December, 07 2020, 11:00pm EDT
![Earthworks](https://assets.rbl.ms/32012599/origin.png)
For Immediate Release
Contact:
Josh Eisenfeld, (202) 921-6985, jeisenfeld@earthworks.org
Justin Wasser, (202) 753-7016, jwasser@earthworks.org
Report: Major Oil and Gas Company Actions Fall Short of, Sometimes Contradict, Promises on Climate
Same companies making boldest climate promises are failing to follow through with climate action.
WASHINGTON
A new report released today by Earthworks shows that oil and gas company commitments on climate have to date failed to translate into significant climate action. The research tracks promises to cut methane and tackle climate from 8 major oil and gas companies and compares them to actions taken by those same companies to reduce climate pollution.
"The world doesn't have time for more PR tricks of saying one thing yet doing another," said Josh Eisenfeld, Corporate Accountability Communications Campaigner at Earthworks. "The climate crisis is here, and we need oil & gas companies to act to quickly reduce their total climate pollution."
The report and an accompanying scorecard measure the veracity of the oil and gas industry's commitments to cut methane emissions, including membership in organizations opposing government action on climate like the American Petroleum Institute, public statements about alignment with the Paris Accord, and of course, whether the individual corporations have been found to be polluting since making voluntary commitments to address methane emissions. The report uses these measures to provide a more holistic understanding of the priorities of major oil and gas companies.
The report finds that:
- While 5 of 8 major oil and gas companies have previously publicly opposed Trump administration rollbacks to national rules cutting methane pollution, only 2 out of 8 have supported ANY strong, enforceable efforts to advance state-level policies to reduce oil and gas emissions proposed by governors (both in Colorado and both in singular instances of limited safeguards for venting and flaring).
- Although all 8 major oil and gas companies have made publicly available corporate climate commitments, and several spend extensively on advertising a "green" image, each of the 8 major companies still pays dues to one or more lobbying groups opposing government climate action and making contributions to anti-climate politicians.
- Finally, none of these companies has proven that voluntary corporate commitments made over the past three years have resulted in significant reductions in climate pollution at production sites, based on Earthworks sampling from hundreds of field investigations in the oil and gas fields across the U.S.
The contrast between companies' actions and their advertised positions demonstrates that strong, fast government action is required to hold industry accountable.
"There is an opportunity and an urgent need for the Biden Administration to quickly correct the anti-climate policies of the last four years to set the US and the world on track to avoid climate catastrophe in our lifetimes," said Lauren Pagel, Policy Director at Earthworks. "Oil and gas companies have the chance to prove that they're serious about climate action by supporting bold executive action that can establish national methane safeguards that can cut emissions 65% by 2025."
Quotes by Endorsing Organizations:
"No amount of spin changes the fact that the oil and gas extraction is wreaking havoc on our communities and our climate," said Nicole Ghio, Senior Fossil Fuels Program Manager at Friends of the Earth. "The industry's actions and lobbying show that producers are only interested in cleaning up their image, not their pollution."
"No oil company press release will ever change what rural families endure daily from the venting, leaking and flaring at well sites that surround their homes. Farmers and ranchers and their families are forced to breathe the toxic chemicals Big Oil dumps on their doorsteps. They need protection, not public relations," said Bill Midcap, Senior Policy Advisor at the Rocky Mountain Farmers Union.
"The people spoke in 2019, they want real reductions in GHGs. It's an imperative if we are to play our part in saving the planet. The first step, said the people, is a 26 percent decrease in those gases by 2025. It is up to Governor Polis to translate that command into action. So far he has been missing in action. It is not possible to continue to permit wells AND reduce the amount of pollution emitted at the same time. It doesn't add up. Polis needs to tell the polluters that their days are numbered. It's the law, " said Philip Doe, Environmental Director of Be The Change - Colorado.
"The Trump administration has given the fossil fuel industry a blank check to pollute nationally, and President-Elect Joe Biden must work quickly to repair and replace the public health protections gutted by Trump's EPA, specifically repairing the 2016 New Source Performance Standards for oil and gas facilities to include robust and comprehensive standards for methane leakage. It is the federal government's absolute responsibility to minimize greenhouse gas pollution from fossil fuel corporations so that we may avoid the worst effects of climate change," said Joseph Otis Minott, Executive Director of the Clean Air Council.
"My husband and I, and our community are adversely affected everyday by methane emissions. We would know if emissions had been reduced and they have not," said Lisa DeVille, Treasurer, Fort Berthold P.O.W.E.R. "It's important to us that this scorecard shows everyone what we know first hand to be true. These companies need to be held accountable and actually do what they say they are doing."
"Investors have been asking oil & gas companies to set stringent corporate methane reduction targets, backed by accurate emissions data, but with thousands of E&P companies operating in the US alone, a strong regulatory floor is essential. That is why institutional investors representing nearly $4trillion in AUM have supported strong federal methane regulations, needed to protect the health of the planet. Knowing the importance of corporate lobbying in policy-setting, Investors are also asking companies to align their lobbying and trade association membership with the goals of the Paris Agreement to limit planetary warming to no more than 1.5o C. The spotlight shone by EarthWorks on methane leaks by industry has been important in reminding the public of the persistence of the problem," said Christina Herman, Climate & Environmental Justice Program Director at ICCR (Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility).
