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I was feeling all good for Norway, till I read this: > It helps that Norway is also the biggest oil producer in Western Europe and the world's third largest ex

I was feeling all good for Norway, till I read this: > It helps that Norway is also the biggest oil producer in Western Europe and the world's third largest exporter of natural gas. Hmmm.... You know what would really help the environment, Norway? If you stopped drilling all that oil and gas. Your measly consumption of gas isn't the problem; your mega export of oil is.

laurencerowe 10y ago
It's not that simple. Natural gas emits around half the CO2 of coal per GWh. It really depends on what it's substituted with.
Broken_Hippo 10y ago
Imagine what would happen if they (we, I guess, since I live here). The world is pretty connected - that is more obvious here than when I lived in the states. And most of the world's shipping, transport, etc runs on that. Simply stopping the drilling would cause disruption and aggression. It could easily fuel more fracking, for example, or more places using unsavory means to get the oil (My understanding is that they try to be as environmentally friendly as possible while drilling). In addition, it would, at this point, cause local harm to the folks living here and elsewhere. The oil profits are redirected to the oil fund, which are invested in different sorts of companies and helps others out as well as Norwegians, who use the interest from the fund to pay for various things. To stop drilling, the gas consumption really needs to be attacked on a global scale. Renewable energies, electric cars, and such things everywhere - affordable to everyone. In addition, 14 other countries produce more oil. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_oil_production https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_oil_produ... 5 others produce more natural gas: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_natural_gas_production https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_natural_g... At least some sort of effort is being made. Which is more than I can say for the US, which tops both lists.
nemo44x 10y ago
Bit harsh, no? They have every right to participate in the global market and it sounds like they're rather forward looking.
kalleboo 10y ago
A more nuanced and interesting discussion would be if putting the money made from selling oil into kick-starting the EV industry (through subsidies, etc) a net ecological plus or minus?
imtringued 10y ago
Oil is needed for a lot of things other than burning it for energy.
- discardorama 10y ago
  Oh, come on. Yeah, we do make plastics and all, but the main use is for burning.

laurencerowe 10y ago

It's not that simple. Natural gas emits around half the CO2 of coal per GWh. It really depends on what it's substituted with.

Broken_Hippo 10y ago

Imagine what would happen if they (we, I guess, since I live here). The world is pretty connected - that is more obvious here than when I lived in the states. And most of the world's shipping, transport, etc runs on that. Simply stopping the drilling would cause disruption and aggression. It could easily fuel more fracking, for example, or more places using unsavory means to get the oil (My understanding is that they try to be as environmentally friendly as possible while drilling). In addition, it would, at this point, cause local harm to the folks living here and elsewhere. The oil profits are redirected to the oil fund, which are invested in different sorts of companies and helps others out as well as Norwegians, who use the interest from the fund to pay for various things. To stop drilling, the gas consumption really needs to be attacked on a global scale. Renewable energies, electric cars, and such things everywhere - affordable to everyone. In addition, 14 other countries produce more oil. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_oil_production https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_oil_produ... 5 others produce more natural gas: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_natural_gas_production https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_natural_g... At least some sort of effort is being made. Which is more than I can say for the US, which tops both lists.

nemo44x 10y ago

Bit harsh, no? They have every right to participate in the global market and it sounds like they're rather forward looking.

kalleboo 10y ago

A more nuanced and interesting discussion would be if putting the money made from selling oil into kick-starting the EV industry (through subsidies, etc) a net ecological plus or minus?

imtringued 10y ago

Oil is needed for a lot of things other than burning it for energy.

discardorama 10y ago
Oh, come on. Yeah, we do make plastics and all, but the main use is for burning.