The COVID-19 crisis poses a threat to people’s health, their jobs and their lives, and like all crises, exacerbates already existing inequalities. Trillions in public finance will be needed to get through the current pandemic. This briefing outlines why continuing to rely on fossil fuels, in particular oil and gas, is not compatible with long-term recovery. It does not make sense to use the COVID-19 stimulus packages to try to revive a sunsetting industry which will not deliver on economic recovery, only to shut it down a few years later to meet climate goals.
Briefings
Still Off Track: How the IEA’s 2019 World Energy Outlook Undermines Global Climate Goals
This briefing provides a technical analysis of how the International Energy Agency’s (IEA) 2019 World Energy Outlook (WEO) continues to steer governments and investors off track in tackling the climate crisis.
Discussion Paper: The Case for Public Ownership of the Fossil Fuel Industry
The U.S. government should acquire ownership and control over fossil fuel companies to safeguard workers, avoid taxpayer-funded bailouts, restore communities, save taxpayer dollars, and ensure an eventual managed phase-out of coal, oil, and gas production.
Drilling Towards Disaster: New Mexico’s Oil & Gas Boom Undermines the State’s Climate Goals
A new briefing finds that New Mexico cannot meet its commitment to global climate goals if it allows a massive expansion in oil and gas production.
A Giant Step Backward: Carbon Impact of the Line 3 Pipeline
As Minnesota decides whether to let the crude oil pipeline cross its cleanest waters, a new report finds that greenhouse gas emissions from Canadian oil company Enbridge’s proposed Line 3 expansion would vastly outweigh planned reductions in the state’s emissions.
Briefing: Carbon Impacts of Reinstating the U.S. Crude Export Ban
The next president and Congress should reinstate the crude export ban in tandem with policies to ensure a just and equitable transition away from fossil fuels. A reimplementation of the ban would therefore require an ambitious and well-funded energy policy to prioritize justice and equity for workers and frontline and Indigenous communities in the necessary transition away from fossil fuels.
Risky Wager: The IEA’s Bet on Fossil Gas and the Need for WEO Reform
The latest climate science and rapidly changing energy markets indicate the need to rapidly shift away from fossil gas, yet the IEA mistakenly presents gas as compatible with a decarbonized future. This policy brief brings together the latest energy market research with the need for reform of the World Energy Outlook.
Briefing: Why Congress Must Stop Blocking Climate Progress on International Finance
There is an urgent need to ensure that anti-climate riders stay out of appropriations packages for Fiscal Year 2020 as Congress and the Trump Administration continue to negotiate a spending package.
Briefing: Why the U.S. Export-Import Bank Must End Financing for Fossil Fuels
Over the past decade, nearly 90% of the U.S. Export-Import Bank’s total finance for energy projects has flowed to projects in oil, gas, and coal. As momentum grows for climate solutions in the U.S. and abroad, there is an urgent need for a ban on fossil fuel financing at ExIm.
Gas and the European Investment Bank: Why New Gas Infrastructure Investment Is Incompatible with Climate Goals
There is no room for further financing of fossil gas or any other fossil fuel projects by the EIB. This briefing calls for the new Energy Lending Policy to reflect this reality. The EIB cannot claim to uphold its commitment to align its finance with the Paris Agreement if it continues to finance fossil gas projects.