FOR MORE INFORMATION
Earthworks is a nonprofit organization dedicated to protecting communities and the environment from the adverse impacts of mineral and energy development while promoting sustainable solutions.
(202) 887-1872LATEST NEWS
US Leads Global Surge in Oil and Gas Expansion, Analysis Finds
"The U.S. has become a petrostate and is still, even under President Biden, permitting new drilling," John Sterman of MIT said. "The developed countries don't show any significant efforts to limit drilling."
Jul 24, 2024
Five wealthy countries including the United States have led a global surge in oil and gas development in 2024, threatening international climate goals, according to an analysis published by The Guardian on Wednesday.
The U.S., United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, and Norway together are projected by the end of 2024 to have issued licenses for fossil fuel projects that will emit 11.9 billion metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions over their lifetimes—far more than in any of the previous five years, and roughly equal to a full year of emissions from China, the world's highest emitter—according to industry data analyzed by the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD) and shared with the newspaper.
The five states are responsible for more than two-thirds of all oil and gas licenses issued globally since 2020, with the U.S. alone accounting for half of the world total. President Joe Biden's administration increased oil and gas licensing by 20% over Trump-era levels, and issued a record 758 new extraction licenses in 2023, according to the analysis.
"The U.S. has become a petrostate and is still, even under President Biden, permitting new drilling," John Sterman, a climate policy expert and professor at Massachusetts Institute of Technology's business school, told The Guardian. "The developed countries don't show any significant efforts to limit drilling."
Sterman pointed to a "fundamental contradiction" between rich countries' international commitments and their ongoing fossil fuel expansion. "We can't keep going on like this," he said.
Revealed: wealthy western countries lead in global oil and gas expansion
Surge by world’s wealthiest countries – such as the US and the UK- threatens to unleash 12bn tonnes of planet-heating emissions.
By @olliemilman & @ninalakhani https://t.co/esY5IuIfi9
— jonathanwatts (@jonathanwatts) July 24, 2024
The industry's grip on U.S. politicians has made significant policy change in Washington difficult. In the past decade, fossil fuel companies have spent $1.25 billion on federal lobbying and more than $650 million on campaign contributions, according to OpenSecrets data.
The Conservative-led U.K. government issued a surge of North Sea licenses in the first half of this year, but lost power to the Labour Party following a general election earlier this month. It's not yet clear if Labour will be able or willing to rescind licenses already issued. Currently the U.K. is set to finish 2024 with 72 licenses for projects that would create 101 million metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions over their lifetimes—a 50-year high, according to the IISD analysis. Norway and Australia are also seeing major upticks this year.
Capital expenditure at the world's largest oil companies is up 60% since 2020, with $302 billion projected to be spent on well development this year, The Guardian reported. The fossil fuel expansion continues even though the reserves in rich countries are generally hard to reach, as more accessible reserves have already been tapped.
The expansion also comes in spite of disturbing climate news—2023 was hottest year on record, June was the 13th consecutive hottest month, and Monday was the hottest day, having broken a record set the previous day—and dire warnings from leading international institutions. No new fossil fuel projects can proceed if the world is to meet the 1.5° Paris agreement target, the International Energy Agency declared in 2021.
In December, at the United Nations COP28 climate summit, the world's nations agreed to transition away from fossil fuels, though the agreement was viewed by climate campaigners as weakly worded and ridden with loopholes.
Delegates from wealthy Western nations often present themselves as change-seekers in international climate negotiations, but the IISD analysis adds to evidence that such nations are in fact a big part of the problem.
"Fossil fuel corporations, and the governments that support them, will never stop unless forced to," Bill McGuire, a climate scientist at University College London, said on social media in response to the analysis. "Neither has any interest in the future of the climate, our world, or their own kids."
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Arkansas Supreme Court Orders State to Count Abortion Rights Signatures
The limited ruling was called "a good start" by one pro-democracy group, as advocates hope to include an abortion rights amendment on November ballots.
Jul 24, 2024
Abortion rights advocates in Arkansas were cautiously optimistic Tuesday evening that the state government would count the signatures of more than 100,000 residents who signed petitions in support of an anti-forced pregnancy constitutional amendment, after the Arkansas Supreme Court issued a limited order calling on the secretary of state to begin the process.
Secretary of State John Thurston, a Republican, moved earlier this month to disqualify the petition that advocates had spent months gathering signatures for, claiming organizers had failed to provide information about paid signature-gatherers who had worked on the campaign run by Arkansans for Limited Government (AFLG).
On Tuesday evening, the court ruled that Thurston must begin "the initial count of signatures collected by volunteer canvassers according to A.C.A. 7-9-126(a)," but said nothing about whether signatures gathered by paid workers needed to be counted.
The order did not indicate whether Thurston is required to begin the second stage of the tallying process, in which his team would verify that the signatures are accurate and belong to Arkansas voters.
