Message From the Editor

This week our UK team reported on how rogue companies are buying up aging North Sea oil and gas projects. As the major fossil fuel companies exit the North Sea, the region’s new players bring a track record of lobbying against climate policy, polluting the environment, and committing alleged labour violations. Campaigners say the trend towards private ownership in the North Sea is potentially “catastrophic” for the UK’s plans for an equitable transition towards low carbon industries. Michaela Herrmann has the story.

Meanwhile, scientists from around the world are warning that a rapid and urgent phaseout of fossil fuels is needed in order to avoid crossing dangerous climate tipping points. In a new study, they find that Earth’s vital signs are continuing to deteriorate — from more devastating wildfires to rising methane emissions. Read more here.

And in the United States, a congressional committee is requesting an interview with the ExxonMobil lobbyist who was revealed by an undercover Greenpeace investigation in June admitting that the company has misled the public on climate change and continues to use lobbying tactics to prevent climate action. “Your statements raise serious concerns about your role in ongoing efforts by ExxonMobil and the fossil fuel industry to spread climate disinformation, including through the use of ‘shadow groups,’ in order to block action to address climate change,” the congressional letter states. Nick Cunningham reports.

Have a story tip or feedback? Get in touch: [email protected].

Thanks,
Brendan DeMelle
Executive Director

P.S. Readers like you make it possible for DeSmog to hold accountable powerful people in industry and government. Even a $10 or $20 donation helps support DeSmog’s investigative journalism.

‘Gathering Storm’: How ‘Rogue’ Companies are Buying up North Sea Oil and Gas

— By Michaela Herrmann (21 min. read) —

Companies with histories of environmental abuses and alleged labour violations, backed by private equity and with ties to foreign governments, stand to profit from North Sea oil and gas, new data shows.

Campaigners say the trend towards private ownership in the North Sea is potentially “catastrophic” for the UK’s plans for an equitable transition towards low carbon industries.

In March, the UK government ignored campaigners’ calls to end the issuance of offshore oil and gas licences and reverse its policy of maximising economic recovery of fossil fuels in the North Sea, leaving the door open for more privately-owned and less-transparent companies to purchase and profit from North Sea assets.

Scientists who Issued ‘Climate Emergency’ Declaration in 2019 Now say Earth’s Vital Signs are Worsening

— By Nick Cunningham (4 min. read) —

From devastating wildfires to rising methane emissions, Earth’s vital signs are continuing to deteriorate, scientists warn. An urgent global phaseout of fossil fuels is needed, they say, reiterating calls for “transformative change,” which is “needed now more than ever to protect life on Earth and remain within as many planetary boundaries as possible.”

The warning comes roughly a year and a half after a global coalition of 11,000 climate scientists declared a climate emergency, warning that global action was needed to avoid “untold suffering due to the climate crisis.” The new paper examining Earth’s vital signs, published in the journal BioScience, is authored by some of the same scientists who helped spearhead the climate emergency declaration.

House Committee Seeks Interview with Exxon Lobbyist Caught On Tape

— By Nick Cunningham (3 min. read) —

A congressional committee is requesting an interview with the ExxonMobil lobbyist who was revealed by an undercover Greenpeace investigation in June admitting that the company has misled the public on climate change and continues to use lobbying tactics to prevent climate action.

On July 26, the House Committee on Oversight and Reform sent a letter to Keith McCoy, a senior director in Exxon’s Washington DC government affairs team, requesting his voluntary appearance before the committee for an in person on-the-record interview on August 9. The letter, signed by Chairwoman Carolyn Maloney (D-NY) and the Chairman of the Subcommittee on Environment Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA), cites the Greenpeace investigation.

Irish Broadcaster RTÉ Apologises for Poor Climate Coverage

— By John Gibbons (6 min. read) —

Ireland’s national broadcaster has publicly apologised for failing to link recent extreme weather events to climate change, pledging to set up a dedicated climate reporting unit in the run-up to COP26.

In an unusual move, RTÉ’s Managing Director of News and Current Affairs Jon Williams tweeted that the broadcaster had been wrong not to make the connection clear, calling it a “sin of omission” and insisting that the “lesson” had been “learned”.

From the Climate Disinformation Database: North American Meat Institute

The North American Meat Institute is an industry group representing U.S. meat and poultry processing and packing companies, as well as their suppliers. Headquartered in Washington, D.C., the North American Meat Institute was formed in 2015 following the merging of the American Meat Institute (AMI) and the North American Meat Association (NAMA). NAMI works to “build relationships across the food system” and is “ethically committed to do what’s right for people, animals, and the environment,” according to its website. On a page on NAMI’s website titled “Climate Change and Animal Agriculture: The Facts,” the organisation states that the answer to the question, “To what degree does human activity on Earth lead to climate change?” is “unknown.”

Read the full profile and browse other individuals and organizations in our Climate Disinformation Database and Koch Network Database.