End of oil and growth of electric vehicles is GREAT for AGC There were two huge developments today, both for the oil industry and the earth’s climate. New York’s top lawyer issued a subpoena to Exxon, seeking information on whether the world’s biggest oil explorer deceived the public for almost 40 years about climate change. Hours later, President Obama announced that the U.S. would reject the Keystone pipeline.
The rejection of Keystone is more symbolic than substantive. The pipeline would have added $3.4 billion US in economic growth, but contributed to climate change by speeding up production of oilsands crude, which is about 17 per cent more carbon-intensive than the conventional barrel. Rejection will neither halt oilsands production nor damage the broader economy. Perhaps anticipating rejection, TransCanada had asked to postpone the final review earlier this week.
The investigation of Exxon could have more far-reaching implications. Alleged disinformation by the oil industry has long been compared to the actions of the tobacco industry, which eventually agreed to pay hundreds of billions of dollars in state settlements. The New York probe follows investigative articles by Inside Climate News and the Los Angeles Times alleging that Exxon’s scientists had evidence that man-made emissions were damaging the environment as far back as 1977. At the very least, the probe could put a chill on anti-climate change funding during a critical U.S. election year.
Both actions come as more than 80 world leaders prepare to meet in Paris this month to hammer out final details on the most ambitious global pact yet to curb the future course of climate change. The biggest current and future polluters–including the U.S., China, and India–have already made aggressive long-term pledges ahead of the meeting.
The world will depend on oil for decades to come. But 2015 may very well be remembered as the beginning of the end, with the rejection of Keystone and the investigation of Exxon as key markers on the timeline.