There is nothing like a good energy crisis to bring a dose of reality to climate change and renewable energy fantasies.
It seems that just a few months ago, every major financial institution and every major energy company was fully engaged in a crash program to eliminate carbon emissions from the world. In 2021, in the run-up to the Glasgow climate conference, a large group of banks and other financial institutions formed something called Glasgow Financial Union for Net Zero, or GFANZ, with a mission to use their financial leverage to drive net zero transition in the world. From the GFANZ website:
GFANZ brings together industry-specific independent coalitions to tackle pure transformation challenges and connects the financial community with the Race to Zero campaign, scientists and experts in climate and society. Civil.
All the great kids race to participate. The list of GFANZ members includes more than 500 major organizations, including basically all the biggest banks around the world (US members include JP Morgan Chase, Citibank, Morgan Stanley, Bank of America, Wells Fargo, etc.), not to mention wealth managers, insurance companies, etc.
Even more absurd are the major oil companies’ pledges to eliminate their carbon footprint. (From SP Global, September 20, 2021: “Oil experts commit to net zero, updated targets for methane cutting, carbon intensity.” Pledgers includes all the biggest companies: Exxon, Chevron, BP, Shell, etc.). Like they didn’t know they were in the oil business. Who we?
Well, now we are entering the inevitable energy crisis caused by this madness (along with many destructive government policies), and reality is catching up. At Bloomberg News today, the headline was “Banks try to escape the silence on Net Zero.” Suddenly, it’s safe to admit that it was all a big mistake:
Some of the biggest banks, including JPMorgan, Bank of America and Morgan Stanley, have joined the 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP26) as members of the [GFANZ]a group of about 500 financial institutions [that were] public commitment. . . to reach net-zero carbon emissions by mid-century. [But] in September [2022][JPMorgan, Bank of America and Morgan Stanley] to be [all] between a faction willing to quit, according to sources familiar with the matter.
What happened? Well, with the intentionally created scarcity, the price of fossil fuels is increasing now and there is a lot of money to develop resources to sell at a premium:
The resurgent fortunes of fossil fuels, particularly coal, may explain some of the reasons for weakening resolve to decarbonise. According to Bloomberg data, global bank lending to fossil fuel companies grew 15%, to more than $300 billion, in the first nine months of this year, compared with the same period in 2021. Wall Street just does its job: make money. Banks made more than $1 billion in revenue from fossil lending in the first three quarters, in line with 2021. Why quit business with a booming sector for a distant climate goal?
And then there’s the prospect of shareholder lawsuits if you’re just focused on making a profitable business:
Initially, banks may not fully understand the litigation risks involved in signing a zero pledge.
Some of the executives of these companies may even have discovered that intermittent renewables don’t really work to power a modern economy, though I haven’t. see which of them said exactly that. The person who was closest was JP Morgan’s Jamie Dimon, who was was asked by Representative Rashida Tlaib at a Congressional hearing on September 22 will he? “Pledge to stop funding new fossil fuel projects.” He responded: “Absolutely not, and that would be the road to hell for America.” Finally, a bit of backbone.
Further in the backbone category, let’s place Chevron CEO Michael Wirth. Withr gave a yesterday’s interview with the Financial Times (behind the fee wall) is filled with politically incorrect zingers. A few excerpts:
Despite massive global investment in renewable energy over the past 20 years, fossil fuels still meet about 80% of global demand, says Wirth, and governments have had to hold a “central conversation.” real” on the scale of the energy challenge. . . . “In fact, [fossil fuel] is what runs the world today. It will run the world tomorrow and five years from now, 10 years from now, 20 years from now. “
On top of that, Wirth is blunt that Chevron is planning to increase oil supply:
[Wirth] rejects blame for oil companies for providing “a legitimate product that complies with all the laws” and is still in demand by consumers – and reiterates his pledge that Chevron will continue to increase resources oil supply. “If people want to stop driving, stop flying. . . it’s a choice for society,” he said. “I don’t think most people want to regress in their quality of life. . . Our products allow that. “
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