Fossil Fuel

Summer Of Heat Is Using Disruption To End Fossil Fuel Financing

August 30, 2024 Alice Hu, Waging Nonviolence. Resist! Big Banks, climate crisis, Divestment, Fossil Fuel, Wall Street

With millions being displaced by wildfires and floods, famine spreading and entire countries getting submerged, the fossil fuel industry is driving us off the cliff and must be stopped. One strategy the climate movement can take to turn the tide is pressuring economic elites to remove their backing for Big Oil. This is the main focus of the Summer of Heat on Wall Street, a sustained campaign of nonviolent civil disobedience against financiers like Citigroup, which has poured more money into fossil fuel expansion than any other bank in the world since 2016. Since June 10, the campaign has organized multiple disruptive civil disobedience actions every single week.

National Trust Under Pressure To Drop Barclays Over Israel, Fossil Fuels

June 23, 2024 The Canary. Resist! Barclays, BDS, Divestment, Fossil Fuel, Israel, Palestine

Fossil Free London activists unfurled a large banner reading ‘National Trust: Protect Nature, Drop Barclays’ across a tower at the iconic Bodiam Castle, East Sussex, on Friday 21 June. the protest was over the organisation’s links to the fossil fuels and arms manufacturer-supporting bank. Bodiam Castle, which was built in 1385 and is famous for its beautiful, moated setting, is one of hundreds of sites owned by the National Trust; the guardian of nature reserves, national parks, coastline, historic buildings and estates across the country. Activists claimed the National Trust were ‘hypocrites’ for banking with Barclays, Europe’s worst funder of fossil fuels since the Paris Agreement, drawing attention to one of the trust’s core aims; to protect nature and climate.

New Report Issues Damning Verdict On Food’s Fossil Fuel Addiction

November 2, 2023 Clare Carlile, DeSmog. Educate! climate crisis, Food and Agriculture, Fossil Fuel, Plastics

Food systems are responsible for at least 15 percent of all global fossil fuel consumption, according to a major report launched ahead of the COP28 climate summit. The analysis shows that the production, transport, and storage of food are driving greenhouse gas emissions equivalent to those of the EU and Russia combined. Ultra processed foods like snacks, drinks and ready meals, along with chemical fertilisers made from natural gas, are singled out as major sources of pollution. Published today (Thursday), the research comes weeks before global leaders gather in Dubai to discuss ways to limit catastrophic global heating.

WPP Has More Fossil Fuel Clients Than Any Other Advertising Company

September 19, 2023 T. J. Jordan, DeSmog. Educate! climate crisis, Fossil Fuel, Public Relations, Workers

Global advertising and public relations company WPP has more contracts with fossil fuel clients than any of its rivals, despite the group’s pledge to reach net zero emissions by 2030, according to a report by campaign group Clean Creatives. The UK-based company topped the annual ‘F-List’ documenting the creative and public relations industry’s work for polluting industries, with 55 fossil fuel contracts. Omnicom followed with 39 contracts; Interpublic Group had 25; and Publicis Groupe had 11. These four companies dominate the communications industry; owning hundreds of subsidiaries around the world, and generating combined revenues of $56 billion in 2022.

Directors Of World’s Top Insurance Companies Tied To Pollution

October 8, 2021 Rachel Sherrington, DeSmog Blog. Educate! Corporatism, Fossil Fuel, Insurance

Just over half of all directors at 30 of the world’s largest insurance companies have affiliations to polluting companies and organisations, reveals an investigation by DeSmog, including several individuals holding senior roles at some of the world’s largest energy companies. The findings raise concerns over a potential pervasive conflict of interest on the boards at a time when the international insurance sector is under pressure to halt its support for the fossil fuel industry. Positions held by the insurance directors analysed ranged from director and advisory roles, including current roles at ExxonMobil, Total, and RWE, along with current and former memberships to industry trade association and think tanks, such as the US Chamber of Commerce. DeSmog analysed director CVs on company profiles, LinkedIn pages, official filings, and news clippings from July 2021, logging the past and present work experience of 371 insurance directors who currently sit on the boards of 30 of the world’s largest property and casualty insurers.

