Drilled

Investigating the obstacles to action on climate change.  AMY WESTERVELT

Source: Drilled

As someone who spends an inordinate amount of time reading PR strategy documents from 20, 50, even 100 years ago one thing these documents just scream to me is that this industry has not come up with a new idea on this stuff in a long time. In particular I saw echoes of our old friend longtime Mobil VP Herb Schmertz all over these.

Following are the things that jumped out at me, but I encourage folks to read it all for themselves here and here, and to check out Climate Files DocumentCloud for their annotated versions.

The industry’s climate “solution” leans on getting the public to accept methane gas as a “green” fuel (or, barring that, at least a “bridge fuel”) and building out enough carbon capture to make oil “low carbon.”

The fossil fuel industry is once again pushing the idea that methane gas—a fossil fuel—is somehow an alternative to fossil fuels. The plan appears to be to lean on gas and carbon capture (which can magically make crude oil “low carbon,”) and call it “transition.”  

The API is particularly keen to market “differentiated” or “responsible” natural gas, which includes renewable natural gas. We’ve covered this before, but renewable natural gas is an interesting one. It’s made from captured methane, from either concentrated animal feed operations (CAFOs) or landfills, so the industry often describes it as “net zero” or “zero emissions,” but that doesn’t account for the emissions associated with actually using the stuff. The other issue critics of RNG often point to is that by even the most optimistic projections, RNG could only ever supply about 20% of energy demand, but it could help ensure that gas infrastructure stays in place for decades.