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“Oil and gas companies lie about the environmental damage they are causing intentionally” I feel like I’ve been reading some version of this headline for decad

“Oil and gas companies lie about the environmental damage they are causing intentionally” I feel like I’ve been reading some version of this headline for decades. How have we not been measuring and keeping them accountable every step of the way (and doubling down every time they get caught)?

dewey 5y ago
> How have we not been measuring and keeping them accountable every step of the way The answer is: money
- joshspankit 5y ago
  This is the answer that makes me wild. I’m born and raised Canadian, and look at Norway as the small version of what Canada could be. Oil is a finite resource. We could simply say “you can extract some of it if you follow every single one of these environmental regulations, and pay enough in taxes that we can grow a massive fund while also investing in green energy AND the tools we need to hold you accountable. If you break one, it’s a crippling fine. If you break more or a referendum says you’re out, you’re out.”
arbitrage 5y ago
The regulating organisations were compromised & captured decades ago. Yes, all of them.
BurningFrog 5y ago
The oil operations in Russia and Turkmenistan are not what we usually mean by "the oil companies".
wongarsu 5y ago
In the last 50 years we got a lot better with the types of localized damage the average voter can see, like polluting rivers. For everything else the incentives for politicians (in democracies) don't align: there's no upside for them to fixing something nobody complains about, but lots of potential downsides (worse relations with affected companies which might affect future jobs or favors, potential damage to the industry compared to international competitors resulting in job losses, etc). Studies like this that widen the range of damage we can see are an obvious step in the right direction. When enough voters see the damage and care about it it can be regulated. It's far from guaranteed, but without visibility it's basically guaranteed not to be fixed.
- DoingIsLearning 5y ago
  These companies only know the language of money. ICC can prosecute environmental destruction as a crime against humanity under Article 7 of the Rome Statute. We just need to have a world class case against these companies for present and future damage against humanity. Make this so financially catastrophic that you will eventually see change. Methane acceleration of global warming is a palpable damage to the environment and humanity. These leaks are lack of duty of care.
Cthulhu_ 5y ago
Because they do their worst pollution in countries that don't actually crack down on them.
papito 5y ago
You know that phrase, "small government"? A lot of money is spent to convince the masses that if only we had small government, everything would be amazing. The opposite is true. "Small government" means a gutted system, with castrated agencies that cannot do proper investigation, enforcement, and prosecution. The new book, Flying Blind, described how the underfunded revolving door that is the FAA effectively gave up oversight responsibilities to a bunch of Jack Welch trained vulture capitalists, who made short work of an amazing company like Boeing, gave us the Max, killed hundreds of people, and walked away with massive bonuses. Those people - LOVE small government.
aiisjustanif 5y ago
Most of the country hates any form of regulation.

dewey 5y ago

> How have we not been measuring and keeping them accountable every step of the way The answer is: money

joshspankit 5y ago
This is the answer that makes me wild. I’m born and raised Canadian, and look at Norway as the small version of what Canada could be. Oil is a finite resource. We could simply say “you can extract some of it if you follow every single one of these environmental regulations, and pay enough in taxes that we can grow a massive fund while also investing in green energy AND the tools we need to hold you accountable. If you break one, it’s a crippling fine. If you break more or a referendum says you’re out, you’re out.”

arbitrage 5y ago

The regulating organisations were compromised & captured decades ago. Yes, all of them.

BurningFrog 5y ago

The oil operations in Russia and Turkmenistan are not what we usually mean by "the oil companies".

wongarsu 5y ago

In the last 50 years we got a lot better with the types of localized damage the average voter can see, like polluting rivers. For everything else the incentives for politicians (in democracies) don't align: there's no upside for them to fixing something nobody complains about, but lots of potential downsides (worse relations with affected companies which might affect future jobs or favors, potential damage to the industry compared to international competitors resulting in job losses, etc). Studies like this that widen the range of damage we can see are an obvious step in the right direction. When enough voters see the damage and care about it it can be regulated. It's far from guaranteed, but without visibility it's basically guaranteed not to be fixed.

DoingIsLearning 5y ago
These companies only know the language of money. ICC can prosecute environmental destruction as a crime against humanity under Article 7 of the Rome Statute. We just need to have a world class case against these companies for present and future damage against humanity. Make this so financially catastrophic that you will eventually see change. Methane acceleration of global warming is a palpable damage to the environment and humanity. These leaks are lack of duty of care.

Cthulhu_ 5y ago

Because they do their worst pollution in countries that don't actually crack down on them.

papito 5y ago

You know that phrase, "small government"? A lot of money is spent to convince the masses that if only we had small government, everything would be amazing. The opposite is true. "Small government" means a gutted system, with castrated agencies that cannot do proper investigation, enforcement, and prosecution. The new book, Flying Blind, described how the underfunded revolving door that is the FAA effectively gave up oversight responsibilities to a bunch of Jack Welch trained vulture capitalists, who made short work of an amazing company like Boeing, gave us the Max, killed hundreds of people, and walked away with massive bonuses. Those people - LOVE small government.

aiisjustanif 5y ago

Most of the country hates any form of regulation.