Donald Trump’s stunning re-election threatens to upend the business of the industry he swore to protect: Big Oil.
If his incoming administration follows through with plans to once again withdraw the United States from the landmark 2015 Paris climate agreement — as a way to ease restrictions on fossil fuel companies — it could actually end up hurting companies like Exxon Mobil, according to Oil. CEO of the giant.
Two years after Obama first helped pave the way for the Paris Accords, which seek to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius, Trump led the country out of the agreement. Upon taking office, Biden reversed that decision on day one and continued the stimulus Record of investment in clean technology. If Trump again withdraws the United States from Paris, this fourth consecutive administration will be a sign of diametrically opposed energy and climate policies.
“I don’t think stopping and starting is the right thing for companies,” said Darren Woods, CEO of ExxonMobil. Wall Street Journal in interview Published on Tuesday. “It’s very inefficient. It creates a lot of uncertainty.”
The head of ExxonMobil was in Azerbaijan to attend Conference of the Parties 29 In Baku, it was the second time in a row that a city rich in exploitation of fossil fuel deposits hosted a UN climate conference after Abu Dhabi last year.
“Dig, baby, dig!”
Trump has promised to “drill, baby, drill,” but this continued retreat from agreed-upon policy has made it difficult for companies with long-term investment horizons to end up stuck in debt. Suspended assets– Such as oil companies. It is not beneficial for companies “to have the pendulum swing back and forth as administrations change,” Woods said.
He stressed that Exxon will not deviate from its strategy Includes Investments in controversial carbon capture technology, only because of Trump’s election. But he did not deny that adjustments might be needed if government policy changed fundamentally.
ExxonMobil has a unique and sometimes uncomfortable relationship with Trump: the Woods relationship He got his job as CEO After his predecessor, Rex Tillerson, was chosen to be the next president’s Secretary of State. Tillerson spent just 13 months as Secretary of State before Trump fired him.
luck She reached out to the Trump campaign for comment but has not yet received a response.
Elon Musk can prevent the pendulum from swinging again
One potential barrier to another pendulum swing is Elon Musk, who donates to Trump, and who will likely use his newfound influence to urge Trump not to pursue withdrawal from the Paris Accords.
In 2017, the Tesla CEO withdrew from all presidential advisory boards after Trump announced his administration’s decision to withdraw from Paris earlier the same day, where Musk criticized “Climate change is real“.
But Musk at the time still needed his Tesla investors to believe the company would grow to be larger than Toyota and Volkswagen combined, offering 20 million cars a year to primarily environmentally conscious consumers.
That sales target has since been quietly abandoned, and after Nvidia replaced Tesla as the hot stock to own, Musk has been busy rebranding his automaker into an AI and robotics company. (While Tesla shares have risen since Trump’s election victory, its market cap of $1.1 billion is still only a third of Nvidia’s.)
Trump: Rising sea levels create more oceanfront properties
The Tesla CEO, who now considers himself part of the “Dark MAGA” movement, has since gradually retreated from his previously strong support for climate policies.
In August, while campaigning for Trump, Musk downplayed the issue of climate change and said that there was absolutely no need for society to make tough choices because things would more or less work out on their own. Accelerating the transition to clean energy is no longer urgent when viewed against the larger priority of reinstalling Trump in the Oval Office.
“We still have a lot of time, and we don’t need to rush,” Musk said. He said“If, I don’t know, 50 to 100 years from now, we’re mostly sustainable, I think that’ll probably be a good thing.”
Meanwhile, Trump, a climate change skeptic, said rising sea levels were a good thing, because it meant “More oceanfront propertiesTrump did not address the issue of the destruction of existing oceanfront properties due to rising sea levels.
Environmental activist and 350.org founder Bill McKibben criticized this as “The stupidest climate conversation ever“.
Right now, Floridians battered by twin hurricanes Helen and Milton are struggling to find insurance for their homes, with many turning to the financially struggling nonprofit Citizens Property Insurance Corp. as their insurer. Last resort.
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