Greenwashing at CERAWeek2024 is meaningless without ambitious action to end fossil fuels

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

March 15, 2024

Allie Rosenbluth, allie@priceofoil.org
Bekah Staub, rstaub@earthworksaction.org

Greenwashing at CERAWeek2024 is meaningless without ambitious action to end fossil fuels

Oil Change International, Earthworks, and Texas Campaign for the Environment experts will be available for comment throughout the week.

Houston – Climate and social movements have forced oil and gas companies to acknowledge that fossil fuels are dirty and dangerous. At the industry’s biggest event of the year – CERAWeek 2024 – Big Oil and their government enablers will try to fool the world into believing they have solutions for a livable planet when, in reality, they’re trying to suck every last ounce of profit out of their dirty business.

Expect sales pitches for smoke and mirrors like “carbon capture”, “blue hydrogen”, “certified natural gas”, and “ammonia co-firing”. These scams destroy the renewable energy transition we rightfully deserve by delaying or replacing better alternatives, harm community health, and keep the world on a track toward climate chaos.

Grassroots groups from impacted communities will be in Houston to say loud and clear: it’s time for governments and decision makers to stop listening to fossil fuel industry schemes and take action in the best interest of people and the planet.

Dominic Chacon, Spokesperson, Texas Campaign for the Environment, said:
“Houston has been at the forefront of the harmful impacts of the fossil fuel industries for generations, including the degradation of coastal ecosystems, air & water quality, and most importantly the social and economic fabric of communities throughout Harris County. CERAWeek provides a pedestal for government decision-makers, Big Oil CEOs, and financiers to push dangerous projects like the High-Velocity Hydrogen Hub, carbon capture, and chemical recycling on the Houston region without any community involvement whatsoever. We are organizing to build the world we deserve and put a stop to these profiteers treating our communities as sacrifice zones.”

Kelly Trout, Research Director, Oil Change International, said:
“All the major oil companies’ current climate plans are insufficient compared to the rapid, deep cuts in oil and gas needed within this decade. Greenwashed commitments – whether to reach ‘net zero’, to ‘capture carbon’, or to ‘certify’ fossil fuels as ‘cleaner’ – are meaningless without aggressive, immediate action to end fossil fuels. For the climate and the health of our communities, governments must reign in the fossil fuel industry and guide the world to a full, fast, fair, and funded fossil fuel phaseout.”

Josh Eisenfeld, Campaign Manager of Corporate Accountability, Earthworks, said:
“For years we’ve demanded action, not empty words, from Big Oil. If you look at their actions, it’s clear that not only are they not committed to reducing emissions, they’ve actually come to CERAWeek to continue promoting fossil fuel production and extraction and delaying the transition to a just, clean energy future.”

Lorne Stockman, Research Director, Oil Change International, said:
“CERAWeek will be chock full of oil and gas executives claiming a role for fossil gas in a decarbonizing world. Many will claim their gas has been certified as clean. But our research shows that certified gas is a scam mired in unproven technology, opaque practices, and conflicts of interest. The most recent data clearly shows that the oil and gas industry is failing to rein in its pollution while drastically underreporting its methane problem. We don’t need certified gas or any other half-baked scheme for maintaining the status quo. The best way to reduce methane pollution is to phase out the oil and gas industry.”

Frode Pleym, Head, Greenpeace Norway, said:
“Equinor portrays themselves as a diversified energy company, but that is far from the truth. With as little as 0.15 percent of their energy production derived from renewables, and an unabashed intention to ramp up fossil fuel extraction worldwide, they clearly have no intention of aligning their business with the Paris agreement. Equinor does not care about climate science, they only care about the short-term profits of their shareholders and continue to prioritize short-term profits over people.”

Philip Evans, Campaigner, Greenpeace UK, said:
“With a fresh $10 million pay packet burning a hole in his pocket, new BP CEO Murray Achincloss will no doubt be buying a round for his industry buddies at CeraWeek this year. But while oil tycoons gather in Houston to toast another year of eye-watering profits, rural families are struggling to cope as unprecedented wildfires rage across millions of acres of Texan countryside.

“People are sick of watching oil giants rake in billions from climate-wrecking fossil fuels while those who have done little to cause climate change are forced to pick up the tab. We need to see bold global leadership to force BP and the fossil fuel industry as a whole to stop drilling new fossil fuels and to make their vast resources available both for the coming transition to low carbon energy and to repair the damage the industry has already caused around the world.”

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