Fossil fuel
companies own green rhetoric betrays an ugly truth — analysis
What’s new —
Published Wednesday in the journal PLOS ONE, these findings
reveal top fossil fuel companies’ green rhetoric does not match their
actual business practices and investments, which indicate an apparent
unwillingness to rapidly transition away from fossil fuels.
The researchers also
conclude four of the leading fossil fuel companies in the U.S. and
Europe — Chevron, ExxonMobil, BP, and Shell — are conducting a
widescale form of greenwashing. The companies are publicly pledging
clean energy commitments that exceed the company’s actual
environmental progress.
Study co-author and
associate professor at Kyoto University,
Gregory Trencher, tells Inverse that if oil companies
were transitioning away from polluting business models, you would
expect to see a reduction in fossil fuel reserves and petroleum sales,
as well as “aggressive investments” in clean energy.
“But this is not what our
results showed,” says Trencher, adding that these companies'
“misinformation campaigns and lobbying have [for] decades aimed to
stall climate action from policymakers.”
Why it matters —
Climate activists and scientists have criticized fossil fuel companies
for masking their investments in oil and gas with green rhetoric and
weak — or nonexistent — pledges to transition to clean energy.
We finally have robust
scientific data to confirm these suspicions, revealing in detail how
fossil fuel companies are failing to decarbonize or reduce greenhouse
gas emissions.
This research could provide
greater leverage for individuals and policymakers concerned about
fossil fuel producers’ inaction, despite
clear links between greenhouse gas emissions from the industry and
global warming. A 2019
report revealed 20 fossil fuel companies account for more than
one-third of all modern greenhouse gas emissions.
“A study like ours, which
has a simple message and solid supporting data, can be very motivating
for certain actors working to either incite more government action
against the majors or to pressure them more to increase their
decarbonization efforts,” Trencher says.
How they made the
discovery — The study authors analyzed data from two American and
two European fossil companies over a 12-year period between 2009 and
2020.
The study authors analyzed
specific keywords pertaining to climate and clean energy in the
companies' annual reports. Then, the researchers compared this
rhetoric to companies' public pledges, business strategies, and
investments about both oil and gas and clean energy, assigning scores
based on how well companies' operations transitioned away from fossil
fuels — or didn't.
Digging into the details
— Over the 12-year period, all four companies showed an increase
in green rhetoric in annual company reports, specifically in key
phrases like "climate," "low-carbon," and "transition." Though the
reports of some companies, like ExxonMobil, contained fewer phrases
like "climate change."
The European companies — BP
and Shell — displayed a greater willingness to link greenhouse gases
from fossil fuels to climate change, as well as pledges to transition
away from fossil fuels. In 2019, BP pledged to become net-zero in
carbon emissions by 2050 and outlined a concrete strategy.
By contrast, American fossil
fuel producer ExxonMobil — which has a history of funding
climate change misinformation — only briefly acknowledged the
links between fossil fuels and climate change in 2018. ExxonMobil even
shifts the responsibility for reducing fossil fuels from producers to
consumers, stating in their 2020 report that "production reductions by
individual companies would have no impact on demand or consumption of
energy..."
But as far as their actions
go, all four companies fail to take any sort of meaningful action to
transition away from fossil fuels and toward renewable energy.
Specifically, Trencher says they consistently fail in three areas:
-
Reducing fossil fuel
production and sales
-
Decreasing fossil fuel
reserves
-
Investments in renewable
energy
American
companies' investments in renewable energy are shockingly low, with
ExxonMobil generating no electricity from clean energy sources — like
wind and solar — over the period studied.
Even European companies that
are seemingly more progressive on climate change fail to live up to
their stated commitments. Despite pledging in 2019 to become net-zero
by 2050, BP increased its acreage of new oil and gas exploration by
58,000 square kilometers that same year. Further, BP's electricity
generation from renewable sources is pretty marginal, totaling only
2,000 megawatts, equivalent to two large gas-fired power plants.
Meanwhile, BP, Shell, and
Chevron are all amping up natural gas production to transition away
from polluting sources like coal, stressing it is part of their
"climate mitigation" strategies, according to the PLOS ONE study. But
recent reports suggest that natural gas is a
far dirtier fuel source than previously realized due to
methane leaks. Methane is a potent greenhouse gas with 28 to 34
times the warming power of carbon dioxide over a 100-year period.
What's next —
Trencher argues for a more significant crackdown on fossil fuel
companies that provide "misleading or dishonest claims" about their
actual decarbonization efforts, such as in social media
advertisements.
For example, in recent
years, advertisements from ExxonMobil that tout the benefits of carbon
capture technology have made their way onto
news podcasts and various social media platforms.
"The city of New York is
leading in this area, pointing out the misleading advertisements of
so-called clean gasoline at the pump in their litigation against the
[companies]," Trencher says.
Beyond tackling the oil
giants' messaging, Trencher says investors in these companies must set
clear standards for clean energy, in addition to tracking and
reporting such investments.
Finally, the researcher advocates for the
end of preferential tax treatments and subsidies enabling fossil fuel
producers "to profit from extracting and selling energy products that
are creating the biggest disaster that humanity has ever faced."
Green Play Ammonia™, Yielder® NFuel Energy.
Spokane, Washington. 99212
www.exactrix.com
509 995 1879 cell, Pacific.
Nathan1@greenplayammonia.com
exactrix@exactrix.com
|
