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EartherEnergy
A Landmark Report Calls for Stopping New Fossil Fuel Development Next Year
While oil and gas companies ramp up the PR around their net zero commitments and try to convince us that fossil fuels can coexist with climate action, the science has long been clear that we need to quit dirty fuels pretty much immediately. One of the world’s biggest energy arbiters now says it agrees. The … Continued
By Molly Taft -
Earther
Children of Shell Employees Sure Seem to Be Embarrassed by Their Parents
At Shell’s annual general meeting on Tuesday, a company executive told a heartwarming story. Shortly before taking the role six years ago, the fossil fuel giant’s outgoing chairman, Charles Holliday, said he had a conversation with one of the company’s employees. “I asked him the very simple question: ‘In three weeks I’ll become chair of … Continued
By Dharna Noor -
EartherEnergy
Exxon Blames You for Climate Change
Over the past few decades, oil companies have largely shifted away from climate denial. Now, you can see the energy giants openly acknowledge that climate change is happening, but their new messaging tends to leave a bad taste in my mouth. A new, first-of-its-kind study by Harvard researchers Geoffrey Supran and Naomi Oreskes explains why: … Continued
By Dharna Noor -
EartherClimate Change
The Fight to Define What ‘Clean’ Energy Means
After four years of backsliding under former President Donald Trump, the U.S. is back to increasing its climate ambitions. But there’s a fight brewing over what exactly constitutes zero-carbon energy, showing that challenges decarbonization faces. President Joe Biden has proposed a clean electricity standard to reduce emissions, and various proposals and bills would create one … Continued
By Dharna Noor -
EartherClimate Change
Shell’s CEO Thinks We’re Dumb
Big Oil executives want us to know we need them. In an interview with Axios on HBO on Sunday, Shell CEO Ben van Beurden said that corporations like his must be an integral part of the transition away from the polluting energy they’ve made billions off of. “What quite often I think is insufficiently understood … Continued
By Dharna Noor -
io9BooksScience Fiction
An Epic Space Journey Awaits in This Excerpt From Tade Thompson’s New Sci-Fi Tale
The latest from Arthur C. Clarke Award winner Tade Thompson (Rosewater) isn’t out until October, but io9 has a sneak peek today with an exclusive cover reveal and an excerpt from Far From the Light of Heaven. It’s a standalone sci-fi novel that follows a high-stakes mystery that unfolds aboard a colony ship. Here’s a … Continued
By Cheryl Eddy -
Earther
Shell Says It Has Reached Peak Oil Production
Shell says oil is on its way out. In a Thursday statement, the fossil fuel giant said its “oil production peaked in 2019,” and that we can now expect it to decline gradually by 1 or 2% per year. Shell also said its total carbon emissions peaked in 2018 at 1.7 gigatonnes. The statement doesn’t … Continued
By Dharna Noor -
Earther
Climate Polluters Write a Letter Asking to Be Lightly Regulated Please
Sounds like some of the nation’s largest polluters have reached the bargaining phase of post-climate denial. In an open letter, 42 corporations have announced that they’re thrilled to have the “opportunity” to meet the Paris Agreement goals “if elected leaders seize this moment” through “bipartisan climate solutions.” Now that they’re staring down more regulation, they’d … Continued
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Earther
Shell’s Bad Tweets Reek of Desperation
“Social license to operate” is one of the life-bloods of brands. Reportedly coined by Canadian mining CEO James Cooney in 1997 after a disaster, the concept is basically how much the public is willing to embrace (or at least put up with) how an industry operates. If it evaporates, an industry’s business model can shrivel … Continued
By Brian Kahn -
EartherEnergy
Amy Coney Barrett Is One Big Walking Conflict of Interest
Amy Coney Barrett, Trump’s nominee for Supreme Court Justice, still won’t say if she thinks climate change is real. In her responses to a collection of follow-up questions compiled by the Senate Judiciary Committee following her hearing last week where she dodged climate questions, Barrett said that it would be “inappropriate” for her to “opine” … Continued
By Dharna Noor -
Earther
