Republicans want Oil Execs to stop apologizing and do less to prevent climate disaster –

Executives from six major oil and gas companies testified at a congressional hearing this week when fuel prices hit a record high and a disastrous report on the need to fight climate change was released.

I was listening in front of the house Energy and Trade Subcommittee focused If the industry prioritizes revenue over increasing domestic production, and lawmakers on both sides have urged industry executives to start work and increase production to ensure comfort at the pump. However, it is also a rare opportunity for lawmakers to put pressure on oil CEOs on what they are doing to combat climate change, which has made their industry a major driving role.

This week, a new UN report warned that global greenhouse gas emissions are expected to increase three years later and then decrease by nearly half by 2030 to avoid the worst consequences of climate change.

Republicans think it’s not nervous. Instead, two GOP members of the Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations called on industry leaders to stop feeding environmentalists and in return double the energy they put on the road to catastrophic and irreversible climate change in worldwide.

Congressman Dan Crenshaw (R-Texas) said at the hearing that global energy demand is Forecast A 50% increase by 2050, saying “renewable energy will never meet this need, ever”. He then compiled a list of metals and other resources that need to be mined and secured for the transition from fossil fuels to renewable energy. And he argued for reductions in greenhouse gas emissions that could result if coal-fired power were replaced by natural gas.

“It’s an argument you should make instead of acting like you have Stockholm syndrome, like your polite radicals in Congress, and this administration will like it someday,” Crenshaw told the oil industry. “You will never like them.”

“Please stay honest with your work, your employees and your customers,” he added. “You told the truth. “Don’t worry what they want on the left, because the Americans need you.”

Among other things, Crenshow’s comments ignore the suffering and destruction already caused by heat, drought and extreme weather conditions caused by climate change around the world, and it will be exacerbated by any further level of heat.

Among the six executives who received the Crenshaw report were Chevron CEO Michael Wirth and ExxonMobil CEO Darren W. Boschi. Chevron and ExxonMobil were among Crenshaw’s top 10 contributors with donations of $ 29,774 and $ 23,153 respectively. According to data compiled by the Center for Response Policy, Crenshaw received a total of $ 693,435 in campaign donations from the oil and gas industry during his career.

Congressman Bill Johnson (R-Ohio), another major recipient of campaign funds in the industry, did the same. An obscene lecture that told executives they deserved to be thanked and praised for what they did to “turn on the light” and “literally improve modern life as we know it in America.”

“But there’s a problem,” Johnson said. “Many of you have large advertising budgets. Why don’t you tell this story? I won’t mention the names, but we’ve all seen ads on Big Oil TV, full of solar panels, green climate messages about how you’ve diversified your portfolio and how you’re welcoming the liberal and progressive values.

“What is the return on investment in this effort?” Johnson continued. “Did you get it Now the Democrats clash. “Do they appear to admire your efforts to show your commitment to the anti-fossil fuel agenda?”

Johnson asked some yes or no questions about whether executives are proud of the products and work they do. After receiving a series of positive responses, he encouraged executives to use his line of interrogation as a model for telling their story.

He accused the industry of “perpetuating radical green progressive values”.

The oil and gas sector gave Johnson $ 725,609 during his political career more than any industry.

At the start of the hearing, executives from BP and Shell announced that their companies were investing in renewable energy, including wind and solar, as well as electrification in the automobile industry. But these investments are pale compared to the totals the industry continues to make for new fossil fuel production and projects.

The rhetoric of Republican lawmakers that fossil fuels are more than renewal – cheaper and more reliable – not only emphasizes Washington’s division into future energy policies, but also emphasizes one of the key strategies of a new UN report: that’s the greatest barrier to aggression. Action is not technology or access to renewable energy; These are political forces.

Renewable energy is becoming cheaper and more competitive. According to the report, from 2010 to 2019 the price of solar energy and lithium-ion batteries dropped by 85%, while wind power by 55%.

But politicians and conservative think tanks are repeatedly attacking green energy because they are not yet ready for prime time. A prime example of climate misinformation on the right emerged last winter when there was a severe winter storm across Texas. Crenshow at Johnson He joined a group of Republicans who initially blamed the grid loss for a lack of wind turbines and solar panels.

“Main line: Renewable energy does not work well in extreme climatic conditions. “Never,” Crenshow wrote on Twitter at the time. “Can we rely on renewable energy to provide electricity in extreme climatic conditions? No, you need gas or nuclear.

In fact, Main reason of Georgia Mortal The shutdown is not because renewable energy sources do not work in the extreme winter. It freezes tools in coal, nuclear and natural gas power plants.

“Let me remind you, people are dying because of lack of energy – and in large numbers,” Crenshow said Wednesday night. “Hopefully all the green compassion I always hear has answers.”

He doesn’t expect the current fossil fuel infrastructure to be more reliable the next time Texas experiences extreme weather conditions.