Oil Trains Update from ForestEthics

[Brian Haberly]

Nice summary of where we are at in the fight against Oil Trains in California.

http://www.forestethics.org/blog/california-oil-train-fight-turning-heat

Brian

[Mark Roest]

Hello Brian and all,

A while back we were focused on fighting fracking, Bakken crude & tar sands. The Saudis have been, too, and this is a report on their success:

http://www.bloombergview.com/articles/2015-09-11/saudis-are-winning-the-war-on-shale?utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Issue:%202015-09-14%20Utility%20Dive%20Newsletter&utm_term=Utility%20Dive

The economic battle the Saudis are waging, and our fight for political responsibility regarding climate change, are separate, but also highly complementary. Shale and tar sands are dirtier than Saudi oil (the cleanest in the world), so their loss of the financial ability to operate as they use up each expansion of the area they exploit is the climate's gain. They are also mining operations that render the earth desolate, so their loss is life's gain.

From the article, part of the Saudi strategy is to burn the financial institutions each time they support the repetitive re-opening of the shale, so that they will raise their interest rates and terms (insurance?), and finally refuse any further financing at any price. That will eventually close the shale industry down. The tar sands industry does not have that cycle; they open pit mine and then strip off the gunk, but it's very costly, and there have already been retrenchments on projects. They, too, can be squeezed out by the Saudis.

Once that happens, the Saudis can raise their prices again, by which time the prices of batteries, solar and wind may have fallen so much that it no longer matters. One article I came across a while back predicted that there will be a point at which they are at parity with the operating costs of the fossil fuel plants even if the price of fuel at the well-head is zero, after which the game will be completely over for them.

Part of our job is to drive divestment of investments in fossil fuels, stripping their $5.6 trillion(?) in annual global subsidies, and socially and politically ostracizing them, removing the last vestiges of 'good will' on their books. We can do all that very nicely, showing people that the alternatives are ready (the carrot), as well as that their future is toast if they don't change (the stick).

In terms of the Risky Business report, this scenario is death for shareholders, so they will want to divest, once they are aware of it.

Regards,

Mark

[Caroline Yacoub]

Hurrah for the Saudis? I have a little trouble with that. But I guess I like them better than the Koch brothers.

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