Two Thirds Of Online Posts From Fossil Fuel Companies ‘Greenwashing’

October 5, 2021 Rachel Sherrington, DeSmog Blog. Educate! European Union (EU), Fossil Fuel, greenwashing, Media

One expert called it a “systematic deceptive marketing campaign designed to interfere with the solution that is necessary to respond to the climate emergency: stopping fossil fuel production.” Nearly two thirds of social media posts put out by six major European fossil fuel and energy companies since the end of 2019 present a “green” image of the company, despite the majority of their business activity remaining in fossil fuels, reveals new analysis by DeSmog. The findings add to campaigner concerns that fossil fuel companies are promoting a misleading image of their business models as the need to decarbonize the economy becomes increasingly urgent. DeSmog’s investigation shows a disproportionate focus on green or environmental efforts by the companies — including highlighting their net zero targets — compared to the share of their business devoted to clean energy.

Big Banks Are Funding Fossil Fuel Projects — Let’s Hold Them Accountable

September 27, 2021 Katie Eder And Shannon Carlson, Teen Vogue. Organize! Banks, Climate Change, Fossil Fuel, Youth Activism

The biggest banks are using your money to fund the climate crisis. We have seen this story before. In 2008, the recklessness of megabanks sank the global economic system. Now, in 2021, the youth climate movement is saying that we’ve had enough. We’re not going to let the banks bring down the entire planet too. On October 29, young people are occupying and shutting down banks across the globe to demand an end to fossil fuel financing and the beginning of a Fossil-Free Future, and we need you to join us. Over the past few years, the youth climate justice movement has mobilized historic numbers of people. Together, we’ve brought a new awareness to the climate emergency and inspired a generation of young people in the fight for climate justice. We called on world leaders to listen to science and frontline communities and to treat climate change as what it is: an existential threat to humanity.

Harvard To Divest Fossil Fuels, Sets Example For Other Institutions

September 14, 2021 The Energy Mix. Resist! climate crisis, Divestment, Education, Fossil Fuel

Climate activists are hailing Harvard University’s move to divest from fossil fuels as a profound shift in the status quo and a model for other institutions. The iconic and wealthy university’s decision to go fossil-free comes after years of resisting calls to divest, writes The Washington Post, citing Harvard President Larry S. Bacow’s invocation of the climate crisis as the reason for the about-face. “We must act now as citizens, as scholars, and as an institution to address this crisis on as many fronts as we have at our disposal,” Bacow said in an open letter explaining the shift. The university’s a call to action “is likely to have ripple effects in higher education and beyond, given Harvard’s US$41-billion endowment and its iconic status among American institutions,” notes the Post.

Global Call On Banks To Stop Financing Fossil Fuels

July 26, 2021 Fossil Banks No Thanks!. Resist! climate crisis, Energy, Finance and the Economy, Fossil Fuel

To stop the world descending into full climate chaos, the continued burning of fossil fuels must be brought to an end as soon as possible. Even burning all coal, oil, and gas reserves already in production will push global temperature rise far beyond 1.5°C and likely beyond 2°C, the stated goal of the Paris Climate Agreement. This leaves no space for further exploration or extraction, yet many fossil fuel companies plan to vastly expand their operations, posing a true existential threat to people and planet.

ExxonMobil operation near Chicago, IL, summer of 2014 Credit: Richard Hurd (CC BY 2.0)

New Study Decodes ExxonMobil’s ‘Modern’ Climate Misinformation

May 17, 2021 Sharon Kelly, DeSmog Blog. Educate! climate crisis, Environment, ExxonMobil, Fossil Fuel

What’s the single word that fossil fuel giant ExxonMobil’s flagship environmental reports to investors and the public tie most closely to climate change and global warming? According to newly published research from Harvard science historian Naomi Oreskes and Harvard research associate Geoffrey Supran, it’s a simple four-letter word, one that carries overtones not only of danger, but also — crucially — of uncertainty: risk. Oreskes and Supran argue in the peer-reviewed study published in the journal One Earth, that by repeating that word over and over as it discusses climate change ExxonMobil continues to connect climate change to uncertainty, even in its most carefully worded and most scrutinized discussions of the topic.

