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Later today, senior executives at Chevron will face a barrage of questions concerning climate change, including one whose intention is to "rock the boat."

Despite receiving approval from the Obama Administration to drill in the Arctic, Shell's ambitions have been thrown into question by everyday people no longer standing idle while Big Oil tramples over local officials, ignores scientists, and propels our planet further towards the climate cliff.

The hard truths which Pickard and Shell refuse to accept is that there can be no “right” in the Arctic, there are only wrongs. It is wrong to drill due to the climate impact. It is wrong to drill due to the ecological and cultural impact. There is no way you can mitigate the risks.

A state of emergency was declared yesterday in southern California after 105,000 gallons of oil poured out of a ruptured pipeline near Santa Barbara.

As I write, Shell’s AGM is underway in the Dutch city of the Hague, where the company is facing intense criticism about its strategy to address climate change, its highly risky Arctic drilling and its carbon-intensive tar sands operations.

Twenty years ago, the oil giant Shell was plunged into a corporate crisis after it was internationally criticised for trying to dump the redundant Brent Spar oil platform in the North Sea and for being complicit in the murder of the acclaimed Nigerian activist, Ken Saro-Wiwa.

As the dust settles on the British General Election, many commentators are still trying to analyse what the results means for policies on energy, fracking and climate. All the signs is that it is great news for frackers and bad news for the renewables industry, especially onshore wind companies.