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US oil lobby launches ad campaign to promote oil as 'vital' to global security

theguardian.com

21–30 of 88 posts

Re: US oil lobby launches ad campaign to promote oil as 'vital' to global security

#21
post #3

This isn’t news, big oil has been bankrolling lobbyists across the globe to maintain their position via fear mongering about “global security”. There were several wars fought over oil in the past three decades, in fact.

Somewhat related, I remember thinking why exactly anyone would want to become a lobbyist for an oil company. Money? Probably. Even though you end up polluting the very same earth you live and breath on as everyone else. I then stumbled across this reddit post not to long ago

https://old.reddit.com/r/GenZ/comments/18jeumy/do_gen_z_guys...

Unfortunately some people will fight for these things to just watch the world burn.

Re: US oil lobby launches ad campaign to promote oil as 'vital' to global security

#22
post #6

I think the opposite -- that oil is one of the larger factors that endangers global security.

Exactly what I was thinking when I read the headline. The oil industry has been a historic disaster for global security, including the ecosystem.

Re: US oil lobby launches ad campaign to promote oil as 'vital' to global security

#23
post #6

I think the opposite -- that oil is one of the larger factors that endangers global security.

Yes. Without oil dependence, the US can let the Middle East sink back into the sand. That's going to happen eventually anyway.

Re: US oil lobby launches ad campaign to promote oil as 'vital' to global security

#24
post #4

How long before we diversify our technology to not be ham strung by oil anymore? If it's a security risk to not have it then it's a security risk relying on it so heavily.

I agree completely. But our infrastructure, particularly agricultural infrastructure in the US and around the world, depends on a lot of fossil fuels. We should reduce that risk as soon as possible. But electric cars and wind plants aren't enough to do it alone.

Re: US oil lobby launches ad campaign to promote oil as 'vital' to global security

#25
post #5

One thing is true: U.S. natural gas production was critical for EU survival after Russian gas cuts and is still critical for survival of EU support for Ukraine. If not the increase in U.S. supplies, EU won't hold out for long having to buy gas elsewhere as prices won't at all be affordable. I don't think it makes sense intentionally suppressing fossil fuels production. The way renewables are developing now, they'll s…

> Globally, fossil fuel subsidies were $7 trillion in 2022 or 7.1 percent of GDP.... Differences between efficient prices and retail fuel prices are large and pervasive, for example, 80 percent of global coal consumption was priced at below half of its efficient level in 2022. [1] Fossil fuels will die a lot quicker if we stop subsiding them to the tune of 7% of global GDP, i.e. 7% of all economic activity globally i…

> fossil fuel subsidies were $7 trillion in 2022

Nearly all of that "subsidy" is the lack of taxation of the negative externalities of fossil fuels. Even fossil fuel propaganda isn't this disingenuous with the way it frames things. That's like saying that fossil fuels are under-subsidized by trillions of dollars because they are used to power hospitals and can be used to power hospitals in Africa.

Re: US oil lobby launches ad campaign to promote oil as 'vital' to global security

#26
post #23
post #6

I think the opposite -- that oil is one of the larger factors that endangers global security.

Yes. Without oil dependence, the US can let the Middle East sink back into the sand. That's going to happen eventually anyway.

So long as the EU is more or less aligned with the US and the Suez Canal exists, the Middle East as a flashpoint is not going anywhere.

Re: US oil lobby launches ad campaign to promote oil as 'vital' to global security

#27
post #6

I think the opposite -- that oil is one of the larger factors that endangers global security.

... I mean to I guess that is -- without oil we'd have an order of magnitude less food and no means of waging war at scale. So the world would be more "secure" in the sense that we probably couldn't wage war across the globe. That said, we'd be starving and far more isolated.

Re: US oil lobby launches ad campaign to promote oil as 'vital' to global security

#28

The most unfortunate thing about oil in the US will be that these companies will eventually go bankrupt and tax payers will be left to clean up the environmental mess the leave behind at the wells.

Which is really the same as tax payers cleaning up the mess they failed to prevent by regulating these companies and our impact on the environment in the first place.

Re: US oil lobby launches ad campaign to promote oil as 'vital' to global security

#29

The most unfortunate thing about oil in the US will be that these companies will eventually go bankrupt and tax payers will be left to clean up the environmental mess the leave behind at the wells.

It's interesting to see the perspective divide. The other perspective I often see is generational, The Boomers are out making tons of money ruining the environment and Gen Z+ will have to spend their lives undoing the harm caused.
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