Big Oil’s Silence Says It All

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Just a few years ago, companies like Shell, Bp, Total, Equinor, EQT, and even ExxonMobil were soaking up the spotlight to claim support for the EPA and their efforts to create new national standards to cut methane from oil and gas. 

Now that the EPA has finalized those rules however, those same companies stand in silence as their industry counterparts carry out a legal attack designed to delay the rule’s implementation at the expense of public health and our climate.

This silence (and lack of action) raises some questions: Was their support for methane rules anything more than words on paper? Was this all just a ploy to get the public off their back, so they could carry on with business as usual?

We definitely have an opinion: facts matter and industry remains the greatest obstacle to action on climate and climate justice.

Same old playbook

Since April 2024, a group of Republican states, industry trade groups, and oil and gas producers have dragged out the important implementation of the EPA’s methane rules with an expensive and senseless legal battle.

Their most recent stunt came in late August when the group asked the supreme court for an emergency stay of the EPA’s methane rules, which the court quickly denied. If the court had sided with industry, implementation of the methane rules would have been halted while litigation over the rule continued, a process that will likely through spring 2025. 

Any delay to the methane rule implementation would have a massive impact on climate. Based on the EPA’s estimates, the finalized rule will eliminate an average of over 4 million tons of methane per year between 2024-2038. Everyday the industry delays means more methane in the air and less time to act. 

The industry knows this, in fact when President Biden took office, many companies were quick to “support” swift action on methane by the administration.

• Shell tweeted: “Sound methane policy is key to advancing the energy transition and we applaud the @EPA for developing new regulations to tackle methane emissions.”

• bp claims to “bp applauds the EPA for proposing new rules aimed at reducing methane emissions.”

• ExxonMobil’s Senior VP Neil Chapman said in a statement that “ExxonMobil has long advocated for federal methane regulations as the most effective way to reduce methane emissions at scale, and we are pleased that President Biden has prioritized reducing methane emissions.”

• Even the American Petroleum Institute said “We support the direct regulation of methane from new and existing sources and are committed to building on the progress we have achieved in reducing methane emissions.” 

But that was nearly 3 years ago and we are still waiting on those words of support to turn into real action to cut methane. Remember, there is nothing stopping any of these companies from taking actions.

Not only are these companies failing to address the methane issues that they publicly acknowledged, they have been radio silent as their industry counterparts attempt to drive us over the climate tipping point. 

And it is not just the EPA’s methane rules. The oil and gas industry is currently fighting at least 4 rules (listed below) proposed by the Biden Administration that would cut methane emissions:

• EPA Methane Rule
• BLM Fluid Mineral Leases and Leasing Process
• BLM Waste Rule
• Greenhouse Gas Reporting Update

This is the industry’s playbook: delay anything that puts people and climate above industry’s profit. For a long time it was ‘deny (climate science) and delay.’ Now it’s ‘talk like a climate champion…and delay.’

Action (not words) is the only thing that matters for climate. 

When it comes to action to cut pollution in line with reducing climate and health harms, all of these companies are coming up short. 

• Shell, bp, and TotalEnergies have walked back their climate commitments to reduce oil and gas production. 
• ExxonMobil is set to double its oil production this year and triple it by 2027 thanks to a heavily scrutinized $60 billion merger with Pioneer Resources, all while dragging feet on real support for methane rules. 
• In Texas, TotalEnergies is expanding its urban drilling operations, which we found to be consistently polluting methane and VOC emissions just hundreds of feets from school and daycares, and acquiring new assets that will likely grow their carbon footprint despite claims to do the opposite.

The Bottom Line

Our best science tells us that we must cut greenhouse gas emissions in half by the end of the decade. While many of these companies were eager to sing their own praises and stand in the spotlight with voluntary commitments and press releases, none of them have followed through on those commitments. And action is all that matters.  

Though they would like you to believe differently, Big Oil’s business model remains largely the same. If they were serious about acting on climate they wouldn’t wait for these legal battles to play out or for methane rules to kick in – they would take immediate action to cut methane emissions throughout the supply chain (not just from their wells) and defend the EPA’s methane rules against legal battles designed to delay vital methane action.

Every delay and each excuse for inaction adds to the indictment of these oil & gas companies. If they will not sincerely partner in solving the problem with the urgency that is demanded, they must lose their seats at the table – where real solutions mean real improvement in the lives of frontline communities and our climate.