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Delay, Delay, Delay: API Will Say Anything to Obstruct Climate Action [1]
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Date: 2023-01-26
This month, the American Petroleum Institute (API) released its 2023 State of American Energy Report , which includes some of the most blatant fossil fuel industry delay tactics and greenwashing that we have seen in a while.
With the tagline “The Solution is Here,” the report claims to offer a fix for the “global energy crisis” that will also “reduc[e] greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.” What is API’s suggested solution to the fossil-fueled energy crisis? It’s more of the same thing that created climate change and the energy crisis in the first place: fossil fuels!
CEO Mike Sommers’ promotional op-ed in RealClearEnergy makes API’s motive crystal clear: Say and do anything it can to convince the public that the use of fossil fuels is inevitable, so as to delay climate action for as long as possible.
Sommers begins by exploiting Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and using the war to advocate for “more natural gas and oil production, not less… now and in the future.” Classy, but not surprising, given the industry's war profiteering .
Next, he tries beating the drum of American nationalism, fueling fears that, “Failing to implement policies that clearly support new natural gas and oil investment and production… could risk returning America to the days of ever-increasing foreign imports. And steadily increasing dependency.”
And why not throw in a little American exceptionalism, too? Sommers sings, “At this defining moment in history, America needs to lead on energy by safely developing its own natural gas and oil resources. Asking other countries to produce more is an abdication of America’s unique ability to lead.” What makes America uniquely able to lead, besides its apparent susceptibility to fossil fuel industry influence and jingoistic platitudes? Unclear!
But the real meat of the op-ed is discourses of delay . API wants you to think that we have to keep using fossil fuels “for decades to come as other energy sources grow and spread,” despite the fact that renewable energy is rapidly gaining momentum .
The op-ed even advocates for investments in carbon capture, utilization, and storage technology, which is yet another one of the fossil fuel industry’s favorite delay tactics. Just last week, a new study showed that the mere presence of a carbon capture and storage policy option decreases Republican support for renewable energy .
Sommers also sprinkles in some classic greenwashing, for flavor: “The challenge before all of us… is meeting the dual challenge of satisfying demand for reliable, affordable energy while also continuing to reduce emissions and protect the environment… We’re already on it. API’s Climate Action Framework is an energy blueprint to help usher in a lower carbon future.”
The fact that API even deigns to mention its supposed desire to achieve a lower (but not low enough ) carbon future, is likely the result of the last few years of increased public pressure on the trade organization for its role in disseminating climate disinformation . In October 2021, Mike Sommers himself was hauled in front of Congress to testify about API’s heinous record of spreading climate disinfo.
This year, though, the best Sommers could do to greenwash the oil and methane gas industry’s reputation was an op-ed in RealClear, which is pretty much the bottom of the (oil) barrel of conservative-owned pseudo-media outlets.
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https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/1/26/2149370/-Delay-Delay-Delay-API-Will-Say-Anything-to-Obstruct-Climate-Action
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