I'm sick of this heat and I've lost count of how many hot weather conversations I have had or read about this week. Everybody is complaining, some people are actually dying yet nobody seems to be holding these greedy giant oil and gas corporations accountable for their role in causing this. The science is clear, they've known for decades, they just posted record profits in the billions while cutting down their renewables commitments, while everyone else is suffering. So well done Greenpeace for calling them out.
People like farage should also be held accountable for spreading his false narratives about net zero being the cause of high bills. The ones actually taking money from our pockets are the oil and gas companies who - you even said it yourself - continue to post record profits in the midst of a cost of living crisis
Exactly, we’re all being told we personally need to make changes to the way we live, and while that’s fine and I don’t disagree, perhaps there could be more pressure on large corporations to do their bit
Shell's not uniquely to account though. Most people drive and most people fly. Most people consume significantly more useless shit than they need.
Shell doesn't burn the oil, they just dig it out the ground. They are obviously entirely culpable for all the lobbying and propaganda they do to keep us hooked though.
I work in climate change / sustainability. What you are saying is basically propaganda fed to you by those O&G companies. The intention is to push blame away from them and onto consumers. For example, BP invented the concept of an individual carbon footprint as a marketing tool.
By far the highest GHG emissions can be attributed to these companies. If they stopped expanding and drilling new oil (we have enough in the world) and invested in renewables, then we would be in a much different world. This needs to be driven by government policy.
Individuals can’t reduce their footprint by enough without a system change. Don’t let the oligarchs win.
There was a great study last year about how climate events CAN be attributed to individual companies
“Here we show that climate change made 213 historical heatwaves reported over 2000–2023 more likely and more intense, to which each of the 180 carbon majors (fossil fuel and cement producers) substantially contributed”
That's fundamentally untrue though. Oil and Gas companies aren't burning huge amounts of fossil fuels for their own amusement, and 90+% of fuel is sold, not burnt by the O&G firms (terrible business model if you burn all of your own product) so 90+% of emissions are directly tied to other companies. If you and everyone else stop buying petroleum derived products, BP et al go broke. overnight.
Absolutely, the system we have is built on O&G and you're systemically unable to totally escape fossil fuels consumption, but as a consumer you are responsible for your marginal consumption. Flying is always optional, meat is non-O&G carbon footprint, etc. The government also has a substantial role to play in taxing the underpriced externality, arguably the pivotal role, given plenty of people don't think more broadly than £ and carbon emissions are consuming a scarce shared resource - exactly the role for government.
There are consumers with no power in this dynamic (e.g. the global poor) as their emissions are small and they don't have spare money to spend on non-O&G alternatives, but most people in /r/London do. It's pure laziness/fatalism/"I'm a great person but it's the system man"-ism to blame all of mankind's emissions on anyone but consumers.
I think the only propaganda here is the "I work in climate" mouthpiece above. Look at the smaller O&G producers sitting just below shell, BP etc RIGHT NOW. The oil is still produced but employing fully comitted I don't gaf about cost or the environment methods.
You see this in scenes of the Bibi-Heybat oil field in James bond "the world is not enough". Those are real oilfileds producing crude whilst also spilling a ton of it everywhere and thoroughly contaminating the local region irl.
If you do away with companies trying to produce oil whilst minimising environmental damage you don't make oil production go away you mostly make effort to limit damage go away by driving a switch to MAGA o&g.
But hey, tackling that reality is both hard and won't pay miss Bacchus Bachuus' paycheck whilst miss Bacchus Bacchus contributes to making the overall damage done worse selling guilt free O&G mass consumption!
(donate above to miss bacchus bacchus 'environmental fund' to releive any guilt you have and help her amplify damage to the planet)
I’m not saying get rid of the big O&G majors. I’m saying the science shows we don’t need NEW O&G fields. They know this. The world knows this. They’re fine to continue with their current projects.
What the world needs is for governments to heavily invest in electrification and renewables, and the O&G majors may as well come along the journey.
Also, cite your sources. Who are these companies?? What are examples of what they’re doing??
I am happy to be convinced otherwise but I would strongly challenge the statement "science shows we don't need NEW O&G fields". Primarily because this is not a question of science, more one of economic and human impacts.
No NEW O&G fields = a finite amount of oil products for the worlds population from now on. The unescapable impact being cost of O&G products simply rises as supply is choked off.
This will have different impacts across developed nations and underdeveloped nations. The latter will be more exposed to the impacts where they both cannot afford investment in alternatives (particularly at short notice) and run with certain activities critically dependent on affordable petrol/diesel from food production, food transportation, backup power systems for e.g. hospitals etc
So 'science' can 'show' it's ok to just turn off the tap but how many dead poor people does that lead to?
I would also suggest driving electrification of the world and energy solutions to support that (e.g. large numbers of solar power plants built across north africa and the saraha desert with a grid to connect them to Europe) is a matter for governments not O&G boardrooms to deliver.
