Greed is good? Not in the oil industry. 

Many of us remember the 1987 movie “Wall Street.” In the film, fictional corporate raider Gordon Gekko declares: “Greed is good” In his view, greed will not only save companies, it will also save America.

This statement is ironic, but it could be true. Industry greed becomes beneficial when it aligns perfectly with the public interest. But that's not true when greed is misaligned, when industry profits by undermining public health, the environment, and even national security.

When their greed undermines the public welfare, companies do so by discrediting critics, covering up the harm they are doing, and buying influence over elected officials by supporting campaigns. They often protect the rights of social enterprises to operate. Although this practice is completely legal in the United States, Thank you to the United States Supreme Court.

Toxic industries will spend millions lobbying policymakers. They will invest heavily in public relations campaigns to persuade people who cannot live without the company's products. If it is particularly shameless, the industry will pressure the government for taxpayer subsidies.

There is no better example than the fossil energy industry. For most of the Industrial Revolution, it appeared to be on the side of good, ushering in the greatest and most rapid advances in comfort and convenience in human history.

But things have changed. Fossil fuels have fouled air, caused lung disease, and It was a trigger Global warming causes disastrous changes in weather. Today, good civilizations derived from fossil fuels far outnumber bad ones. Greed is no longer a “good” because the harms of fossil fuels far outweigh the good. By some estimates, air pollution from burning fossil fuels kills billions of people worldwide. 8 billion in 2018 alonewhich means almost 1 in 5 people will die.

According to a report published by the World Economic Forum, emissions from coal, oil and natural gas are changing the Earth's climate at the cost of: $16 million per hour. It is reported that by 2050, global warming will result in $12.5 trillion in economic losses, more than $1 trillion in additional medical costs, and more than 14.5 million deaths. exactly 26 years ago

With cheaper, cleaner, and more non-toxic resources available, today there is no need for excessive costs to life and property. If the fossil energy industry wants to realign profit to profit, it must reinvent business models that support the world's transition to freely available energy from solar, wind, water, geothermal, and other non-polluting sources. It will be.

Instead, billions of dollars of taxpayer money are being spent on carbon capture technologies that allow power plants and factories to continue burning fossil fuels. At a price that will never compete with clean energy.

Scientists believe that most of the oil, gas and coal that remains underground in our It can not be used If we want to avoid catastrophic and irreversible climate change.Instead, the fossil energy industry high risk investment They are working on new oil and gas extraction and infrastructure development, even if an urgent transition to clean energy is likely to hold them back.

For example, Chevron in December 20 billion dollars About new oil and gas projects this year. ExxonMobil plans to spend as much as $27 billion annually through 2027. However, one study predicts that fossil fuel reserves will decline significantly in the future. 50 percent, or $17 trillion.if the world keeps its promises in the Paris Climate Agreement and keeps global warming below 2 degrees Celsius.

Nevertheless, industry greed prevails. Rather than leading the transition to clean, sustainable energy, we perpetuate the fossil fuel era by: lie, obscure, deny, green washing, help a friendly politician Winning the election campaign and convincing Americans that fossil fuels are important necessary In fact, they affect our quality of life, even as they increase the danger to us and all life in nature.

Last year, the oil and gas industry $93 million to lobbyists And as of October last year, 10 million dollars About this year's parliamentary election campaign

Now the industry is 8-figure media splurge To “educate voters and policymakers on key energy policy issues ahead of the 2024 election.” They will try to convince us that fossil energy remains essential to “continued human flourishing” when indisputable science and climate disasters prove the opposite to be true.

A good industry wouldn't have to spend so much to convince policymakers and voters of its virtues. Nor does it seem necessary to undermine candidates who want to fight climate change. The oil and gas industry continues to try to convince us that the world would collapse without fossil fuels. However, national laboratories, professional organizations, and academic institutions Created multiple roadmaps These show that we can achieve a clean energy economy within the next few decades.

In the United States, Currently the world's largest oil and gas producer, The path to decarbonization is clear. We will eliminate taxpayer subsidies for fossil fuels. Use the revenue recovered to help fossil industry workers and communities adapt to a clean energy economy. Promote market penetration of clean energy technologies. Modifying energy market signals by putting a price on carbon. Count carbon in fossil fuel exports in U.S. emissions reporting. Expanding the clean energy workforce. Eliminate fossil fuels from the economy except for truly necessary uses.

Today, not even Gordon Gecko can credibly argue that greed is a good thing in the oil and gas sector. Quite the opposite. As we witness the industry's latest propaganda splurge, we would do well to remember another famous quote: You have fooled us over and over again for the past 50 years, shame on you.

William S. BeckerHe was the former Central Region Director for the U.S. Department of Energy, where he managed the Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Technology Program and served as Special Assistant to the Department's Assistant Secretary of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy. Mr. Becker is also the Executive Director of the Presidential Climate Action Project, a bipartisan initiative founded in 2007 that works with national thought leaders to lead the White House, House and Senate committees on climate and energy policy. We are making recommendations to the Society. This project is not affiliated with the White House.