Global Warming
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- utopian0
Big Oil Finally Admits Climate Risks — To Its Business AND The Planet
For decades, oil companies have tried to ignore the truth about climate change.
After decades of denial, and in some cases outright coverup, a few of the world’s largest oil companies may be waking up to the realities of climate change.
American giants Chevron, ConocoPhillips, ExxonMobil and Valero Energy have started to tell investors that they face financial and physical risks as the planet warms and the world begins to use smaller amounts of fossil fuels, according to a review of their recent public filings with securities regulators.
These risks include increased government regulation aimed at making dirty energy more expensive to produce or limiting how much of it can be burned. Extreme weather, another danger, could disrupt operations or damage company assets.
A report published last November found that more than half of the 20 largest public U.S. energy and industrial companies had not disclosed information about the potential risks of climate change to their businesses. Since then, negotiators have reached a historic agreement in Paris to try to limit climate change, a new report found that sea levels could rise even faster than researchers had previously anticipated and state attorneys general continued to investigate companies that may have withheld information about the dangers of climate change.
Influence Map, a nonprofit group that examines the corporate influence of climate change policies, released both the November and April reports.
The recent disclosure by Exxon is perhaps the most significant. The story that the company tired to hide evidence of climate risks was first revealed by the L.A. Times and Columbia University’s Energy & Environmental reporting program and is now the subject of investigations by state attorneys general.
“ExxonMobil believes the risk of climate change is real and warrants action. ExxonMobil is taking action by reducing greenhouse gas emissions in our operations, helping consumers reduce their emissions, supporting research and participating in constructive dialogue on policy options,” said company spokesman Alan Jeffers.
In its annual report to investors, released in February, Exxon said it assumes “governments will enact policies that impose rising costs on energy‑related CO2 emissions.” It also assumes carbon emissions will be priced at $80 per ton in 20 years, as governments around the world enact policies to make fossil fuels more expensive and renewable energy even more competitive.
Currently, there is no stated, national price on carbon in the U.S., but some states have implemented carbon pricing plans, and hundreds of companies are using internal carbon prices to make investment decisions.
U.S. companies are not currently required to disclose climate change risks to investors.
Financial regulators are doing “almost nothing” to push companies to disclose climate risk, Mindy Luber, head of sustainable investing coalition Ceres wrote earlier this month. Previously, the Securities and Exchange Commission seemed poised to enact rules requiring that companies tell investors about the climate risks their businesses face. But that was in 2010, when the SEC was headed by Mary Shapiro. Under the current leadership of Mary Jo White, the agency has not moved forward with that effort.
In contrast, the Financial Stability Board, a group of national regulators, is working with executives to develop voluntary climate change disclosure standards.
“It’s encouraging to see the energy sector providing greater disclosure,” Timothy Smith of Walden Asset Management, a sustainability-focused investment firm, said in a release. “This is an indicator that post-Paris, companies are increasingly aware of new realities that will inevitably affect their business.”
Reached for comment, Chevron referred The Huffington Post to its proxy statement, where it recommends investors vote against proposals requiring additional climate change reporting. ConocoPhillips, Valero and the SEC did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
- How much gas is burnt in the driving of that truck ?yurimon
- I'm sure all oil companies understand the risks to their business as they're dealing with a finite source. They're not total idiots.Ianbolton
- ^^ HA HAdrake-von-drake
- drake-von-drake-4
Top 10 Global Warming Lies That May Shock You
http://www.forbes.com/sites/jame…Global warming alarmists frequently make false and deplorable assertions (see, for example, my recent column debunking false claims that global warming is causing a decline in wheat production), but the Environmental Defense Fund’s recent fund-raising mailer, “10 Global Warming Effects That May Shock You,” may well set a new low. However, climate realists can make lemonade from EDF’s preposterous mailer by using it to show open-minded people the difference between global warming alarmists and global warming truth-tellers.
- Stop trolling troll!utopian
- You're really clueless aren't you. There are about 10 people here that DO NOT agree with your BSdrake-von-drake
- Name all 10 Yurimon.utopian
- lol @ Forbe's...that's like asking Exxon for it's top 10 list of lies as well.utopian
- and so are the lefty mags that support their agendas, let's face it. maybe not in your brain, but that's spot ondrake-von-drake
- ^ what utopian said ++moldero
- utopian3
‘And then we wept': Scientists say 93 percent of the Great Barrier Reef now bleached.
