Due to finding unprecedented new levels of audacity and shameless behaviour, AP News’ Will Weissert reports this:
Big Oil asks government to protect it from climate change
PORT ARTHUR, Texas (AP) — As the nation plans new defenses against the more powerful storms and higher tides expected from climate change, one project stands out: an ambitious proposal to build a nearly 60-mile “spine” of concrete seawalls, earthen barriers, floating gates and steel levees on the Texas Gulf Coast.
Like other oceanfront projects, this one would protect homes, delicate ecosystems and vital infrastructure, but it also has another priority — to shield some of the crown jewels of the petroleum industry, which is blamed for contributing to global warming and now wants the federal government to build safeguards against the consequences of it.
The plan is focused on a stretch of coastline that runs from the Louisiana border to industrial enclaves south of Houston that are home to one of the world’s largest concentrations of petrochemical facilities, including most of Texas’ 30 refineries, which represent 30 percent of the nation’s refining capacity.
Texas is seeking at least $12 billion for the full coastal spine, with nearly all of it coming from public funds. Last month, the government fast-tracked an initial $3.9 billion for three separate, smaller storm barrier projects that would specifically protect oil facilities.
This tweet, below, sums up my reaction rather well. Aside from weariness at the mantra heard all too often: “Profits, ours; problems, yours”.
From Robert W. Crowley: The irony of the double standard. Government is bad for business but we need government to protect our businesses from a phonomenon that does not exist. Brilliant!
7:42 AM – 23 Aug 2018
And we are surely now well into the age of climate change adaptation, since any hope of slowing fossil fuel usage has been exposed as futile. This clamor for more billions from big oil is just the beginning, and the costs are heading like a missile for the public purse.
