[Excerpts from the Guardian ongoing series The Polluters, posted last week; emphases mine]
The world’s 50 biggest oil companies are poised to flood markets with an additional 7m barrels per day over the next decade, despite warnings from scientists...
….Shell and ExxonMobil will be among the leaders with a projected production increase of more than 35% between 2018 and 2030 – a sharper rise than over the previous 12 years.
The acceleration is almost the opposite of the 45% reduction in carbon emissions by 2030 that scientists say is necessary to have any chance of holding global heating at a relatively safe level of 1.5C. The projections by Rystad Energy, a Norwegian consultancy regarded as the gold standard for data in the industry, highlight how major players seem to be ignoring government promises, scientific alarms and a growing public outcry…
...Its analysis shows the US is the centre of the latest global oil boom, with more than four times more new production than the next country, Canada, over the next 10 years. The expansion will primarily be in the Permian basin in Texas.
Also this:
Oil and gas companies are spending millions of dollars on campaigns to fight climate regulations at the same time as touting their dedication to a low-carbon future…
Their global PR campaigns on social media promote a commitment to a green, low-carbon future, but across the US in particular, specific local campaigns are obstructing tighter regulations on fossil fuel extraction….some targeted lobbying appears to be more opaque. It is channelled through so called “community” groups – which are being funded by fossil fuel companies.
ExxonMobil spent $9.6m – by far the biggest sum – ConocoPhillips $910,000 and BP $790,000.
So…
oil companies have been, and continue to be, at the forefront of climate denial and obstruction.
worse: they are carrying out a massive last round of looting, to cash out big time before the public and governments get our act together.
There is one little detail that Big Oil knows full well and has been fighting like hell to keep us unaware of:
If you are able to live without cars, or with fewer cars and less driving, please do. If you’re already there, thank you. But your job is not done: do you know anybody with cars? Duh. You need to talk to them.
If you do have and need cars: switch as many ICE (internal combustion engine) cars as feasible to EVs (either “pure electric” BEVs or plug-in hybrids), as soon as you can.
No, Sooner!
don’t put off that decision. don’t do it on your planned schedule. do it years sooner. do it now.
Don’t trust the conventional wisdom you’ve heard around 2005 or 2010 and never really tuned in again to bring it up-to-date. Don’t believe the spin originating largely in oil-connected, climate-denying circles.
There *are* affordable EVs available right now, that can in terms of ability and price, replace a large part, possibly the majority, of the current US consumer auto fleet. But we need major automakers to step into the game more decisively, and faster.
Here’s the deal: since spring 2016, we know that a consumer-demand tsunami for EVs is possible right here in the US, and elsewhere. See the picture above. The last of these people are now getting their Tesla Model 3. In 2018 for the first time in history, an EV sold in six digits in one year. And contrary, again, to 2010 conventional-wisdom, this was a “pure” BEV, and a sedan to boot. This year they might reach 300,000 sales, landing firmly in the major leagues. Year-to-date, the Model 3 is the #5 best-selling midsize in the US, and the #1 midsize in Canada. It is the #1 across all cars in the Netherlands and Norway.
It doesn’t have to be limited to Tesla. It must not be limited to Tesla. If more and more consumers pester local dealers of other automakers — as well as used car dealers — about EVs and EVs only, they will eventually get the message.
Disclaimer: there is other anti-oil action to be taken, of course. Divestment is a huge tool. But to change EV vs. ICE demand, all you need is you: change your own demand if able, influence the demand of others around you. And also, participate in joint action as a community, to get bodies such as school districts and local government to buy EVs.
Do act now. How many “We Have no Time to Lose” stories and diaries do you need, before they shake you out of your ICE comfort zone?
I planned to write much more, including about the role of consumers in societal change, about which I’ve learned around recently at work, in the field of global-health interventions among the poorest of the poor — just to illustrate that this is not some “consumerist First-World fantasy” that consumer attitudes can effect change. But that might wait for another diary. Happy Sunday.
(btw, This is #RbPi #18).
Action Resource Table
Here’s Sierra Club. Here’s Union of Concerned Scientists. Here’s Friends of the Earth. Here’s Greenpeace. Here’s the EU position. Here’s my own perspective. |
Maybe you are not in a position to get an EV that meets your needs yet. But you surely know someone who is. Find them and help them get it. |
Note YRWV (tl;dr, in very cold winters range can easily be 30-40% below average), and the good news under Don’t Panic I/II. See this diary for recommended EV model lists. |
New EV purchase deals. AND New EV lease deals (that’s how we got our Leaf!). Updated! Best used EV options. And Cheapie used options. |
Don’t nickel and dime your own personal footprint of buying an EV. Every transition has its costs. We’re playing the long game here. It is long, but urgent: we need YOU to join. |
| EVs consumed ~10% of mined cobalt in 2018. And one-third of EVs have no cobalt at all (e.g., Gen 1 Nissan Leafs, most e-buses). But we must do more to curb “artisanal mines” where child labor/slavery is widespread. DRC’s children deserve better. |
Some Leading EV Websites
Home of the monthly US plug-in sales scorecard — which has become the standard source for US EV numbers. I write there occasionally ;) |
| Current/historical numbers from most global EV markets. The main resource for my annual Top 10 Countries in the EV Revolution series. |
| EV website and Youtube channel with weekly episodes, by tireless EV pioneer Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield. |
| Newer than insideevs, flashier, but very Tesla-dominated. |
| Often takes a deeper dive into technical and academic articles. |
| Youtube channel created and hosted by English actor Robert Llewellyn. |
| Pretty similar to insideevs, but not limited to EVs only. |
| Daily digest in plain-text format, plus a podcast if you like those. |