Expansive aerial and underwater surveys show that 93% of the Great Barrier Reef system has been ravaged by coral bleaching.
Researchers flew over 911 reefs to map out the extent of bleaching along all 1400 miles of the world's largest coral reef system, according to a report released by the Australian Research Council Center (ARC) of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies. The survey found that only 7% of the reef system was not affected by coral bleaching.
- drake-von-drake-4
Albeit non-anthropogenic (not exactly a cause of climate change), seems the invasive plant Kudzu is a cause for ozone layer depletion.https://www.sciencedaily.com/rel…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ku…- Doesn't deplete ozone, makes ozone.detritus
- ^ you're right. increases of the pollutant surface ozonedrake-von-drake
- utopian3
Probe of Exxon's climate change disclosures expands
The top attorneys from Massachusetts and the U.S. Virgin Islands said on Tuesday they will investigate whether Exxon Mobil Corp misled investors and the public about the risks of climate change.
- It's not nice to call people a troll and then post similar content. J_Jdrake-von-drake
- utopian2
The North Pole was about 40 degrees above the seasonal average high on Wednesday, according to the Washington Post's weather team.
- Now they are saying more like...
Storm 'Unfreezes' North Pole, Causing Temperatures to Rise 50 Degrees Above Normal.utopian - https://gma.yahoo.co…utopian
- Now they are saying more like...
- yuekit3
The environmental activism group Greenpeace today disclosed that it led an undercover investigation to expose how easy it is for big oil, gas, or coal companies to pay academics at leading U.S. universities to write research that sheds doubt on climate science, and promotes the commercial interests of the fossil fuel industry.
The scientist involved is speaking at Sen. Ted Cruz's Senate hearing on promoting climate denial this afternoon, on Capitol Hill.
- Typical Big Oil Republicans!
Typical Big Oil Republicans!
Typical Big Oil Republicans!
Typical Big Oil Republicans!utopian
- Typical Big Oil Republicans!
- reanimate0
Temperature rise due to climate change may radically damage the global economy and slow growth in the coming decades if nothing is done to slow the pace of warming, according to new research.
The researchers behind the study, published in the journal Nature, found that temperature change due to unmitigated global warming will leave global GDP per capita 23% lower in 2100 than it would be without any warming. “We’re basically throwing away money by not addressing the issue,” said Marshall Burke, an assistant professor at Stanford University. “We see our study as providing an estimate of the benefits of reducing emissions.”
- utopian1
The attack on climate change scientists continues in Washington
While 150 world leaders continue their efforts outside Paris to hammer out an agreement to address climate change, the concerted attack on scientists by conservatives in Congress has continued apace. We've reported on this campaign in the past, but recent developments warrant an update.
Ground zero for the attack on climate change scientists is the House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology. It's headed by Rep. Lamar Smith (R-Texas), one of the most assiduous climate change deniers on Capitol Hill. For several months, Smith has been throwing a conniption fit over a report published by several government climate experts in the June 26 issue of the widely respected journal Science.
- uan1
is it just in my perception of media scape that there is absolutely no media coverage at all from the climate conference in paris.
Last time I read or heard about it was when it started. since then silence. must be not spectacular enough...and listening into 1 live stream from the website, it's pretty boring.
the webpage has some live streams:
http://www.cop21.gouv.fr/en/we should probably talk more about it in social media space...
