• Welcome to the Internet Infidels Discussion Board.

US Congress vs. Big Oil on Climate Change

 
 
 
lpetrich

lpetrich

Contributor
Joined
Jul 27, 2000
Messages
26,846
Location
Eugene, OR
Gender
Male
Basic Beliefs
Atheist
Fueling the Climate Crisis: Exposing Big Oil’s Disinformation Campaign to Prevent Climate Action | House Committee on Oversight and Reform
2021-10-28 CBM Opening Statement.pdf
Opening Statement of Chairwoman Carolyn B. Maloney
Hearing on “Fueling the Climate Crisis: Exposing Big Oil’s Disinformation Campaign to Prevent Climate Action”
October 28, 2021

This is a historic hearing. For the first time, top fossil fuel executives are testifying together before Congress, under oath, about the industry’s role in causing climate change—and their efforts to cover it up.

For far too long, Big Oil has escaped accountability for its central role in bringing our planet to the brink of a climate catastrophe.

That ends today.
Click to expand...
Then about the long history of fossil-fuel companies' lobbying efforts, first to deny that CO2 emissions are a problem, and then to portray themselves as environmentally responsible.
Their lobbying also tells a different story. Today, the Committee is releasing a new staff analysis showing that over the past ten years, these four companies have dedicated only a tiny fraction of their immense lobbying resources to enact the policies they publicly claim are key to address climate change—while spending tens of millions to protect their profits from oil and gas.

...
Twenty-seven years ago, seven tobacco executives appeared before Congress. Rather than admitting the truth about their product, the executives lied. This was a watershed moment in the public’s understanding of Big Tobacco.

I hope that today’s hearing represents a turning point for Big Oil.

...
After four decades of deception and delay, it is time for the fossil fuel industry to finally change its ways. Thousands of companies have already recognized the imminent threat of climate change, and are working with community leaders and scientists to bring down emissions. Its time for Big Oil to finally join the rest of us in this fight
Click to expand...
That's a very apt comparison, since as Prof. Naomi Oreskes has shown in her book "Merchants of Doubt", the fossil-fuel companies are doing what the tobacco companies did, like claim that there is not good enough evidence that their products are causing trouble.
 
  • Mr. Darren Woods - Chief Executive Officer - ExxonMobil Corporation
  • Mr. David Lawler - Chief Executive Officer - BP America Inc.
  • Mr. Michael K. Wirth - Chief Executive Officer - Chevron Corporation
  • Ms. Gretchen Watkins - President - Shell Oil Company
  • Mr. Mike Sommers - President - American Petroleum Institute
  • Ms. Suzanne Clark - President and Chief Executive Officer - U.S. Chamber of Commerce
  • Mr. Neal Crabtree (Minority witness) - Former Welding Foreman - Keystone XL Pipeline
This reminds me of the first word that I spelled with alphabet blocks: ESSO -- one of the companies that became Exxon, and then ExxonMobil.

Rep. AOC Questions Fossil Fuel CEOs - YouTube
She praises Mr. Sommers for being open about his lobbying against the reconciliation bill, and then questioned him about that. She concluded with saying that some of us have to live through the future that the oil companies' CO2 emissions have created.

Rep. Katie Porter Grills Big Oil Execs - YouTube
She illustrated the small fractions that oil companies are spending on renewable energy with M&M's in jars. Then she went on to illustrate how much unused Federal-land leases that the oil companies have: 13.9 million acres. She then illustrated how much by saying that if a grain of rice was like one acre, then this land is like 479 pounds of rice. She then showed off several bags of rice in the back of her car.

13.9 million acres = 5.6 million hectares = a square with side length 147 miles or 237 kilometers

She then talked about how the oil companies want even more land. They already have land area the size of Maryland and New Jersey, yet they want more. I checked that figure, and it's correct.
 
(repeats of the previously-linked videos)
AOC Mockingly Thanks Oil Exec. Over Transparency In Efforts To Manipulate U.S. Legislation - YouTube - TheHill
"You're Trying To Fool People!" Katie Porter Hammers Oil Execs. For Not Addressing Climate Crisis - YouTube - TheHill

Big Oil must end climate change 'deception,' Representative Carolyn Maloney says - YouTube - Reuters
Her opening speech.