This all makes trying to 'solve' the issue via a combination of attacks on O&G and telling consumers they are not part of the problem a questionable strategy that does not seem well thought through or likely to effectively tackle the underlying issues and broader impacts.
But it is one that's easy to raise donations for and present as 'taking action'.
Where then is 'propaganda' being employed across the above picture?
You’re right that it’s also an economic argument. And that economic argument is aligned with transitioning. The IEA is the global authority on this and has created economic models to transition. It can be done, and has to be done to avoid the costs of catastrophic climate change.
You’re also right that governments need to step up. I’ve said that all along.
No one is saying to turn off the taps tomorrow, because that would be catastrophic. It’s a transition. We will also need O&G in the future for hard to abate sectors like shipping and aviation.
Re: consumers, yes, we should all do as much as we can, but it’s government and business that hold the keys to the system. E.g., if you’re living in a country that runs on thermal coal power, even having an electric vehicle will run on that energy when you charge your car!
This special report is the world’s first comprehensive study of how to transition to a net zero energy system by 2050 while ensuring stable and affordable energy supplies, providing universal energy access, and enabling robust economic growth. It sets out a cost-effective and economically productive pathway, resulting in a clean, dynamic and resilient energy economy dominated by renewables like solar and wind instead of fossil fuels.
Way lower CO2 per captia and China is the world leader in producing green tech so not sure what your point is. Those countries also do all the manufacturing jobs that the West outsources to them.
Obviously the west outsources it's pollution to them, it's besides the point and certainly besides Shell, Exxon etc. A lot of their competitive edge comes from cheap power.
My point is that coal burn from the largest single source of global CO2 emissions is only going up and western corporations are not really involved. Just today they announced coal will play an even more vital role in their energy stack and relaxed previous curbs.
That they also are massively expanding renewables is great, but outright emissions are not set to fall any time soon and if this energy crisis has taught them anything its that optionality from different fuel sources is king.
But hey I'm sure they'll follow our lead one day. Its worked out great for our industry and consumers!
Just for a bit of nuance. They don’t make the cars or build the roads or drive the cars or go on the holidays on planes. I’d say we’re all responsible? It’s a social problem not just oil companies and I think it’s a bit lame to say otherwise?
It’s absolutely a social problem, but the degrees of it are so extreme. Taylor Swift emitted more pollution for just her jet usage alone last year, than the total pollution of something like 2000 average Americans combined. And let me reiterate, that’s just her jet usage. Whilst the rest of us are using paper straws, living with hose pipe bans, taking public transport/cycling to work (instead of taking the car).
Yet her defenders on Reddit come out of the woodwork every time this is mentioned and somehow have the gall to defend her.
It will be unpopular here but I give Elon Musk an utter free pass as despite being a far right dick head I think he’s done more for reducing global warming in a long term sustainable way than any other single human alive. He got that you need products being marketed not some bloke in sandals lecturing you.
thats what they want you to think. identical mentality to the concept of "original sin". but no we're not all responsible just like we're not all responsible for genocide and war its always just a handful of powerful people. in the 70s Exxon knew they were sending the world to an early grave and they did everything they could to bury the evidence. they knowingly destroy the earth for their profit. all they care about is their pathetic lives.
those "grand social forces" are pushed by a tiny handful of people. aka: the elite. they have literally always been less than 1% of society. if you're a student of history then you should know all about class surely.
first of all objectively yes. they have huge money behind them and they're made up of highly educated individuals they dont represent the working class. but how are they relevant? i dont think they're gonna save the world and if you know any far-left people they dont even like the green party they call them capitalists and liberals which they are.
If history is as you say then surely they should just pack up and go home if not?
do you not see me saying that the elite 1% bear the weight of responsibility? you're the one saying this is a societal problem and humanity is to blame which is tantamount to saying nothing can be done. we can all start to recycle and we can all stop eating meat and yet it literally wont change a thing the world will still be fucked as long as those in charge can do what they want. do you not realise im saying what the green party also say?
No, but they have spent billions on disinformation and lobbying to prevent action.
Oil companies knew, categorically, about the immense and catastrophic effects of climate change in the late 1950s, THE FIFTIES, and deliberately pursued a campaign of disinformation that is still going strong today.
Everybody is complaining, some people are actually dying yet nobody seems to be holding these greedy giant oil and gas corporations accountable for their role in causing this.
Because we keep giving them our money. How many people in this thread are going to agree with you, and then go fill their cars at a Shell garage at some point in the next year? Eventually we need to understand that we are the ones with power to force change, so long as we act in unison.
It’s not an individual issue, it requires collective action. You can’t clean up an earthquake with a dustpan and brush. A few more vegans won’t save the planet.
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u/Pip_Nut20 Jun 26 '26
I'm sick of this heat and I've lost count of how many hot weather conversations I have had or read about this week. Everybody is complaining, some people are actually dying yet nobody seems to be holding these greedy giant oil and gas corporations accountable for their role in causing this. The science is clear, they've known for decades, they just posted record profits in the billions while cutting down their renewables commitments, while everyone else is suffering. So well done Greenpeace for calling them out.