| I think this article is missing the point, and is not providing a full picture. First of all, the supersized national oil companies are far worse than the multinationals Exxon, for example, is now controlled to an extent by activist investor hedge funds that want energy giants to pursue greener energy, and to think more about the future [1] However, for right now, green energy is not self-sustaining, and cannot provide the energy we need [2]. The question then is, how do we transition in a meaningful manner? How do we curtail methane emissions, and others, which are among some of the worst problems stemming from oil/gas production? Are the energy giants making the right investments now into potential future energy sources that could lead to a greener future? Do we have the right options, or are we missing big ones, that, properly funded, could result in potentially quadrillions and quintillions of BTUs? [3] Please keep in mind that producing energy on the massive scale required for geo-level requirements is a decades to centuries, and trillions to tens of trillions type of engineering problem set. What many people consider green energy such as mega-dams and hydro have had horrible impacts on flora & fauna. Technology is both the problem, and, potentially, a set of solutions [4] Caveat: I am investor in Exxon, and a number of other companies in both green and transitioning to green areas. [1] https://www.nytimes.com/2021/06/09/business/exxon-mobil-engi... [2] https://greeninnovationindex.org/2021-edition/energy-efficie... [3] https://www.energy.gov/articles/space-based-solar-power [4] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H2GGqWbzpvw&t |
These oil companies are going to try survive as long as possible by a astroturfing, throw out misleading studies, bribing public officials, any means necessary to make as much money as possible. Because at the end of the day for a corporation its about making money nothing else.
What we got do is get the government to stop subsidizing oil/gas/coal. At this point we have made less then zero impact on carbon emissions. We're still going up in carbon emissions at the beginning of covid we saw a slight reduction but we're well above pre-covid levels.
The issue I see is the money that being made from oil/gas/coal is peanuts compare to the damage thats being done and the damage thats going to occur.