That stage would begin a "cure" period during which AFLG would be allowed to continue collecting signatures.
"We are heartened by this outcome, which honors the constitutional rights of Arkansans to participate in direct democracy."
AFLG turned in more than 101,000 signatures in time for the July 5 deadline, including an estimated 87,382 that were collected by volunteers and 14,143 gathered by paid workers, according to the Arkansas Times.
The state requires a petition for a constitutional amendment to have at least 90,704 signatures to qualify for the November election ballots—so if Thurston is required to count only the signatures collected by volunteers and does not have to initiate the cure period, AFLG's petition may fall short.
The state Supreme Court did leave open the possibility of an additional ruling on the matter, saying the panel "reserves the right to issue further orders and proceed in accordance with state law."
Despite the uncertainty, AFLG said in a statement that "the will of the people won" this round of the fight to ensure Arkansas residents can vote for abortion rights in November.
"On behalf of 101,000 Arkansas voters, 800 volunteers, and the AFLG team, we thank the court for upholding democracy in Arkansas," said the group. "We are heartened by this outcome, which honors the constitutional rights of Arkansans to participate in direct democracy, the voices of 101,000 Arkansas voters who signed the petition, and the work of hundreds of volunteers across the state who poured themselves into this effort."
The amendment proposed by AFLG would state that the Arkansas government "shall not prohibit, penalize, delay, or restrict abortion services within 18 weeks of fertilization" or in the cases of rape, incest, or "fatal fetal anomaly."
The pro-democracy group For AR People said the court's ruling was "a good start" and noted that at least three of the court's seven judges—Justices Courtney Hudson and Karen Baker and Chief Justice Dan Kemp—seemed "favorable to AFLG's arguments" that the count, the verification process, and the cure period should commence.
Matt Campbell of the Arkansas Times pointed out that AFLG could legally continue gathering signatures as they would during the cure period, before one officially begins.
"Just because a cure period was not explicitly granted doesn't mean AFLG cannot currently be gathering signatures," said Campbell. "The cure period just officially starts the clock, but signatures can be collected before that clock starts and still be valid."
AFLG said that although the matter is not entirely resolved, the court's decision was "reflective of our state motto: 'The People Rule.'"
"We look forward to that principle guiding the rest of the signature verification process," the group said.
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Confidential figures shed additional light on what's been the deadliest-ever war for United Nations staff.
Jul 24, 2024
A leaked report obtained by Drop Site estimates that Israeli forces have killed at least 366 United Nations staffers and their family members in the Gaza Strip since October, an indication of the grave threat Israel's ongoing assault poses to humanitarian relief workers and the enclave's broader civilian population.
Drop Site's Ryan Grim reported Wednesday that the confidential figures, assembled by the U.N.'s Crisis Coordination Center, show that three family members of World Food Program staffers and four dependents of U.N. Children's Fund workers were among those killed by Israeli forces. The total number of U.N. staffers killed so far is 195, according to the data.
The U.N. Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), the primary aid agency operating in Gaza, has seen the largest impact on staffers and their family members. The leaked report estimates that Israeli forces have killed 158 dependents of UNRWA staffers since October.
Israel's devastating military campaign in Gaza, aided by U.S. weaponry and diplomatic support, is by far the deadliest-ever war for U.N. personnel, who have repeatedly been targeted by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF).
Over the weekend, Israeli soldiers fired on a U.N. convoy heading toward Gaza City. UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini said that "the teams were traveling in clearly marked U.N. armored cars and wearing U.N. vests."
"While there are no casualties, our teams had to duck and take cover," he added. "Like all other similar U.N. movements, this movement was coordinated and approved by the Israeli authorities."
Targeting humanitarian relief personnel is a war crime.
#Gaza
Heavy shooting from the Israeli Forces at a UN convoy heading to Gaza city.
While there are no casualties, our teams had to duck and take cover.
This took place yesterday. The teams were traveling in clearly marked UN armoured cars & wearing UN vests.
One vehicle…
— Philippe Lazzarini (@UNLazzarini) July 22, 2024
Grim noted that the leaked report is just "the latest in a series of alarming findings regarding Israel's actions in Gaza," much of which is facing famine conditions due to what U.N. experts recently described as a "targeted starvation campaign" by Israel.
During a 12-hour period earlier this week, Israeli forces killed at least 70 Palestinians and wounded around 200 others—mostly women and children—in a barrage of attacks on the city of Khan Younis, according to the Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor.
The confidential U.N. data emerged hours before Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's scheduled address to a joint meeting of the U.S. Congress on Wednesday afternoon. Dozens of Democratic lawmakers are expected to boycott the prime minister's speech.
U.S. Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.), the lone Palestinian American in Congress, argued Tuesday that Netanyahu "should be arrested and sent to the International Criminal Court," alluding to that body's request for an arrest warrant for the Israeli prime minister.
On Tuesday, hundreds of demonstrators were arrested on Capitol Hill during a peaceful Jewish-led demonstration against Netanyahu's visit and U.S. complicity in the IDF's mass atrocities in Gaza.
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