- uan1
the press conference I just watched had 0 visitors:
- yuekit2
Indonesia’s palm oil fires are emitting more greenhouse gases every day than the entire US
http://qz.com/528160/indonesias-…
- what? no? but, but it's all the conservative american's faultgilgamush
- Isn't the US simply used here for comparison, rather than to ignite the chip on your shoulder?MrT
- that is correct, the shoulder chip is in response to the never ending party politics that worm their way into scientific debategilgamush
- "Hero of the stupid" - gilgamushutopian
- "derp herp derhur dee durp" - utopiangilgamush
- My perception is that the gop has wound the science debate into their own politics and are ferverous about it.monospaced
- lowimpakt2
It lacks pretty pictures but this speech by the Governor of the Bank of England is fairly important
- GeorgesII-7
be weary of article that use words like "might have been" then when you read the article nowhere does it explains where they have pulled the 4000 years of,
in the sidebar it reads
"It was the hottest June-July-August since detailed record-keeping began in 1880"
then clickbaiter proceed to say
"Planet Earth has definitely experienced its hottest summer since detailed records have been kept, and according to scientists, it might have been the hottest in more than 4,000 years."
so it's 4k years or not, cnn is really reaching with the clickbait
here's the noaa report, which isn't too hard to understand,
http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/sotc/gl…
so noaa states
In Canada, Ontario had a record warm September. Temperatures were above average by up to 5°C (9°F) across the province.
[no time period given]The United States had its second warmest September on record, with a temperature 2.1°C (3.7°F) above the 20th century average. Record and near-record warmth spanned most of the country, with nine states in the Northeast, Midwest, and Southwest record warm.
[no time period given]The September temperature for Norway was 2.2°C (4.0°F) higher than the 1961–1990 average. This marks the sixth warmest September for the country since national records began in 1900. Parts of northern Norway and Trøndelag were 3–4°C (5–7°F) warmer than average.
[115 years record, nowhere near alarmist]It was the coldest September in Spain since 1996, at 0.8°C (1.4°F) below the 1981–2010 national average. Some areas of northern Spain were 1.5‐2.5°C (2.7–4.5°F) cooler than their monthly averages.
[so it was the coolest in spain, in 20 years]The United Kingdom also had a September temperature that was 0.8°C below the 1981–2010 average. England and Wales each observed their coolest September since 1994.
[coolest again]so they are reporting anomalies, but anomalies will only stay that, anomalies. if you can't give a timespan longer than 120 years, how can we honestly say these are anomalies?
- Are you drinking swamp gas again?utopian
- I noticed that global warming accepters don't ever read the article they link, so so sad. but it's ok, to say this was the hottest summers sinceGeorgesII
- the pyramid were being built, it's so ludicrous it hurts, this is why I linked to the actual source the article was based onGeorgesII
- btw how do you drink gas utopian? ehehheGeorgesII
- Don't let the warmists get to you Georges. There socialist agenda will be exposed soon enough. Upvoted.rouncey
- *Theirdetritus
- you lost my respect george... there I was thinking you were a proper Candadianhotroddy
- it's all a ploy to put pressure on china who is currently going trough an industrial revolution. it is a very convenient stance to take considering we don't relgilgamush
- rely on coal anymore. not sure where these indignant lemmings get off trying to make it a partisan issue thoughgilgamush
- utopian4
2015 might have seen hottest summer in 4,000 years
http://www.cnn.com/2015/10/22/we…- hey let's upvote without reading the article. but deniers are fools they sayGeorgesII
- utopian2
Sea level rise will swallow Miami, New Orleans.
Miami (AFP) - Say goodbye to Miami and New Orleans. No matter what we do to curb global warming, these and other beloved US cities will sink below rising seas, according to a study Monday.
- reanimate2
Elon Musk, co-founder of electric carmaker Tesla Motors, warned on Thursday that climate change will spark a refugee crisis of catastrophic proportions if no action is taken.
In a speech in Berlin, the Tesla chief executive said Europe's current wave of people seeking asylum, prompted mostly by political violence, will be dwarfed as fresh water becomes scarce, food supplies become insecure and weather changes in the coming decades.
"Today's refugee problem is perhaps a small indication of what the future will be like if we do not take action with respect to climate change," Musk told an audience at Germany's Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy. "Today, the challenge is in terms of millions of people, but in the future, based on what the scientific consensus is, the problem will be in the hundreds of millions and much more severe."
- reanimate6
Despite its efforts for nearly two decades to raise doubts about the science of climate change, newly discovered company documents show that as early as 1977, Exxon research scientists warned company executives that carbon dioxide was increasing in the atmosphere and that the burning of fossil fuels was to blame.
