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TODAY Thursday 22 May 1997 Each weekday. Conn Nugent on what's new in the world, on the site. |
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TODAY Thursday 22 May 1997 Each weekday. Conn Nugent on what's new in the world, on the site. |
TODAY IN THE WORLD: Petroleum Heresy
According to yesterday's Greenwire, there has been an interesting break in the ranks of Big Oil.
In a speech at Stanford, the CEO of British Petroleum, John Browne, actually described climate change as "... an issue which is potentially very serious." Even so mealy-mouthed an admission is big news in an industry that pays out great heaps of money to keep afloat the notion that there is a respectable body of scientific opinion that questions the central hypothesis of global warming.
Browne said that BP and other oil giants should "play a positive and responsible part in identifying solutions" to global warming. For its part, Browne said, BP would invest in solar energy technologies; set and reach energy-efficiency standards for all internal operations; and carry out "Joint Implementation" programs to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in developing countries. (For more on JI and its critics, see Leonie Haimson's "On the Ohter Hand..." feature in In the Trenches.)
For the record, oil industry brethren said there was nothing new or particularly remarkable about Browne's speech. Off the record, Greenwire says, the reaction was akin to Philip Morris' hearing about Ligget's apostasy on cigarettes and lung cancer. Browne is "out of the church," said one not-for-attribution spokesman.
This promising development has the fingerprints of the Environmental Defense Fund all over it. Browne specifically mentioned EDF, and pledged BP's good will in working with the group to develop an emissions-trading system. It is a key part of EDF's ideology -- and methodology -- to work with corporate partners on incremental improvements in environmental protection that serve the self-interests of the company and its shareholders.
For this approach, of course, EDF catches much flak from fellow enviros. Too insider; too elitist; too ready to compromise; too capitalist; too rich; too hungry for publicity; too much the lone wolf. Maybe, but I'm certainly glad they're around. If environmentalism is to be an influential mass movement for the next century, it will probably have to take on the messy diversity of views and interests typical of an American political party. We'll need EDF and Greenpeace, national and grassrooots, left and right, science and hyperbole. That EDF likes both to play and to win is all to its credit.
TODAY ON THE SITE
For two excellent guides to the whole question of energy production, visit our High Fives section and check out the Websites recommended by Victoria Chanse (Energy & Environment) and Jeff Birkby (Energy / Renewables).
5/21: We Irish
5/20: Shallow Backpackers
5/19: Songbirds
5/16: Fat, Fat, Fat
5/15: Our Forthright Administration
5/14: Coral Reefs of the Sahara
5/13: (Life Before) Death and Taxes
5/12: Kids
5/09: Free Trade and Hormones
5/08: Sherry Boehlert, Republican
5/07: Fort Davis, West Texas
5/06: Europe (yawn)
5/05: Divorce, Mothers, Equality
5/02: Killer Grannies and the Highway Bill
5/01: China
4/30: Pity the Mangrove
4/29: Grizzlies off Battery Park
4/28: Mighty Monsanto
4/25: Growth
4/24: Refrigerator Wars
4/23: The Day the Earth Day Stood Still
4/22: Doorman Ecology
4/21: Toyota Steps Out
4/18: Victims of Extremism
4/17: Our White Guy Problem
4/16: Coca-Cola and the Merrit Parkway