Chris Tomlinson: Oil companies demanding slower transition to clean energy

The leaders of the world’s largest oil and gas companies recognize the energy industry must transform to prevent catastrophic climate change, but they are insisting on a transition that guarantees future profits that will likely overheat the planet. Burning hydrocarbons is not causing climate change, oil and gas advocates argue, but releasing carbon dioxide and methane into the atmosphere does. Therefore, the world should focus on emissions, not reducing fossil fuel use, according to speakers at CERAWeek by S&P Global, the annual oil and gas summit in Houston. If the public falls for the industry’s overly simplistic and misleading marketing message, the atmosphere will continue to heat up, natural disasters will worsen, and living standards will plummet.

John Kerry, President Joe Biden’s special envoy for climate, opened CERAWeek promising an “all of the above” strategy to reduce emissions if the industry cooperates in keeping global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels. “We are driven not by politics but by science,” Kerry said. “If we do everything we promised at (the 2021 climate summit in) Glasgow, we would hold at 1.5 degrees, but we’re not doing what we promised.” The International Energy Agency reports we need 46 new technologies to reach the net-zero emissions goal by 2050, but 44 of them are not commercially ready. Kerry called on the engineers and scientists in the room to bring them to market. “The reality is we’re still heading toward 2.7 degrees,” Kerry added. “The transition is going to have to speed up.” The fossil fuel industry, which started climate change and denied its reality for decades, is letting us down. They argue over whether to continue producing hydrocarbon molecules for combustion or to sell electrons from clean technologies, such as wind, solar and storage.