Disinformation campaigns from oil and gas companies about the effects of dirty fuels on the climate have been going on for years – and despite claims to the contrary in a new survey, the industry is not part of the solution to rebalancing our planet. heats up quickly.

What’s going on?

Oil and gas companies tout their role in solving the climate crisis, but a federal investigation and whistleblowers say that’s just smoke and mirrors. Vox reported with Drilled.

The problems include misleading information about the general benefits of carbon capture and storage, as well as enhanced oil recovery – which are marketed as solutions or even ways to lead U.S. efforts to reduce pollution that traps heat.

The report notes that carbon capture and storage, or CCS, will account for only 2.4% of carbon mitigation by 2030, according to the Intergovernmental Panel on Carbon Emissions. Climate changeand it can be expensive.

Yet in its comments on videos it funded for children about CCS, ExxonMobil asked creators to “downplay the idea that capturing carbon is difficult or difficult,” according to Vox.

Enhanced oil recovery (EOR) – in which carbon dioxide is injected underground so that more oil can be extracted – has transformed into another revenue stream for hunting companies after industry lobbying – and only part of the carbon it sequesters remains sequestered, according to the report.

Instead, it leads to more pollution when the extracted oil is burned. Additionally, this method uses naturally occurring carbon 70 percent of the time rather than human-produced carbon, according to the report, and oil companies can now get $85 per metric ton (about 1.1 U.S. tons) in carbon capture tax credit instead of carbon capture tax credit. $10 per ton sequestered for initial payments in 2008.

Pipelines used to transport and store carbon are also extremely dangerous, according to Drilled and Vox. No one seems to know how much carbon is going in, how much is escaping, or how much is coming out. Once it came to a head it was during a mysterious leak of 2020 in Mississippi.

“These are not your grandmother’s pipelines,” Carolyn Raffensperger, executive director of the Science and Environmental Health Network, said in the Vox article. “They could be deadly. We talk about a kill zone or a kill zone around a CO2 pipeline. We don’t talk about that with oil and gas pipelines. Those are particularly dangerous and under-regulated.”

Why is this important?

Much of the reporting was based on documents and information obtained by congressional officials during a three-year investigation.

Oil companies have stonewalled requests for information, providing heavily redacted documents while giving up nothing — and even sabotaging their own compliance. An Exxon employee said he submitted only “a really random assortment of unimportant documents,” according to Vox.

Taken together, this — the polluting nature of the industry, with its knowledge of these damages, and its operation of disinformation to give the impression that business can continue as usual – is known as greenwashing. Of particular concern is the linking of CCS to EOR and efforts to generate more profits without regard for consequences.

Besides Exxon, Chevron, BP and Shell are on the cusp of “peak oil” and falling production rates – and now “need EOR more than ever,” Drilled and Vox told about the pollution process. “By rebranding it as a climate solution and linking it to a tax credit, they not only made the process cheaper, they also created a new revenue stream,” the report explains.

What is being done for the oil and gas industry?

Efforts have been made by lawmakers and journalists to hold these companies accountable. The report repeatedly returns to the idea that not extracting oil and gas is the best solution for the climate. Of course, this divestment is the last thing the industry wants.

You can help reduce addiction dirty energy and pollution by making even small changes. Opt for one induction cookeran electric heat pumpOr community solar. Cut your plastic consumptionand eat more plant-based meals. We can pave the way to a cooler, safer future by working together.

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