Ayanna Pressley Pushes Oil Executives To Commit To Not Fund Anti-Climate Groups - YouTube - TheHill
She talked about how a lot of land has a risk of being drowned by increasing sea level from global warming, land where a lot of people live, including many of her constituents. Then she asked about oil companies' support of anti-climate-activism groups. Then about what fraction of the companies' earnings goes into training the companies' workers to work in renewable energy.

'You Made $29 Million Poisoning The Planet!' Tlaib Unloads On Oil Executives - YouTube - TheHill
Referring to how much that one oil-company executive got paid in a recent year. She asked him about some front groups that posed as concerned citizens. Also, one exec's company's bad environmental record, with a total settlement cost of $50 billion.

'Spare Us The Spin': Khanna Lays Into CEO Oil Executives At House Oversight Hearing - YouTube - Forbes
He said that he hoped that the oil-company execs would not do what tobacco-company execs had done. Like not doing greenwashing by claiming to support a carbon tax and the Paris accords. They could do better, he says. Nothing but a speech.

Jamie Raskin Goes Scorched Earth On Oil Executives: 'I Hope You Wouldn't Lie!' - YouTube - TheHill
After talking about some falsehoods that Donald Trump and recent Republicans have supported, he talked about the climate disasters that we are suffering, and he stated that fraudulent commercial speech is not generally protected by the First Amendment, despite what we might have heard today. He then asked the execs about that, and they disclaimed expertise on Constitutional law, even though as he points out, some of their companies have used the First Amendment as a defense.
 
Oh goody! Boy did they tell them. Meaningless Posturing of the highest caliber. Who needs action when you can have bluster?
 
Republicans Can't Stop Apologizing to Big Oil CEOs
From the article,
  • Rep. Jim Jordan - "God bless Chevron ... I want to thank those companies that are actually increasing production" - $59,956 oil, gas 2020
  • Rep. Jody Hice - "These companies being villainized" - $5,000 oil, gas 2020
  • Rep. Byron Donalds - "It’s just people who don’t have anything better to do than type on their keyboards, ... Let’s be very clear, you need an apology. What I witnessed today is rank intimidation by the chair of this committee. ... It is disgusting, it is absolutely disgusting. Somebody better call Merrick Garland, tell him to get in here, and watch the intimidation that came from this very panel today. It’s not about defending Big Oil. ... I’m sorry for you. And I’m sorry for the people in our country who have to witness shenanigans like this." - $18,110 oil, gas this cycle
  • Rep. Yvette Herrell - "While this committee may not like you because you’re executives, because your companies have been successful, I just want to apologize for the decorum. Because thank you for what you’ve done ... There are people here who believe in you. Thank you. ... In fact, I would just submit to saving anybody who has gotten a vaccination or who is going to get one, thank you to the oil and gas industry because I would bet that almost every single one of the syringes has been touched by a petroleum product. ... I just want to thank all of you for being here today." - $115,126 oil, gas this cycle, 2nd largest
  • Rep. Glenn Grothman - "You guys all have a good story to tell. Don’t be afraid to tell people how much cleaner things are than in the past. It doesn’t do any good for you any good to get all woke on us" - $30,576 oil, gas 2020, $3,570 oil, gas this cycle
  • Rep. Bob Gibbs - "It’s been very shameful how the other side wants to demonize our oil and gas industry. I’m very proud of our oil and gas industry, the innovators that adopt new tech, provide a higher standard of living, and jobs throughout our country ... I’m disappointed the chair failed to recognize that and demonize them on that" - $28,558 oil, gas 2020
  • Rep. Pete Sessions - "I apologize to our witnesses that were called and asked to take part in this today" - $237,375 oil, gas 2018, (2020 data unavailable), $11,400 oil, gas this cycle
  • Rep. Pat Fallon - "There is a moral case to be made for the fossil fuel industry and fossil fuels as a whole ... If we want more abundant and inexpensive and cleaner energy—which we all should do—these witnesses here should be the ones that we are supporting and applauding and not demonizing" - $5,600 oil, gas
  • Rep. Andy Biggs - "These very important energy companies and the [American] Petroleum Institute understand you’ve got yourself here, you’ve seen the attitude of the folks on the left of this committee. When you get asked this morning that, aren’t you embarrassed, that’s really an irrational question to ask CEOs about their company" - $27,253 oil, gas 2020
  • Rep. Clay Higgins - My, my, my. Good lord help us to be protected from this threat from within. American patriots are so done with career politicians and Democratic socialist insanity... We are nauseated by the continuous attacks on working Americans and American industry. This entire debacle of a hearing today of why my colleagues across the aisle will lose their majority status very soon" - $40,773 fossil fuels 2020, $10,426 fossil fuels this cycle
  • Rep. James Comer - "Did President Biden or anyone from the White House apologize to you?” - $18,500 fossil fuels 2020 - what he asked the welder that the Republicans invited.
It is also because Republicans (and a handful of Democrats) have blocked climate action, and have maintained a grip on power in no small part thanks to millions of dollars from the fossil fuel industry. The industry has directed roughly 85% of its donations in 2020 to Republicans, and is on track to do the same this year (and has done the same in past years, too). Those same Republicans who apologized to the industry and thanked it on Thursday.
Click to expand...
 
