The largest global motivator,
despite the state of our climate, is unfortunately money. When the pandemic created
a shift in the livelihood of individuals four years ago, businesses and
investors faced challenges due to the rapid decline of the necessity for fuels.
Large Western oil companies were losing
up to 100 billion dollars, and over 200 North
American oil and gas companies had become bankrupt since 2015, creating an
attractive appeal for companies and their investors to push toward renewable
energy.
Despite Exxon’s
choice to remain committed to investing in their traditional regions of business, for example, hydrogen and lithium, other large producers like
BP and Shell pushed for an increase in renewable energy and pledged to become net-zero
emissions companies by 2050.
Following the years of the pandemic, this “swing” towards renewable
energy began to appear more temporary when oil and gas profits made a comeback.
Companies began to backtrack on their commitments to decrease fossil fuel
spending.
The current political climate has also been a motivator to ignore
the pressing concerns of the climate, with an increase in positive beliefs
about the booming oil and gas businesses.
A common consensus regarding the switch from fossil fuels to
renewables has been to create a more practical approach. Money being the major
motivator to produce any change threatens this shift. Hopefully, the lack of
large price swings and overall steadier market that the oil and gas markets do
not possess will help with this push. The developing friendship between re-elect
Donald
Trump and Elon Musk also poses an interesting dynamic for the political climate
in the years to come. Musk is known for his “pro-environment” perspective,
describing the current state of the planet as a major issue. This partnership may
reduce Trump’s harsh stance on his denial of the increase in the earth’s
temperature. Musk is a large advocate for lower emissions and electric
vehicles, however, he has yet to address how pressing global warming is. The
political focus for the push towards green energy seems to be about running out
of fossil fuels, rather than the detrimental consequences of the planet. If a
plan is going to be made in the right direction, this narrative needs to
change.
In the next year, global oil production is said to increase, causing the price per barrel of oil to go down. If money continues to be a larger motivator than the well-being of our planet, other plans need to be made to pressure investors and companies to promote green energy or emissions will remain at alarming levels.
Abby, this is a rich analysis. I appreciate the way you put the fossil fuel companies into the recent historical perspective. LIke you, I am troubled by the "increase in positive beliefs about the booming oil and gas businesses." We are going to seriously look into that this semester.
ReplyDeleteHey Abby,
ReplyDeleteThis is a very concerning topic and I like how you did not sugar coat anything and shared all of the scary bits. As to the friendship between Trump and Musk, I too am interested in seeing if this may alter the president elect's viewpoints a bit, but that remains to be seen.
The section on the relationship between President Trump and Elon Musk is very interesting point. They seem to have different opinions on the threats of climate change and how to go about reducing the affects. Musk might be pushing this narrative due to him being in the electric car industry.
ReplyDeleteHey Abby,
ReplyDeleteI think that Shell and BP's decision to increase their use of renewable energy sources is really interesting, I am curious to know how exactly they are implementing renewables as most of their market is in fossil fuels and gas, perhaps in transportation or powering facilities on solar/wind? An additional thought I had reading your post was that maybe consumers could also lean into this shift by choosing shell and BP over Exxon, it could be a great way to make a more environmentally conscious shift in our lives if more extreme changes like electric vehicles aren't an option at the moment.
Well said. As terrible as Musk is about most things, the one thing he (mostly) stayed right about it the climate threat, in spite of his use of private jets and SpaceX tourism. https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/nov/20/elon-musk-green-credentials-clean-energy-climate-deniers This article is an interesting read about his whole seemingly self-conflicting identity.
ReplyDeleteThis was well written and well researched. It is devastating to learn that companies are going back on what they promised to do in order to better the environment. I too hope that between a billionaire and the future president they can come up with some great ideas or create funding in order to turn things around.
ReplyDeleteThis is a really through analysis. I really like how you point out the different rhetorical strategies that surround conversations about the environment and how important the prevailing narrative is. So much of climate change's political economy is dictated and influenced by rhetoric.
ReplyDeleteI love how you touched on the narrative many believe about fossil fuels that the issue is them running out and not the detriment to the planet. This type of rhetoric makes people tune out the noise and not help in the large push for renewable energy. When push comes to shove, gas company CEOs will only look out for their profits so we must force them to listen with steady policy and expect more from our politicians and their friends when it comes to their decision making on the climate front.
ReplyDeleteI read similar articles for my blog post so I found it interesting to read further into this issue. I found supporting articles about Trump's denial to the climate crisis and how he will increase the use of fossil fuels; oil and gas. I do hope, as you stated, that Elon Musk could bring an environmental standpoint into play.
ReplyDeleteThis is well researched and well explained! I will be curious to see if the relationship between Trump and Elon Musk has much influence on the political side of the climate crisis, especially when considering the some of the actions that Trump may be pursuing during his presidency.
ReplyDeleteYour article emphasizes how crucial it is to figure out how to match financial incentives with environmental objectives. The key to bringing about the required shift might be found in persuading businesses and investors to give green energy top priority through subsidies, legislative changes, and public pressure.
ReplyDeleteGood discussion here.
ReplyDeleteGreat blog, Abby! It’s eye-opening how quickly oil companies shifted back to fossil fuels once profits recovered. The point about money being the main motivator really stands out—change won’t happen without stronger pressure on companies and investors. The potential dynamic between Trump and Musk is interesting too; hopefully, it can lead to some progress. Well written!
ReplyDelete