The growing political fight over relaxing America’s decades-old crude export ban intensified at the end of last week, when 14 oil and gas firms set up a lobbying group specifically to push to relax the ban.
For years the oil industry has been lobbying tirelessly to overturn the US crude export ban as domestic production increases on the back of the fracking revolution.
In a case that will be watched keenly worldwide, a Canadian Federal Court will today start reviewing the approval last December of the expansion of Shell’s controversial Jackpine tar sands mine in Alberta.
The oil industry and its allies are used to dismissing those who are warning about climate change as a bunch of lentil-eating, sandal-wearing commies. But over the last few months we have seen a growing number of authoritative voices calling for fossil fuel disinvestment, with a growing number of institutional investors actually saying they will disinvest from fossil fuels.