It turns out today's been a pretty wild ride for our Twitter handle! 🥳
More seriously & since you're here, we've got *ADVICE*.
Faced w/ #COVID19, governments have a choice: Build resilient societies to prioritize health & safety of #PeopleNotPolluters OR bail out fossil fuels.
More seriously & since you're here, we've got *ADVICE*.
Faced w/ #COVID19, governments have a choice: Build resilient societies to prioritize health & safety of #PeopleNotPolluters OR bail out fossil fuels.
The bottom line: Today, several years of #fracking companies going bankrupt, several decades of coal's decline — these are what an UNMANAGED decline of the fossil fuel industry looks like.
It hurts workers & communities badly, while fossil fuel executives get golden parachutes.
It hurts workers & communities badly, while fossil fuel executives get golden parachutes.
Today's wild ride of oil futures prices is a big deal, but the industry isn't disappearing tomorrow.
Instead, the current madness is driven by a 1-2-3 punch of:
- Demand destruction from #COVID19
- Global price wars
- Structural decline from renewables & decarbonization
Instead, the current madness is driven by a 1-2-3 punch of:
- Demand destruction from #COVID19
- Global price wars
- Structural decline from renewables & decarbonization
That last reason is crucial.
The fossil fuel industry was already in terrible shape before the #COVID19 crisis, despite huge government subsidies & friendly terms from friends in the banking industry.
Great new report from @ciel_tweets makes this clear: ciel.org/reports/pandem…
The fossil fuel industry was already in terrible shape before the #COVID19 crisis, despite huge government subsidies & friendly terms from friends in the banking industry.
Great new report from @ciel_tweets makes this clear: ciel.org/reports/pandem…
The industry's crass opportunism — calling for huge publicly funded bailouts while deregulating & continuing to ram through infrastructure projects — is no surprise.
But government's response — in the U.S. & globally — doesn't have to accept this path toward climate chaos.
But government's response — in the U.S. & globally — doesn't have to accept this path toward climate chaos.
The #COVID19 crisis has exposed weak global social safety nets, but in a #JustRecovery we can build resilient societies to prioritize working people, not fossil fuel execs.
Doing so means big, targeted investment & placing supply-side measures at the heart of the policy toolbox.
Doing so means big, targeted investment & placing supply-side measures at the heart of the policy toolbox.
So what do we do?
Here at Oil Change, we've got two key lists for you:
*DOs* — forward-looking approaches to create the world we need;
*DONTs* — destructive approaches that would entrench existing power structures & keep us on the path to climate chaos & widespread suffering:
Here at Oil Change, we've got two key lists for you:
*DOs* — forward-looking approaches to create the world we need;
*DONTs* — destructive approaches that would entrench existing power structures & keep us on the path to climate chaos & widespread suffering:
DO: Ensure equity & a #JustTransition are at the heart of any government response to the current crisis.
DO: Protect workers & communities affected — including those in the oil & gas sector — by creating long-lasting good green jobs & protecting the right to unionize.
DO: Protect workers & communities affected — including those in the oil & gas sector — by creating long-lasting good green jobs & protecting the right to unionize.
DO: End fossil fuel subsidies & ensure any carbon price reflects climate & equity imperatives.
DO: Ensure #GreenNewDeal frameworks provide a basis for #JustRecovery & stimulus packages.
Here's a great framework for what that could look like in the U.S.: medium.com/@green_stimulu…
DO: Ensure #GreenNewDeal frameworks provide a basis for #JustRecovery & stimulus packages.
Here's a great framework for what that could look like in the U.S.: medium.com/@green_stimulu…
DO: Make decision-making processes & response measures transparent to allow public scrutiny.
DO: Bring the oil & gas industry into public ownership to ensure a just transition & managed phase-out of production.
Here's what it could look like in the U.S.: priceofoil.org/case-for-publi…
DO: Bring the oil & gas industry into public ownership to ensure a just transition & managed phase-out of production.
Here's what it could look like in the U.S.: priceofoil.org/case-for-publi…
DO: Introduce oil & gas production caps to wind down production.
DO: Link any support provided to the industry to a requirement to align w/ climate goals & a concrete, verifiable plan for a just transition & managed phase-out.
DO: Ensure the polluter pays principle is upheld.
DO: Link any support provided to the industry to a requirement to align w/ climate goals & a concrete, verifiable plan for a just transition & managed phase-out.
DO: Ensure the polluter pays principle is upheld.
DON'T: Don’t bail out oil & gas companies or increase subsidies — #StopFundingFossils & #StopTheMoneyPipeline.
DON'T: Don’t roll back existing policies or regulations, or extend licensing agreements.
DON'T: Don’t bail out other polluting industries such as aviation & shipping.
DON'T: Don’t roll back existing policies or regulations, or extend licensing agreements.
DON'T: Don’t bail out other polluting industries such as aviation & shipping.
DON'T: Don’t construct or operate fossil fuel infrastructure that's endangering worker & community health.
DON'T: Don’t delay responses to climate crisis amid the flurry of immediate priorities. Relief is paramount, but must be done in a way that doesn't dig us deeper in a hole.
DON'T: Don’t delay responses to climate crisis amid the flurry of immediate priorities. Relief is paramount, but must be done in a way that doesn't dig us deeper in a hole.
It's pretty simple — the fossil fuel industry is hellbent on extracting everything it can & driving climate chaos.
If governments use public dollars to bail out the industry but don't limit its expansion & invest in a #JustRecovery, today's wild ride will just be the beginning.
If governments use public dollars to bail out the industry but don't limit its expansion & invest in a #JustRecovery, today's wild ride will just be the beginning.
But if we invest in a #JustRecovery to protect people & create good jobs, we can build resilient economies to confront future crises & accelerate climate action.
That's our choice, & it's going to take people-powered movements to make sure governments choose the right path.
That's our choice, & it's going to take people-powered movements to make sure governments choose the right path.
