SIGHTINGS



122 Companies Said Responsible
For Most Of Global Warming
8-17-99

 

 
122 Companies Responsible for Nearly 80 Percent of World's Fossil-Fuel Carbon Pollution, the Main Cause of Global Warming
 
Efforts to reduce carbon emissions must overcome resistance by fossil fuel producers, says new report
 
The world's major energy companies contribute more to global warming than many developing countries, according to a report released today by the Natural Resources Defense Council, the Union of Concerned Scientists, and the U.S. Public Interest Research Group Education Fund. The report, Kingpins of Carbon: How Fossil Fuel Producers Contribute to Global Warming, provides the first-ever company-by-company tabulation of carbon pollution based on fuel production. Previous analyses of global warming have largely focused on the issue of fossil fuel consumption, ignoring the critical role played by the producers of carbon-based fuels.
 
"There are no mandatory sentences for carbon pushers, but we can expose them in the court of public opinion," said U.S. PIRG Education Fund's Katherine Silverthorne. "This report puts the polluting behavior of companies like Shell, Exxon, BP Amoco, and Chevron front and center in the debate over how to reduce global warming pollution."
 
The report analyzed the 1997 production of the world's top 122 producers of coal, oil, and natural gas. It found that
 
Nearly 80 percent of the fossil carbon released into the atmosphere as manmade carbon dioxide is produced by these 122 companies.
 
Twenty-two percent of the world's carbon-based fuels are produced by only 20 private companies, including Russia's Gazprom, Shell, Exxon, Peabody, BP Amoco, ARCO, Chevron, and Mobil.
 
If BP Amoco succeeds in acquiring ARCO, BP Amoco's combined production of carbon-based fuels would amount to 3 percent of 1997 world fossil fuel emissions, making it the second largest privately owned carbon producer and the fourth largest carbon producer overall.
 
During the months leading up to the December 1997 climate treaty negotiations in Kyoto, Japan, industries opposed to strong treaty provisions launched a $13 million ad campaign to try to undermine the talks. They ran television and print ads claiming that the Kyoto agreement would be unfair to the United States because it did not require developing countries to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions. According to Kingpins of Carbon, many of the companies participating in the ad campaign, such as Exxon, Mobil, Chevron, and the Peabody coal company, each produce fuels that emit more carbon pollution than many developing countries. For example
 
The combined annual carbon production of Exxon and Mobil exceeds the collective annual carbon emissions of Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, and the Philippines.
 
Shell's yearly carbon production exceeds the combined annual carbon emissions of Mexico, Argentina, and Chile.
 
Peabody's annual carbon production exceeds Brazil's annual carbon emissions.
 
"It is time for fossil fuel producers to take responsibility for the global warming pollution they cause," said NRDC's Dan Lashof. "They can no longer get away with driving a wedge between developed and developing countries by labeling the world's poorest countries as the obstacle to curbing global warming."
 
Fossil fuel companies invest hundreds of billions of dollars in coal mines, onshore and offshore oil and natural gas production facilities, and pipelines and tankers. They also provide substantial sums to political candidates in both U.S. parties. This all adds up to enormous economic and political power, which the companies use to perpetuate global over-reliance on carbon-based fuels.
 
NRDC, UCS, and U.S. PIRG Education Fund urge the Clinton administration and Congress to take a stand against fossil fuel producers and protect the planet.
 
"Not only are these companies big polluters, they are major hypocrites," said Alden Meyer of UCS. "The president and Congress should reject their attempt to stall progress on addressing global warming. Rather than providing additional tax breaks to the Kingpins of Carbon, Congress should provide incentives for clean cars, renewable energy, energy efficient homes and other technologies that would reduce U.S. dependence on fossil fuels." __________
 
Kingpins of Carbon is released by the Natural Resources Defense Council, Union of Concerned Scientists, and U.S. PIRG Education Fund in support of the Earth Day 2000 Campaign and Clean Energy Agenda of Earth Day Network.
 
Read the report.
 
Contacts: Elliott Negin, NRDC, 202-289-2405 Katherine Silverthorne, U.S. PIRG Education Fund, 202-546-9707 Paul Fain, Union of Concerned Scientists, 202-332-0900
 
 
Union of Concerned Scientists 2 Brattle Square, Cambridge, MA 02238-9105 617-547-5552, ucs@ucsusa.org






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