Divest Harvard Protesters Arrested At Investment Building

April 17, 2016 Luca F. Scroeder, www.thecrimson.com Resist! Climate Change, Divestment, Fossil Fuel, Harvard

By Luca F. Scroeder for the Crimson. Police arrested several members of the student activist group Divest Harvard after they staged a sit-in within the lobby of the Boston Federal Reserve Tuesday afternoon, protesting Harvard Management Company’s investment in the fossil fuel industry. Four members of Divest Harvard protested in the building, which houses HMC, the University’s investment arm that manages its $37.6 billion endowment. Members of Divest Harvard identified the arrested protesters as Naima Drecker-Waxman ’18, Applied Physics graduate student Benjamin Franta, School of Public Health student Rory Stewart, and Adam Cory Vander Tuig, a student at the Divinity School and Memorial Church seminarian. About 25 students, faculty members, and alumni who support Divest Harvard held a rally outside of the building at the same time.

Largest Coal Port In World Votes To Divest From Carbon

August 27, 2015 Amanda Saunders, www.smh.com.au Resist! Coal, Divestment, Fossil Fuel

By Amanda Saunders in The Sydney Morning Herald - Newcastle, home of the world's biggest coal port, has joined the global fossil fuels divestment push after the city's council voted on Tuesday night to exit holdings in the big four banks if they continue to fund fossil fuels projects. About 80 per cent of the City of Newcastle Council's $270 million investment portfolio is held in the big four banks, mostly through term deposits. Those investments are spread evenly across the big four. But after the council passed a motion on Tuesday night, six votes to five, it will dump holdings in the banks for more "environmentally and socially responsible" institutions when deposits come up for renewal. This will be done only if the rate of return is comparable with the council's holdings in the big four and the council's credit rating criteria is met.

Oil Company Bonuses Linked To $1tn Spending On Extraction

May 27, 2015 Simon Bowers and Harry Davies, www.theguardian.com Educate! Capitalism, Fossil Fuel, Oil & Gas

Bosses at the world’s big five oil companies have been showered with bonus payouts linked to a $1tn (£650bn) crescendo of spending on fossil fuel exploration and extraction over nine years, according to Guardian analysis of company reports. The unprecedented push to bring untapped reserves into production, and to exploit new and undiscovered fields, involves some of the most complex feats of engineering ever attempted. It also reflects how confident Exxon Mobil, Shell, Chevron, Total and BP are that demand will remain high for decades to come. The big oil groups are pressing ahead with investments despite the International Energy Agency (IEA) estimating that two-thirds of proven fossil fuel reserves will need to remain in the ground to prevent the earth from warming 2C above pre-industrial levels – a proposed temperature limit beyond which scientists warn of spiralling and irreversible climate change.

Alumni Occupy Oxford Uni To Protest Fossil-Fuel Indecision

May 5, 2015 Ric Lander, www.bright-green.org Resist! Divestment, Education, Environment, Fossil Fuel, Student Activism

Alumni of the University of Oxford are occupying the university in protest over its failure to divest from fossil-fuels. The University, under pressure to act on its major investments in fossil-fuels, announced today it was postponing a decision on what to do with its investments until May. Oxford University has the UK’s second largest endowment fund, valued at £855 million in 2012, with a further £2.9 billion of investments controlled by its colleges. Occupying alumni included the University’s own former Finance Director, John Clements. The BBC quoted him saying: “we are bitterly disappointed about the university’s failure to come to a decision. Oxford should be leading the move away from investment in all world-destroying fossil fuel companies to more sustainable forms of energy.”

Protestors Bring Ongoing ‘Situation’ To New FERC Chairman

April 17, 2015 Anne Meador, www.dcmediagroup.us Resist! Environment, FERC, Fossil Fuel, Prison

At his first meeting as FERC Chairman, Commissioner Norman Bay gave the cold shoulder to demonstrators who repeatedly interrupted him to protest what they say is the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s rubberstamp approach to regulation. “Oh my God, we have a situation here. The situation is not going away,” shouted protestor Charles Chandler. “There is no democracy here. You just ignore what I write on my computer.” “Well, I guess one wouldn’t be the chairman of FERC without having to deal with protesters,” Bay said, after the first of six were escorted out of the room one at a time. Bay was acknowledging a new reality for the formerly obscure agency. As former FERC Chairwoman Cheryl LaFleur put it, “We have a situation here.” FERC has come to the forefront as gas infrastructure projects have increased exponentially.

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