short-term havoc he can wreak:

https://www.theguardian.com/environm...-refuge-alaska

The Arctic refuge’s coastal plain has been at the center of a fierce battle over oil extraction on public lands for decades. It was earmarked for potential development in 1980 but remained protected until a Republican-controlled Congress added a provision to a tax bill in 2017 that finally opened the area to oil development.

This is the kind of continued damage that can be wrought by the fossil fuel industry. Yes, I know this kind of crap has happened for years and in many countries around the world, but if you haven't been there, like I have, and just stood in absolute wonder at what nature has wrought, then you will have trouble understanding why folks like me get passionate, sometimes overly so, about what mankind is doing to this precious planet....

[end of rant]

[ReluctantSamurai]

Just to show that I'm not partial to just ragging on Republicans, have a gander at this piece of duplicity from Democratic governor of California, Gavin Newsom:

https://capitalandmain.com/gov-newso...ghts-more-1023

On Sept. 23, California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed an executive order to ban hydrofracturing in the state by 2024. Just three weeks later, on Oct. 16, his administration approved permits to frack six new wells owned by a company with whom he has lobbying ties.

Even though the Newsom administration had requested six more exemptions in Kern County since the governor took office, Newsom has continued to position himself as Trump’s environmental adversary. In recent weeks, Newsom has slammed Trump for his climate change denial. In a filmed Sept. 14 meeting, he told Trump that “the science is in and observed evidence is self-evident,” saying “climate change is real and is exacerbating this,” referring to the unprecedented wildfires still burning in California.

According to drilling data collected by the groups Consumer Watchdog and FracTracker Alliance, Newsom issued 190% more oil drilling permits in the first half of 2020 compared with the first half of 2019. He has issued over 7,000 new permits since taking office in 2019, according to data the groups collected, now published on the website NewsomWellWatch.com

“He keeps tweeting ‘climate change is real’ but turns around and shows us he values profit over people’s health,” Nalleli Cobo, a college sophomore activist who grew up with oil drilling next door to her childhood home in South Los Angeles and is battling cancer, said in a press release. “Gov. Newsom – stop being a hypocrite and remember you work for us, the people.”

“First he passes the buck to the legislature, then he gives out new permits like gifts to Big Oil,” Siegel said. “By continuing to fast-track more fracking and drilling, Newsom is fanning the flames of the climate emergency.”

Just another two-faced corporate government official.....

[Pannonian]

Boris Johnson's 10 point plan for a Green Industrial Revolution

Apparently part of the plan involves Britain and Ireland sinking beneath the waves. Iceland too.

[ReluctantSamurai]

I damn near fell out of my chair, laughing......

[spmetla]

From Brexit to Earth-exit, too funny!