Chevron CEO: ‘Let Them Plant Trees’

In an audience withCNBCthat aired Wednesday , Mike Wirth , the CEO of Chevron , said that it would not indue in renewable Department of Energy , rather allowing its stockholder to use money garner from the company and “ let them embed tree . ” Glad he came flop out and say it !

The interview came on the heels of an investor meeting this week , where Wirth and other Chevron executives presented the company’sEnergy Transition Spotlight , focusing on how Chevron says it ’s investing more in energies that can facilitate save the planet . Chevron is America ’s bighearted fossil oil party , taking the claim from Exxon last gloaming , and is the largestinvestor - owned sourceof global carbon emissions since 1965 . If there ’s any oil society that could benefit from turning over a green leaf , it ’s this one .

Again , this consultation was airing on CNBC , so this might sound great to witting investor type . If breaking wind and solar are such a crowded space , why not invest in technologies that could aid the planet and also ask more investiture ? If you only pay aid toChevron ’s press releasesabout its investor meeting , it sounds like the company is really genuinely cause an endeavour to change the case of energy it creates . As CNBC cover , Chevron announced Tuesday it is “ more than tripling its capital investment in its dispirited - carbon vigour businesses , ” pledge $ 10 billion over the next 8 years to this section of the company , a respectable jump up from the $ 3 billion earmarked before . Capitalism can economize the major planet , you guys !

Photo: Richard Drew (AP)

But let ’s poke this bear a bit , shall we ? “ Lower - carbon paper ” is , first off , an interesting terminus . As diarist Amy Westerveltpointed out , it ’s one of an increasing number ofbuzzwordsBig Oil has jump using to convince the general public that they ’re working on this whole climate alteration thing — while hide the fact that they ’re proceed to give rise products that drive up emission . It ’s a useless phrase that simply sound nicer than “ something that will fry the mood a small more slowly than what we ’ve been doing for decades . ”

Accordingly , Chevron ’s Energy Transition presentment is laborious on the troupe ’s investment in applied science that would motor down emission in the output of oil and gas , which is kind of like switching to smoking light cigarettes when you ’ve got lung disease . There ’s also a whole section of the intro devoted tocarbon captureas well ashydrogen — two forms of expensive , early - stage technologies that depend great on paper but have yet to be prove at exfoliation away from helping company greenwash .

As Bloomberg chief vim pressman Javier Blas pointed out on Twitter , all this investment in dissimilar engineering science is n’t coming at the expense of fossil fuels . In fact , Chevron has announce it ’s bumping up its overall capital outlay through 2025 , meaning it ’s still spending billions in take out even more oil and gas .

Ugreentracker

“ The incremental investment in low carbon is NOT coming at the disbursement of humiliated spending in its traditional oil and gas business , ” Blaswrote . “ intend about have your cake and consume it . ”

After all , $ 10 billion over 8 long time for a fellowship that garner $ 4.5 billion in the first 6 month of 2021 alone feels kind of like chump change .

Regardless of how Wirth and other executive may hear to gyrate their caller ’s continued investment in fossil fuel as somehow houseclean up their act , the rampart are starting to close up in . Chevron ’s novel investiture comes on the heels of ashareholder rising this leap , when more than 60 % of the company ’s investor go against the recommendation of the Chevron leading and vote to force it to answer for for the emissions due to burning the oil color it sells . In March , a coalition of green groupsfiled an FTC ill against Chevron , aver that the company is misleading the world in its call that it is working to trim emissions . And on Thursday , the New York Times reported that the House Oversight Committee has call Chevron and other oil behemoth to evidence before Congress as itinvestigateshow the industry spread misinformation about the climate crisis . We ’ll see if Wirth is still contented with rent others implant tree after that .

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