City of Charleston Sues 24 Oil and Pipeline Firms ‘Directly Responsible’ for Chronic Floods
The city of Charleston, South Carolina filed a lawsuit against two dozen of the largest pipeline and oil conglomerates, saying the firms are responsible for making the floods that often hit the port city more frequent and more damaging. Charleston, South Carolina’s largest city, has experienced a rapid uptick in flooding—with the Charleston Harbor tide … Continued
By Tom McKay -
io9
Updates From The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, Doom Patrol, and More
HBO Max has tapped Max Minghella for a new sci-fi tinged horror series. Quibi wants to try and bring one of Junji Ito’s most iconic horror manga to life. Another familiar face returns to Agents of SHIELD. Plus, what’s next for Into the Dark. Spoilers now! Shell According to Deadline, Max Minghella (Teen Spirit) will … Continued
James Whitbrook & Gordon Jackson -
Earther
Shell Is the Latest Oil Company to Do a Belly Flop
We’re halfway through 2020, and I think we can all safely say it’s been a pretty terrible year. There’s been so much terrible stuff in the past two months alone, I can’t even remember the bad stuff that happened in January. But I’m sure it sucked. So I’ll take minor bits of good news where … Continued
By Brian Kahn -
Earther
Apparently It’s Sue Big Oil Week
It’s lawsuit week for Big Oil. A day after Minnesota filed a groundbreaking suit, Washington, DC District Attorney General Karl Racine sued ExxonMobil, Chevron, BP, and Shell, alleging that the companies “systematically and intentionally misled consumers … about the central role their products play in causing climate change.” Racine’s consumer protection lawsuit accuses the three … Continued
By Dharna Noor -
Earther
Shell: OK, We May Actually Be Fucked This Time
The coronavirus has sent oil demand plummeting, and it may never return to where it once was. In a stunning admission, Shell CFO Jessica Uhl told investors she sees “major demand destruction that we don’t even know will come back.” There are countless metrics that show how absolutely bonkers and unheard of the current crisis … Continued
By Brian Kahn -
Earther
Don’t Fall for Shell’s New Climate Pledge
On Thursday, Shell released a pledge and rough plan to shrink its carbon footprint to net-zero by 2050 in an attempt to meet the goals of the Paris Agreement. It said it will shift its business to produce more clean energy and more biofuels (which are problematic), and help its customers, like major airline companies, … Continued
By Dharna Noor -
EartherClimate Change
Nevertheless, She Combusted [Update: She’ll Not?]
Update 6pm ET: This is possibly a hoax—but reportedly not. CBS Los Angeles, which originally reported the supposed campaign, has deleted its story, and Shell has not responded to Gizmodo’s request to confirm its legitimacy. (Sam Gavin’s tweet above, which contained a video promoting the “She Will” campaign, has also been deleted.) On the flip … Continued
By Rose Pastore -
EartherClimate Change
In Rare Move, Oil Giants Ask Trump to Regulate a Greenhouse Gas
Fossil fuel giants Shell and Exxon are far from perfect, but they are taking a stand against the Trump administration’s attempt to kill regulations on a potent greenhouse gas. This week, both companies criticized President Donald Trump’s deregulatory actions against methane, a potent greenhouse gas that can leak during oil and gas operations. Shell told … Continued
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Tech News
These Wild Robots Will Compete to Explore the Last Frontier on Earth
We know very little about our planet’s seafloor, but that’s poised to change as autonomous underwater scouting technology gets better and better. To that end, nearly two dozen teams are racing to develop robots that can investigate, map, and conduct science at extreme depths, and under serious time constraints. They’re also competing for $7 million … Continued
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Tech News
Shell Concedes That Drilling Off the Alaskan Coast Is a Really Bad, Really Expensive Idea
After spending $7 billion drilling for oil and gas in the Chukchi Sea off Alaska, oil giant Shell announced today it will cease all drilling due to “a clearly disappointing exploration outcome.” This means there might be zero drilling off Alaska’s Arctic coast in the near future. Shell has called off all drilling for oil … Continued
By Bryan Lufkin