Autumn leaves, climate wins, and Big Oil profits

Hi Earthlings! This week Big Oil will announce their Q3 earnings. This announcement bookends a series of billion-dollar mergers and acquisitions transforming the fossil fuel landscape. You might be thinking “drilling for oil seems like a bad long term investment…” and you’d be 100% right.

Last month the International Energy Agency reported that demand for fossil fuels may peak by 2030 before entering a steady decline. The agency warned oil executives that any new investment in fossil fuels could prove misguided — the IEA reports by 2030 renewable energy could supply half of the world’s electricity, investments in offshore wind could beat coal and gas power plants, and heat pumps and other electric heating systems could outsell gas and oil furnaces. The fossil fuel industry’s future is shrinking.

Profitable growth aside, Big Oil has already proven a point. Big Oil’s 2022 record-breaking $200 billion profit is not being reinvested towards the longevity of our planet or promised climate solutions. To quote Alex Witt, a senior advisor for oil and gas at Climate Power, “[Big Oil] executives only care about the short-term, putting potential profits over the lives of families and the future of our planet.”

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Wisconsin to spend $402 million on water quality, including PFAS contamination. The money will be available to 106 Wisconsin municipalities to help build water infrastructure projects, replace lead service lines, and address contaminants such as PFAS (man-made chemicals that don’t break down naturally). AP News

The EU is working on reducing microplastics. After banning glitter, the EU is proposing to cut plastic pellet pollution 74% by the end of the decade, which could lead to a 7% reduction in Europe’s microplastic pollution. It’s estimated between 52,000 and 184,000 tons of the plastic pellets, also known as nurdles, are released into the environment in the EU each year. The Guardian

The world has crossed a solar power “tipping point”. Solar is set to overpower fossil fuels as the biggest electricity source globally by 2050. A recent study found that solar adoption is vital to meeting emissions-reduction goals and this pattern will continue at its current rate, as long as no major policy shifts disrupt it. Bloomberg

Farmers in India are building “ice stupas” to store water. The slow-melting artificial glaciers mimic ice stalagmites and some reach 100-feet tall. Developed in 2013 by Sonam Wangchuk, the stupas are low-cost, low-tech, and their conical shape decreases the surface area of ice exposed to the sun—storing water in the high-altitude region until it’s needed to irrigate summer crops. Reasons To Be Cheerful

Most companies buying carbon credits are not greenwashing. A new study found companies engaged in the carbon market are nearly 2x as likely to be decarbonizing their operations year-over-year, are investing 3x more in reducing emissions of their own business, and are 3.4x more likely to have science-based climate targets than companies who don’t buy credits. Time

Major companies are urging world leaders to agree to phase out fossil fuels at COP28. A letter from 131 companies, including Volvo, Heineken, Unilever, and IKEA, urges world leaders to agree on a timeline to stop using fossil fuels at the COP28 United Nations Climate Change Conference next month in Dubai. The companies that signed the letter have almost $1 trillion in combined annual revenues and represent many different sectors, including health, power, road transportation, technology, and consumer goods. EcoWatch

EPA is taking a big step to curb climate-warming HFCs in the US. Together, the regulations on emissions from gas used in cooling and refrigeration will avoid up to one billion metric tons of CO₂ through 2050, as much as 10 coal-fired power plants would emit during that time. Both rules are key pieces of the Bipartisan American Innovation and Manufacturing (AIM) Act, enacted in 2020 to cut supply of HFCs by 85% over 15 years. NRDC

England is getting weekly food waste collections. Beginning in 2026, all English homes will have regular collections of food and garden waste. London has already implemented food waste collections from all homes, where it is either composted or used to generate energy. Edie

Stockholm is banning gas and diesel cars in the city center. By the end of next year, a 20-block area in the city central district will ban vehicles that do not meet the city’s strict air-pollution standards. The city plans to expand low-emission zones in 2025—and make the entire city center emissions-free by 2100. Fast Company

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