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https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2024/mar/20/fossil-fuels-oil-and-gas-clean-energy>
"The bosses of the world’s leading oil and gas companies have poured scorn on
efforts to move away from fossil fuels, complaining that a “visibly failing”
transition to clean energy was being pushed forward at an “unrealistic pace”.
The oil executives, gathered at the industry’s annual Cera Week conference in
Houston, Texas, have taken turns this week to denounce calls for a rapid
phase-out of fossil fuels, despite widespread acknowledgment within the
industry, as well as scientists and governments, of the need to radically
reduce planet-heating emissions to avoid the worst effects of the climate
crisis.
“We should abandon the fantasy of phasing out oil and gas, and instead invest
in them adequately,” said Amin Nasser, chief executive of Saudi Aramco, the
world’s largest oil company, to applause in the room.
Nasser dismissed projections by the International Energy Agency (IEA) that
global demand for oil and gas will peak by 2030, claiming that rising energy
costs mean that people will require “the importance of oil and gas security”
rather than shift to renewables.
“In fact, in the real world, the current transition strategy is visibly failing
on most fronts,” Nasser added, criticizing solar, wind and electric vehicles
for what he said was a minimal impact in cutting greenhouse gas emissions.
“And, despite our starring role in global prosperity, our industry is painted
as transition’s arch-enemy,” Nasser complained.
This skepticism was echoed by other leading executives at the conference, which
gathers industry leaders and politicians in Texas’s oily heartland. Meg
O’Neill, chief executive of Woodside Energy, said that the transition to clean
energy cannot “happen at an unrealistic pace”, predicting that cleaner fuels
could take up to 40 years to develop.
“It has become emotional,” O’Neill said of the climate debate. “And when things
are emotional, it becomes more difficult to have a pragmatic conversation.”
“If we rush or if things go the wrong way, we’ll have a crisis that we will
never forget,” warned Jean Paul Prates, chief executive of Petrobras, Brazil’s
state-owned oil corporation, about the shift to clean energy.
The comments were swiftly denounced by climate campaigners.
Those in the industry “work night and day to torpedo a transition to renewable
energy and then have the audacity to critique the slowness of the transition
itself,” said Jeff Ordower, North America director of 350.org. “Cera Week
should highlight a global vision toward a clean and equitable future, and
instead, we get talking points from the 1970s.”
“We should be skeptical of any solutions touted by the industry because it’s
clear they don’t have a real interest in halting the climate crisis,” Ordower
added."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