'Partisan Theater For Primetime News': GOP Lawmaker Assails Hearing On Big Oil - YouTube - Forbes
He then claimed that the committee was not doing its presumed job of blaming the Biden Admin for the nation's troubles.

'You Were Brought Here So Dems Can Beat The Crap Out Of You!' Biggs Scolds Dems In Big Oil Hearing - YouTube - TheHill
Claiming that Dems oppose nuclear energy and that they are willing to help Europe be dependent on Russian natural gas.

'Intimidation By The Chair Of This Committee': Donalds Goes After Maloney At Big Oil Hearing - YouTube - Forbes
After slamming Twitter climate activists, he claimed that Rep. Maloney was trying to deprive oil-company execs of their right to say what they want and do what they want, saying that she violates their First Amendment rights. He claimed that China was increasing its fossil-fuel emissions because that nation is trying to build its economy.

'Dumbest Thing I've Ever Heard!': Jim Jordan Slams Ro Khanna Over Big Oil Comments - YouTube - TheHill
Claiming that the Dems in the committee want the oil companies to reduce production when President Biden wants OPEC to increase production. Then a Rep. Norman talked about when he asked Greta Thunberg on how to get China and India to cut their emissions. She reportedly said that she wanted to ask them.

Jim Jordan Slams Biden: 'In 10 Months We Went From Energy Independence To Begging For Gas' - YouTube - TheHill
He mentioned the Republicans' witness, someone who worked on an oil pipeline who lost his job. He claimed that lower CO2 emissions were due to "innovations" from fossil-fuel companies.

The only "innovation" is using natgas, CH4, instead of coal, C. That helped a little on the emissions side, but it's not good enough. CH4 burning releases more energy per unit CO2 than C burning does, and a common form of natgas electricity generation is combined cycle, a combustion turbine followed by a steam engine. Coal only has the steam-engine part. That helps natgas efficiency even further.

GOP Rep Asks What Would Happen If We Stopped Producing Oil And Gas Today - YouTube - Forbes
That's Rep. Garret Graves (R-LA).
 
Seems to me that reduced emissions from CH4 replacing C is more of a side effect than a deliberate policy. So I decided to calculate the amount of energy per unit CO2 emitted.

Fuels - Higher and Lower Calorific Values
Higher = water condensed, lower = water as vapor. I used the latter.
CH4: 50.0 MJ/kg = 66.8 MJ/(kg C)
C: 32.8 MJ/kg = 32.8 MJ/(kg C)
MJ = megajoule

 Combined cycle power plant - as high as 64% - 42.8 MJ/(kg C)
 Thermal power station - usually as high as 38% - 12.5 MJ/(kg C)
A factor of 3.2 improvement.
 
This is all so right in plain daylight, too. It is so egregiously wrong.
 
lpetrich said:
Rhea said:
This is all so right in plain daylight, too. It is so egregiously wrong.
Click to expand...
Not sure what you are referring to.
Click to expand...
The fact that oil/fossil energy companies KNOW that their operations are harmful, and lie about it just like tobacco did, and bought politicians pander to money at the expense of the very planet we all need to survive, doing their best to silence and overcome by force of wealth the outcry from people and the planet itself about the destruction.
 
Fossil Fuel Documents Reveal an Industry Stuck in the Past - "The industry is still running the same five-step plan, to the same end: preserving power, subsidies, and social license."
As part of its investigation into climate disinformation, the House Oversight Committee subpoenaed documents in November 2021 from four of the world’s largest oil companies; their U.S. trade association, the American Petroleum Institute; and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. The chamber did not comply with the subpoena, but the rest submitted a variety of responsive documents, the most salient of which have been published by the Oversight Committee in two batches. The more than 1,500 pages include internal communications about media relations, advertising, and marketing campaigns from 2015 to 2021.

