Climate Change and the Increasing Oil Demands

So, we thought that the oil demand would diminish with the worldwide awakening regarding the effect of carbon emissions on the environment and climate.

The article “The truth about big oil and climate change” in The Economist mentions otherwise. Energy firms plan to increase fossil-fuel production.

Amidst the calls for action on climate change due to the growing number of extreme weather conditions like the wildfires in California in November, the plummeting temperatures in Chicago, and the fact that 73% of Americans believe in climate change – a poll conducted by the Yale University, the “jarring” the truth is that demands for oil is rising and big oils companies in the United States is investing multi-trillion dollars to meet the demands (The truth about big oil, 2019).

The article says that ExxonMobile, a giant US oil company, plans to pump 25% more oil and gas in 2025. With other oil firms increasing their output modestly, the climate’s consequences could be disastrous.

The Truth About Big Oil (2019) says further:

• This is much more complicated than just banning the production and use of fossil fuels because demands are increasing as millions of pensioners and other savers rely on the profits of these oil companies.
• Four major oil companies are paying the biggest dividends in Europe and America, so it is not only “legal” for them to maximise profits but also a shareholder requirement.  
• There is still hope, as global investments in renewables are currently at $300 billion a year. Fund managers are joining efforts to put pressure on the “world’s biggest emitters,” some are switching to “green products,” and a few big investment groups have “umped the shares of big energy firms,” the article says.

The best policy in America and beyond is to tax carbon emissions, which ExxonMobil backs, which is not a bad idea considering what is going on (The truth about big oil, 2019).

It is interesting to see how this will play out, considering what happened in France with their gilets jaunes protests at their President’s plan to increase taxes on diesel and petrol to help the country transition into green energy (Chrisafis, 2018).

In light of this, the question is how to manage emissions caused by the increased use of fossil fuels. Demands are not slowing down until they reach their peak or it is all depleted.

Indeed, there are many solutions to neutralise and curb carbon emissions.

For example, we are increasing the use and investments in renewables, establishing a carbon emissions tax and using the money for green projects, or enhancing the use of carbon sequestration technology.

As individual consumers, we are responsible for reducing our oil and gas consumption if we are serious about doing something for climate change adaptation and mitigation.

We hope that our collective efforts to reduce carbon emissions will put a dent in reducing greenhouse gases in the atmosphere.