Fossils ‘Much Better at Capturing Politicians’ than Emissions, Gore Says, as Pressure Mounts on COP28 President
Fort McMurray, Alberta
Don’t trust the oil and gas industry to report its actual carbon pollution, said former U.S. Vice President Al Gore, who added that the man leading the COP28 climate talks in Dubai this week and next runs one of the “dirtiest” oil companies out there.
“They’re much better at capturing politicians than they are at capturing emissions,” Gore told The Associated Press in a sit-down interview.
The Nobel Prize-winning climate activist, author, filmmaker, and Climate Reality Project founder blasted COP28 President Sultan Al Jaber, who is also CEO of the national oil company of the host nation, United Arab Emirates. Gore said Al Jaber’s Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) is “one of the largest and one of the dirtiest, by many measures, oil companies in the world.”
It’s also laying plans to increase oil drilling 42% by 2030, the British Broadcasting Corporation reported December 1, just a day before the COP28 secretariat trumpeted a voluntary methane reduction deal that brought together 50 of the world’s biggest oil and gas companies, including ADNOC.
In previous comments, AP writes, Al Jaber’s colleagues have dismissed media coverage detailing ADNOC’s expansion plans. The company in 2019 announced plans to expand its output to five million barrels per day.
In an hour-long, data-heavy presentation during the COP, Gore said: “The Abu Dhabi National Oil Company still claims to have no emissions from methane or anything else from the transport of oil and gas. Well, actually, they do. We can see them from space.”
“Why can we see the leakage from space if there are no leakages? Well, these were self-reported emissions,” Gore said. Then showing his data: “And this is the actual emissions. And these are the emissions last year, here.”
In his interview with AP, Gore repeatedly took aim at Al Jaber’s controversial appointment by the UAE to chair the COP. As summit host, the local government chooses the president whose duty it is to guide the talks to the most ambitious outcome negotiators can achieve.
“He’s a nice guy. He’s a smart guy. I’ve known him for years. But he has a direct conflict of interest,” Gore said. “And this isn’t some kind of nitpicking complaint. This goes to the heart of whether or not the world is going to have the ability to make intelligent decisions about humanity’s future.”
Gore added that Al Jaber’s “main job is the head of the oil company. And honestly, when I look at the massive expansion plan that they have to increase their production of oil, 50%, increase their production of gas” after the climate conference ends, he asked, “do you take us for his fools?” |Read more https://www.theenergymix.com/fossils-much-better-at-capturing-politicians-than-emissions-gore-says-as-pressure-mounts-on-cop28-president/ | theenergymix.com/fossils-much-…
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#greenwashing #methane #emissions
COP28: Canada’s new methane plan eyes 75% slash in emissions
Canada has released a new draft plan that the government says will help cut methane emissions from the country’s oil and gas sector by at least 75 per cent.
Federal Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault made the announcement Monday at the ongoing UN climate conference, also known as COP28, being held in Dubai.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ruDkpJXYPxY
Under the new draft regulations, Canada would eliminate the routine venting and flaring of oil and gas infrastructure, which can cause large amounts of methane to enter the atmosphere.
Methane doesn’t stay in the atmosphere as long as carbon dioxide, but it is better at trapping heat, so cutting methane emissions is considered one of the most effective ways of tackling climate change.
“We’re also establishing new performance standards for leak detection and repair, focusing on sites with the highest risk,” Guilbeault said.
That means facilities with equipment that has greater potential for emissions will be required to undertake more frequent inspections, according to a release from Environment and Climate Change Canada.
The proposed rules would also see the introduction of an audit system, requiring one annual third-party inspection to validate company program results, ECCC said.
The new rules, which will start rolling out in 2027, were opposed by both Alberta and Saskatchewan.
Alberta Premier Danielle Smith, who is also at COP28, called the proposed regulations “costly, dangerous, and unconstitutional.”
“Once again, the federal government is setting unrealistic targets and timelines. Infrastructure can only be updated as quickly as technology allows,” she said in a statement.
Smith said Alberta will not impose a total ban on flaring at this time, calling it ”a critical health and safety practice.” |Read more https://globalnews.ca/news/10146078/cop28-canada-methane-plan/ | globalnews.ca/news/10146078/co…
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