Beautiful Virgin Islands

Thursday, Jul 31, 2025

Big Oil does little to act on climate despite vows -U.S. House panel

Big Oil does little to act on climate despite vows -U.S. House panel

Major energy companies are not doing enough to prevent the worst effects of climate change despite public promises to fight the problem, a U.S. House panel said about documents released on Friday that it got in a probe.
Democrats on the House Committee on Oversight and Reform subpoenaed major oil executives for the documents, which included internal corporate emails, late last year after a hearing grilling them over their response to climate change.

Many of the documents showed major oil companies discussing the strategy of selling off, or divesting, oil and gas fields to smaller companies to lower their own emissions - a move that simply shuffles those emissions to the next company without reducing them, the panel said.

In 2019 for instance, Jack Collins, a then-executive for BPX, the onshore oil and gas unit of BP (BP.L), explained to another company official in an internal email that the company had planned to cut emissions through a solar pump project.

"However, we have elected to halt nearly all of these projects in light of our divestment plans," Collins wrote, the documents showed.

At Shell , spokesperson Curtis Smith said in an internal email about divesting from assets in Canada's oil sands: "True, we transfer CO2 liability when we divest."

"It’s no different, however, when we are denied resource access in the U.S. (or elsewhere) and that energy need is then met with resources in a country that (likely) has far fewer regulations than we do in a modern, civilized society," he said in the email.

In the documents secured by the House panel, a colleague of Smith's said in an emailed response: "What exactly are we supposed to do instead of divesting ... pour concrete over the oil sands and burn the deed to the land so no one can buy them?"

BP did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Shell's Smith said the House panel's probe failed to uncover evidence of a climate disinformation campaign.

"In fact, the handful of subpoenaed documents the Committee chose to highlight from Shell are evidence of the company’s extensive efforts to set aggressive targets, transform its portfolio and meaningfully participate in the ongoing energy transition," Smith said.

The documents also show that industry group the American Petroleum Institute's (API) 2021 strategy on climate change has been organized around "the continued promotion of natural gas in a carbon constrained economy."

Mike Sommers, the head of API, wrote in an internal email that by mitigating emissions, through flaring of methane at production fields and with carbon capture and storage technology, there is an opportunity to further secure the "license to operate" of fossil fuel drilling.

Megan Bloomgren, an API senior vice president, said drillers are producing affordable energy while tackling climate change. "Any allegations to the contrary are false."

Representative Carolyn Maloney, the committee chairwoman, said the executives admitted in testimony last year to the panel that oil and gas production is contributing to a climate emergency, but that they have been doing too little to address the issue.

"Today's new evidence makes clear that these companies know their climate pledges are inadequate, but are prioritizing Big Oil’s record profits over the human costs of climate change."

The release of the documents comes after Democrats lost control of the House in the November elections and will lose the ability to direct investigations of the panel when Republicans take over in early January.

The release also comes after the administration of President Joe Biden has repeatedly urged oil and gas drillers to boost production to lend help to allies during Russia's war against Ukraine and to protect domestic consumers from high energy bills.

The House panel previously released a memo on Sept. 14 showing that oil majors "greenwashed" their record on climate change "through deceptive advertising and climate pledges - without meaningfully reducing emissions."
Newsletter

Related Articles

Beautiful Virgin Islands
0:00
0:00
Close
Former Judge Charged After Drunk Driving Crash Kills Comedian in Brazil
Jeff Bezos hasn’t paid a dollar in taxes for decades. He makes billions and pays $0 in taxes, LEGALLY
China Increases Use of Exit Bans Amid Rising U.S. Tensions
IMF Upgrades Global Growth Forecast as Weaker Dollar Supports Outlook
Procter & Gamble to Raise U.S. Prices to Offset One‑Billion‑Dollar Tariff Cost
House Republicans Move to Defund OECD Over Global Tax Dispute
Botswana Seeks Controlling Stake in De Beers as Anglo American Prepares Exit
Trump Administration Proposes Repeal of Obama‑Era Endangerment Finding, Dismantling Regulatory Basis for CO₂ Emissions Limits
France Opens Criminal Investigation into X Over Algorithm Manipulation Allegations
A family has been arrested in the UK for displaying the British flag
Mel Gibson refuses to work with Robert De Niro, saying, "Keep that woke clown away from me."
Trump Steamrolls EU in Landmark Trade Win: US–EU Trade Deal Imposes 15% Tariff on European Imports
ChatGPT CEO Sam Altman says people share personal info with ChatGPT but don’t know chats can be used as court evidence in legal cases.
The British propaganda channel BBC News lies again.
Deputy attorney general's second day of meeting with Ghislaine Maxwell has concluded
Controversial March in Switzerland Features Men Dressed in Nazi Uniforms
Politics is a good business: Barack Obama’s Reported Net Worth Growth, 1990–2025
Thai Civilian Death Toll Rises to 12 in Cambodian Cross-Border Attacks
TSUNAMI: Trump Just Crossed the Rubicon—And There’s No Turning Back
Over 120 Criminal Cases Dismissed in Boston Amid Public Defender Shortage
UN's Top Court Declares Environmental Protection a Legal Obligation Under International Law
"Crazy Thing": OpenAI's Sam Altman Warns Of AI Voice Fraud Crisis In Banking
The Podcaster Who Accidentally Revealed He Earns Over $10 Million a Year
Trump Announces $550 Billion Japanese Investment and New Trade Agreements with Indonesia and the Philippines
US Treasury Secretary Calls for Institutional Review of Federal Reserve Amid AI‑Driven Growth Expectations
UK Government Considers Dropping Demand for Apple Encryption Backdoor
Severe Flooding in South Korea Claims Lives Amid Ongoing Rescue Operations
Japanese Man Discovers Family Connection Through DNA Testing After Decades of Separation
Russia Signals Openness to Ukraine Peace Talks Amid Escalating Drone Warfare
Switzerland Implements Ban on Mammography Screening
Japanese Prime Minister Vows to Stay After Coalition Loses Upper House Majority
Pogacar Extends Dominance with Stage Fifteen Triumph at Tour de France
CEO Resigns Amid Controversy Over Relationship with HR Executive
Man Dies After Being Pulled Into MRI Machine Due to Metal Chain in New York Clinic
NVIDIA Achieves $4 Trillion Valuation Amid AI Demand
US Revokes Visas of Brazilian Corrupted Judges Amid Fake Bolsonaro Investigation
U.S. Congress Approves Rescissions Act Cutting Federal Funding for NPR and PBS
North Korea Restricts Foreign Tourist Access to New Seaside Resort
Brazil's Supreme Court Imposes Radical Restrictions on Former President Bolsonaro
Centrist Criticism of von der Leyen Resurfaces as she Survives EU Confidence Vote
Judge Criticizes DOJ Over Secrecy in Dropping Charges Against Gang Leader
Apple Closes $16.5 Billion Tax Dispute With Ireland
Von der Leyen Faces Setback Over €2 Trillion EU Budget Proposal
UK and Germany Collaborate on Global Military Equipment Sales
Trump Plans Over 10% Tariffs on African and Caribbean Nations
Flying Taxi CEO Reclaims Billionaire Status After Stock Surge
Epstein Files Deepen Republican Party Divide
Zuckerberg Faces $8 Billion Privacy Lawsuit From Meta Shareholders
FIFA Pressured to Rethink World Cup Calendar Due to Climate Change
SpaceX Nears $400 Billion Valuation With New Share Sale
×