Taken together, they reveal that the industry’s approach on climate really hasn’t changed since scientists first started warning that the burning of fossil fuels was becoming a problem: push “solutions” that keep fossil fuels profitable, downplay climate impacts, overstate the industry’s commitments, and bully the media if they don’t stay on message. It’s the same five-step plan, deployed to the same end: preserving power, subsidies, and social license.
Click to expand...
Noting
Oversight Committee Releases New Documents Showing Big Oil’s Greenwashing Campaign and Failure to Reduce Emissions | House Committee on Oversight and Reform
and
FossilFuelDocumentsForRelease.pdf
 
Step One: Set the Terms

The fossil fuel industry is exceedingly good at seizing the narrative before anyone else even thinks about it. It was doing polling, market research, and focus groups before most industries knew what those things were. So when it sets up the idea of gas as a “bridge fuel” to cleaner sources of energy, it knows how to make it so fundamental that it can come back to it again and again. The “low-carbon” (another winner!) strategies laid out in these documents could have been from the 1990s or even the 1980s when oil companies described “natural gas” (another one!) as an “alternative fuel.”
Click to expand...
Methane, the major component of natgas, is lower on carbon per unit energy released than coal and other hydrocarbons, yes, and it burns much cleaner than coal, yes, but it is also a greenhouse gas, from its leaking into the atmosphere.
Combustion Heat - Engineering Toolbox -  Heat of combustion

WhatHeat of combustion in kJ/(mol C)
Methane (natgas): CH4891
Limit of saturated heavy hydrocarbons: (CH2)x653
Carbon (graphite): C394

"Mole" is not the burrowing animal but short for "gram molecular weight", about 12 grams for carbon.

So liquid hydrocarbons are more than 50% better than coal, and natgas over 100% better. I'm going into this detail to give credit where credit is due.

Also,

"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."
 
Step Two: Move the Goalposts

That 2 C thing is another persistent trend. While the rest of the world has only just begun to acknowledge that limiting warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius is unlikely to happen, it turns out that the oil companies — all of which supposedly support the Paris climate agreement and its 1.5 C limit — were always shooting for 2. ...

Chevron has hedged a bit more, committing to net zero by 2050 only in its operations, which leaves out the emissions associated with the use of its oil and gas.
Click to expand...
Very convenient for them.

Step Three: Social License

For all the eye-rolling and snark about their critics and how they just don’t understand the industry, oil executives remain deeply concerned about maintaining a social license to operate: tacit approval from the public to keep on keeping on, an acknowledgement that the benefits they deliver still outweigh the costs, even as the risks are increasing.

...
Step Four: Campus Control

Standard Oil of New Jersey (Exxon Mobil today) was one of the first companies to invest heavily in university research.

...
Fossil fuel companies fund not only science and technology research, but also public policy, economics, and law centers at campuses across the country, the more prestigious the better.

When students organized through Fossil-Free Research last year to demand that their universities stop taking these research funds, campus spokespeople lined up to defend the practice, saying that it didn’t influence the research. The first peer-reviewed study on the topic, which came out in Nature, told a different story. Researchers Douglas Almond, Xinming Du, and Anna Papp at Columbia University found that the funding sources of various university energy centers played a major role in those centers’ positions on fossil gas.

Fossil-funded centers “are more favorable in their reports towards natural gas than towards renewable energy,” the study found. Meanwhile, centers less dependent on fossil funding “show a reversed pattern with more neutral sentiment towards gas, and favor solar and hydro power.”
Click to expand...
In effect, the  Francis Bacon defense: "Sure I took those bribes, but I didn't let them influence me."
 
Step Five: Creative Confrontation

Back in the 1970s, legendary Mobil VP Herb Schmertz pioneered the art of bullying journalists or, as he called it, “creative confrontation.” If journalists weren’t covering Mobil’s point of view, or he thought they were being too critical of Mobil, he called them up and let them know. And he let their bosses and their bosses’ bosses know too. Sometimes he threatened to pull advertising. Once, he cut off the Wall Street Journal from any information whatsoever: press releases, comments from executives, even quarterly earnings reports.

It’s similar to what the American Petroleum Institute and Shell tried to do to Hiroko Tabuchi, the New York Times’s climate accountability reporter.
Click to expand...
Then on how they seemed to have succeeded with their pressure tactics.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom