September, 07 2018, 12:00am EDT
Shareholders Must Demand Oil & Gas Companies Implement Paris Compliant Plans
Strategic review looks at impact of seven years of resolutions on moving oil & gas on climate change and investor underperformance due to holding the sector
Oakland, CA
Today's release of "2020: A Clear Vision for Paris Compliant Shareholder Engagement" lays out a clear plan for shareholders to move oil & gas companies to transition to 2 degree-compliant business models.
As You Sow, a leading shareholder advocacy organization, which filed the first stranded asset resolution in 2013 and has since engaged the oil & gas industry on critical climate issues, analyzed 160 climate-focused shareholder resolutions filed with 24 oil & gas companies from 2012-2018.
The report concludes that, while progress has been made on some climate-related issues, the most fundamental hurdle has not been overcome. The business model for oil & gas companies remains in direct opposition to shareholders' long-term goal of reigning in climate change pollution.
At the same time, risk for shareholders of these companies grows as the energy market moves to decarbonize--from direct competition from low-cost, low-carbon technologies to increasingly stringent greenhouse gas regulations, the window for business as usual, fossil fuel-based energy, is rapidly closing. Recent studies show that, as oil & gas companies' business fundamentals have weakened and company values fallen, they have trailed the benchmark over the past decade, causing pension funds, university endowments, and other institutional investors' portfolios to underperform.
"The impacts of shareholder advocacy on climate have not resulted in material change in the oil & gas industry," Andrew Behar, co-author of the report and As You Sow CEO, said. "Other sectors respond to their shareholders with action. But oil & gas, even with majority votes, have not stepped up to address the growing risks to their companies, the broader economy, and our planet."
Today's report concludes that engagement activity has made progress in many areas, including awareness of climate risk, adding climate-competent board members, and reduced operational emissions. However, no company has put forth a truly Paris compliant plan with transparent methods of assessment and disclosure, and no U.S. oil & gas company has committed to end exploration and development that is incompatible with attaining 2degC.
"We are at a crossroads. It's time to look at our progress objectively and chart a new course," Behar concluded.
As You Sow is the nation's non-profit leader in shareholder advocacy. Founded in 1992, we harness shareholder power to create lasting change that benefits people, planet, and profit. Our mission is to promote environmental and social corporate responsibility through shareholder advocacy, coalition building, and innovative legal strategies.
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Exclusive: Khanna Proposes End to 'Unconscionable' Taxpayer Subsidies for Big Oil
"The fossil fuel industry receives over $20.5 billion in taxpayer dollars every year while fleecing American consumers and driving a global climate crisis," said the California Democrat.
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As fossil fuel giants continue to rake in billions of dollars in profits, U.S. Rep. Ro Khanna on Thursday is reintroducing legislation to end giving billions in taxpayer dollars to companies that inject captured carbon dioxide into wells to extract more climate-wrecking oil.
"The fossil fuel industry receives over $20.5 billion in taxpayer dollars every year while fleecing American consumers and driving a global climate crisis," Khanna (D-Calif.) told Common Dreams. "The End Polluter Welfare for Enhanced Oil Recovery Act will eliminate the subsidy for captured carbon used for enhanced oil recovery, which only leads to more fossil fuel extraction and does nothing to mitigate climate change."
While advocates of carbon capture utilization and storage claim that it's necessary to address the fossil fuel-driven climate emergency, most CO2 captured in the United States is used to extract more planet-heating oil and gas, leading many scientists and green groups to argue that it is a "false climate solution."
"Oil drilling is the real story behind the fossil fuel industry's carbon capture obsession," said Jim Walsh, policy director at Food & Water Watch, which has endorsed Khanna's bill. "These corporate polluters are raiding public coffers from what could easily be hundreds of billions of dollars while greenwashing the further degradation of our climate."
Walsh also highlighted the impact on people who live near fossil fuel infrastructure, telling Common Dreams that "communities across the country are facing the potential for thousands of harmful industrial projects and tens of thousands of miles of dangerous pipelines that will do little more than put money in the pocket of the fossil fuel industry."
Despite such warnings, Congress has actually boosted Section 45Q tax giveaways for companies using captured CO2 for enhanced oil recovery (EOR) since Khanna first introduced the legislation in December 2021. The Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 was heralded as a "landmark" climate package for its investments in cleaner energy, but a little-noticed provision in the law increased the relevant credit for CO2 injection from $35 to $60 per metric ton.
"Taxpayers shouldn't be left footing the bill to help Big Oil boost its profits at the expense of our health and economy."
This year, 15 other House members are backing Khanna's bill, as are over a dozen organizations. Among them is Evergreen Action, which has spent years calling for reforms, including a June memo denouncing 45Q subsidies that encourage more fossil fuel production.
"It's unconscionable that American taxpayers are still subsidizing oil and gas companies to extract even more fossil fuels through so-called 'enhanced oil recovery,'" said Evergreen Action senior energy transition policy lead Mattea Mrkusic. "By eliminating these wasteful tax giveaways, Rep. Ro Khanna's bill takes a crucial step toward ending one of many federal fossil fuel handouts that drive climate pollution."
"Climate change is no longer a distant threat—it's happening right now, fueling more frequent and severe weather events, disproportionately impacting marginalized communities, and costing the American people billions every year," Mrkusic told Common Dreams. "Taxpayers shouldn't be left footing the bill to help Big Oil boost its profits at the expense of our health and economy. It's a perfect time to fully invest in our clean energy future instead."
Khanna's reintroduction of the End Polluter Welfare for EOR Act follows the hottest year in human history—a record that 2024 is expected to beat, with historic summer heat that led global scientists to demand urgent action to shift away from fossil fuels.
It also comes less than six weeks away from the U.S. general election, in which Americans are set to determine the makeup of Congress and the next occupant of the Oval Office. While Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris has the support of nearly every major climate group, former Republican President Donald Trump, who has pledged to swiftly gut federal climate policies if Big Oil puts $1 billion toward his campaign, has been dubbed an existential threat to progress on the climate crisis.
Regardless of who wins in November, there's also a looming Capitol Hill battle over taxation, given that policies Trump signed into law in 2017 are set to expire at the end of next year. As Common Dreamsreported in June, the climate movement sees that debate as an opportunity to end tax giveaways for the fossil fuel industry.
"Fossil fuel companies have raked in astronomical profits at the expense of communities while Big Oil and Gas lobbyists actively work to keep us hooked on their polluting products that perpetuate the climate crisis," said Mahyar Sorour, Sierra Club's director of beyond fossil fuels policy. "It is absurd that taxpayers should then also provide a blank check through subsidies, corporate giveaways, and sweetheart deals."
Sierra Club is supporting Khanna's bill, as are 350.org, Alliance for Affordable Energy, Center for Biological Diversity, Center for International Environmental Law, Climate Justice Alliance, Environment America, Friends of the Earth, Greenpeace USA, Oil Change International, Our Revolution, Oxfam America, Progressive Democrats of America, U.S. PIRG, and Zero Hour.
"We must end the billions of dollars in wasteful taxpayer subsidies to the fossil fuel industry," Sorour stressed. "Congress continues to say they are concerned about the country's deficit. Ending handouts to billion-dollar corporations that price gouge consumers and pollute our environment is a great way to reduce spending."
"We are grateful to Rep. Khanna for leading this legislation and look forward to supporting this and other types of similar legislation that hold Big Oil and Gas companies accountable," Sorour told Common Dreams.
Earlier this year, U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) reintroduced the broader End Polluter Welfare Act, of which Khanna is a co-lead. Its sponsors say that by closing tax loopholes and ending corporate handouts to the fossil fuel industry, that bill "would save American taxpayers up to $170 billion over the next 10 years."
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Democratic New York City Mayor Eric Adams faced mounting calls to resign as federal agents raided his official residence in Manhattan early Thursday morning following news that he was indicted in a corruption probe.
Adams, who was under federal investigation for allegedly conspiring with the Turkish government in 2021 to receive unlawful campaign donations, said he would fight the indictment, which remained sealed Thursday morning. Adams is now the first sitting New York City mayor to be charged with a federal crime.
News of the federal grand jury indictment sparked a new flurry of calls for Adams' resignation from New York lawmakers and advocacy groups.
"Mayor Eric Adams can no longer govern," the New York Working Families Party said in a statement. "He has lost the trust of the everyday New Yorkers he was elected to serve. Our city deserves a leader we can trust and who is not engulfed in endless scandals."
In an appearance on Democracy Now! Thursday morning, New York City Councilmember Tiffany Cabán said that "New Yorkers deserve better."
"We need somebody who can take this job seriously," Cabán added, "and [Adams] can no longer do that."
Should Adams ultimately resign or be forced out of office, the city's public advocate, Jumaane Williams, would become mayor.
Tiffany Cabán was the first New York City councilmember to call on Mayor Eric Adams to resign as he faces several federal investigations.
"New Yorkers deserve better,” says @tiffany_caban. “We need somebody who can take this job seriously … and he can no longer do that." pic.twitter.com/da9ctlaoxX
— Democracy Now! (@democracynow) September 26, 2024
Chi Ossé, also a member of the New York City Council, called Adams—a former police officer—a "corrupt cop" who "needs to resign."
"This started as a corruption probe into his campaign and now half of the leadership is out of commission," Ossé added. "I'm not going to lie, they look guilty."
News of the Adams indictment came three weeks after the FBI raided the homes and seized the phones of top Adams aides.
The New York Timesreported Thursday that "federal prosecutors investigating whether Mayor Eric Adams conspired with the Turkish government to funnel illegal foreign donations into his campaign have recently sought information about interactions with five other countries."
"The demand for information related to the other countries—Israel, China, Qatar, South Korea, and Uzbekistan—was made in expansive grand jury subpoenas issued in July to City Hall, the mayor, and his campaign," the Times noted, citing unnamed people with knowledge of the matter.
Adams attorney Alex Spiro on Thursday accused federal agents of staging a "spectacle" by raiding the mayor's residence.
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Shortly before news of the indictment broke, U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) wrote that she doesn't "see how Mayor Adams can continue governing New York City."
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The six Joint Resolutions of Disapproval, five of which were backed by Sens. Peter Welch (D-Vt.) and Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), would together prevent the sale of $20 billion of U.S. weaponry to Israel. The Biden administration approved the massive sale of Joint Direct Attack Munitions, tank ammunition, F-15 fighter jets, and other military equipment last month.
In a statement, Sanders (I-Vt.) said that "there is a mountain of documentary evidence demonstrating that these weapons are being used in violation of U.S. and international law."
On top of the legal case for scrapping the sales, Sanders said Wednesday that "there are also clear policy reasons not to proceed," noting that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has obstructed cease-fire efforts at every turn.
"It is clear that Netanyahu is prolonging the war to cling to power and avoid prosecution for corruption," the senator said. "Meanwhile, his government has also overseen record illegal settlement expansion in the West Bank and unleashed a wave of violence there that has killed nearly 700 Palestinians, including 150 children, and several Americans over the last 11 months. And now the world must contend with the dramatic escalation in Lebanon."
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Sanders, Welch, and Merkley introduced the resolutions as U.S., France, Qatar, and other nations issued a joint statement calling for a three-week cease-fire on the Israeli-Lebanon border—a proposal that Israel's foreign minister swiftly rejected as Israeli forces carried out a fresh wave of bombings in Lebanon, killing dozens.
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With the formal introduction of the resolutions, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee now has 10 calendar days to consider the measures. Once that period is up, "the sponsor(s) of the resolution can force a floor vote on a motion to discharge the resolution from committee," Sanders' office explained in a fact sheet. Because the resolutions are privileged, they can't be amended or filibustered and require just a simple majority to pass.
The Institute for Middle East Understanding Policy Project said Wednesday that the resolutions mark "the first time in U.S. history" that "there will be a vote in Congress to block weapons to Israel."
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Dylan Williams, vice president of the Center for International Policy, applauded the resolutions as "an appropriate, measured, and sadly necessary response to a security partner's repeated violations of U.S. and international law."
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