I picked up this quote in the Israeli press ( The Marker May 2023). It refers to some research from the NGO, One Earth, who have calculated that between 2020-2025 , the fossil fuel companies will do $5.4trillion of harm to the world and they should pay us, the consumers, $209billion a year .
Before you run to your postbox hoping for a fat cheque from Exxon, let me dampen your spirits . They are not going to pay us anything. And certainly, the two biggest polluters Aramco from Saudi Arabia and Gazprom from Russia – care little for their international image. This calculation is really silly. If we did not have fossil fuels now , the lights would go off. Until we reach 100% renewables, we are unfortunately dependent on them, and they provide a valuable service. Don’t get me wrong, I have no love for the likes of Chevron, Total, and BP but to say that they are the sole culprits for the fossil fuel damage makes no sense.
We should not forget, however, that the fossil giants still receive enormous monetary support from governments (don’t vote Republican ), and still unabashedly pervert pro-renewables government policy by generously paying lobbyists. For this they should be reprimanded – it is immoral – yet I cannot see how. So don’t buy Exxon shares , don’t expect any compensation, and vote for governments which will spend more on making our grid be more accessible to renewables.
