Lifting the Ban, Cooking the Climate
The Climate Impact of Lifting the Crude Oil Export Ban
March 2014

The U.S. oil industry’s biggest players, including ExxonMobil and the American Petroleum Institute, are calling for an end to the U.S. ban on crude oil exports that has been in place for more than four decades since the 1973 Arab oil embargo. Their reasons are clear, as lifting the ban would boost profits by enabling companies to sell American oil at higher global market prices.

What few have considered, however, are the climate impacts that would result from ending the ban. Allowing U.S. crude oil

'Frozen Future' warns investors of the risks to shareholder value from Royal Dutch Shell’s Alaskan Arctic drilling program.

In 2009, President Obama made a commitment to reduce U.S. greenhouse gases by 17 percent by 2020.  The Obama administration put this forward as the U.S. share of a global effort to limit climate change to no more than two degrees Celsius – the target scientists tell us may be safe.  Achieving this target, which has been unanimously agreed on a global level, is central to the success of President Obama’s Climate Action Plan, announced in June of last year.

It is therefore shocking to realize that the State Department completely failed to take this target into account when evaluating the

With just a few days left until the 19th Conference of the Parties (COP) of the United Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) conference draws to a close, time is running out to reach a meaningful agreement on providing climate finance for developing countries - a key component of the negotiations.

But as shown in a briefing released by Oil Change International today, while Annex 2 (developed) countries continue to debate how to honor their commitment to provide $100 billion each year by 2020 to help developing countries reduce emissions and adapt to climate impacts, these same countries are providing five

Our latest report released today exposes U.S. oil producers that want to export crude oil despite the fact that they still only produce barely more than 50% of U.S. oil demand. 40 years on from the Arab oil embargo and America’s oil producers have only one thing on their minds; profits.

Lifting crude export restrictions would bring U.S. oil prices in line with international prices and enable oil producers to charge U.S. refiners more. This is the focus of increasing calls from the industry and its investors for an end to crude oil export restrictions.

The U.S. oil boom is based on

The World Bank Group (WBG) increased financing for both fossil fuels and large hydropower significantly this past year, while financing for clean energy dropped. Overall, only 8 percent of the Bank’s energy financing last year was aimed specifically at the poor.

The World Bank’s infrastructure program in Indonesia stipulates policies and government subsidies that promote the accelerated development of over 16 GW of coal power projects in the country ahead of developing feasible renewable alternatives.

FAIL: How the Keystone XL Tar Sands Pipeline Flunks the Climate Test
The Obama administration’s decision on the proposed Keystone XL tar sands pipeline is a choice about our climate future. Tar sands are one of the most carbon polluting sources of oil on the planet, and limiting tar sands expansion is critical to fighting dangerous levels of climate change. Climate scientists, energy experts, and even Wall Street and industry analysts agree that the oil industry’s plans to expand tar sands development are not possible without this pipeline.

How much oil we use and how carbon-polluting that oil is will have a

Today we’re releasing a new report with Earth Track that exposes some $4 billion per year in new fossil fuel subsidies which have gone unaccounted for in previous estimates.

Proponents of the Keystone XL pipeline regularly claim that the pipeline will replace heavy oil from Venezuela and elsewhere if it is built.

In fact just this week, Rep. Lee Terry (R-NE) claimed that Venezuela’s recent offer of asylum for whistleblower Edward Snowden is somehow a reason to approve the pipeline.

The reality is that crude delivered by Keystone XL will not replace anything.
- Read the Full Report Here. -
Venezuela, Mexico, and Saudi Arabia own roughly half of the heavy oil refining capacity on the U.S. Gulf Coast.  These refineries will largely continue to refine their own oil, and Canada’s tar sands crude will have to compete with