New York vs. the Oil

Published in Clarín
(Argentina) on 12 January 2018
by Marina Aizen (link to originallink to original)
Translated from by Jessica Fernandez Rhodes. Edited by Helaine Schweitzer.
In October, Bill De Blasio, the mayor of New York City, will visit Buenos Aires with a political initiative that should be copied by every city participating in the Urban20 forum: to sue the oil companies for the damages caused by climate change.* Last Wednesday, the Big Apple sued Chevron Corp., BP, ConocoPhillips, Exxon Mobil Corp. and Royal Dutch Shell PLC, which together produce 11 percent of the emissions that are dramatically transforming the earth’s climate. The basis of the litigation is a news investigation by the site Inside Climate News, which discovered that Exxon has known since the 70s that the carbon dioxide saturation of the atmosphere would destroy the planet, just as the tobacco companies knew about the connection between cigarettes and cancer. Other U.S. cities such as Oakland and San Francisco have already filed similar lawsuits. But De Blasio also took another equally courageous action: He will divest the city's pension funds from the fossil fuel industries. That is a total of $5 billion. On both coasts, this should be taken as an important signal to the market: The oil will not last forever. Therefore, those who believe that investing in oil means progress are watching a rotten old movie.

A Defeat and a Lesson

Donald Trump has just suffered a major defeat. He wanted to subsidize carbon, nuclear energy and large dams. However, a regulatory commission rejected his project 5 to 0. This is interesting: In Argentina, we are subsidizing the mine of Río Turbio, compromising the targets of the Paris climate agreement, and we are embarking on meganuclear and hydroelectric projects at skyrocketing prices. These are politics that make no sense, and nonetheless, they are being sold as progress.

*Editor’s note: Urban20 is an initiative that enables cities to be involved in the Group of 20 industrial and emerging-market nations.




En octubre, viene a Buenos Aires el alcalde de Nueva York, Bill De Blasio, con una iniciativa política que debería ser imitada por todas las ciudades que participan del foro U20: hacerle juicio a las petroleras por los daños causados por el cambio climático. El miércoles, la Gran Manzana demandó a Chevron, BP, Conoco-Phillips, ExxonMobil y Royal Dutch Shell, que juntas producen el 11 por ciento de los gases que están transformando radicalmente el clima terrestre. El sustento del juicio es una investigación periodística del sitio Inside Climate News, que descubrió que Exxon sabía desde los 70 que la saturación de CO2 de la atmósfera devastaría al planeta, de la misma forma que las tabacaleras tenían conocimiento de la conexión entre el cigarrillo y el cáncer. Otras ciudades de los Estados Unidos ya habían hecho demandas de estas características, como Oakland y San Francisco. Pero De Blasio hizo, además, otra cosa igualmente valiente: sacar el dinero de los fondos de pensión municipales de las industrias fósiles. Es un total de 5 mil millones de dólares. En estas costas, esto debería ser tomado como una importante señal hacia el mercado: no habrá petróleo para siempre. Así que los que crean que invertir en petróleo es progreso, están mirando una película que apesta de vieja.

Una derrota y una lección

Donald Trump acaba de sufrir una enorme derrota: quería subsidiar el carbón, la energía nuclear y de grandes represas. Pero una comisión regulatoria le rebotó el proyecto: 5 a 0. Esto es interesante: en Argentina estamos subsidiando la mina de Río Turbio, comprometiendo los objetivos de París, y nos estamos embarcando en mega proyectos nucleares e hidroeléctricos a precios siderales. Son políticas que no tienen sentido y que, sin embargo, las venden como progreso.
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