U.S. Oil & Gas Companies Trying To Profit From War In Ukraine | Climate Town

Thanks for watching. First things first - links to Ukrainian aid:

SOURCES SOURCES SOURCES:
FIRST GO AND FOLLOW THE INCREDIBLE AMY WESTERVELT:
And follow Popular Information

Oil and Gas Leases:

Keystone XL and Drilling:

Oil Profits:

Natural Gas:

Russia, Germany, Europe:

Thanks to Ian MK Cessna for the intro animation
Written by Rollie Williams, Matt Nelsen, Ben Boult & Nicole Conlan

Renewable energy groups/advocacy:

Books:
Electrify by Saul Griffiths
The New Map: Energy, Climate, and the Clash of Nations by Daniel Yergin
Short Circuiting Policy: Interest Groups and the Battle Over Clean Energy and Climate Policy in the American States Book by Leah Stokes
This Changes Everything: Capitalism vs. The Climate by Naomi Klein
The Shock Doctrine by Naomi Klein
On Fire: The Burning Case for a Green New Deal by Naomi Klein

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[kirkshanghai]

This is a weird opinion of mine, but I feel like climate activists focus a little too hard on the science and technical aspects of climate change, and need to bring topics like this to the limelight in order to convince more people. Rollie, you have changed my perspective on climate because of your commentary on the lies purported by corporate America and politicians-- that is what ultimately got me hooked!

[DamnCyrus]

Actually crazy how fast you got this out, but also not surprising how fast the oil companies pumped out their propaganda

[ernest]

"And we didn't even talk about climate change!"

Honestly, I think that's important. Climate change is bad, and should probably be the priority... but the thing is, when we emphasize it so much, we create a sort of illusion that it's the *only* reason why we should change the way the world works. As it turns out, dependence on fossil fuels isn't just bad for the environment, it's a bad way to help Ukraine, it's bad for economic stability, and it's even bad for your wallet! The only thing it's good for is oil executives' profit margins. And because of that, they are incentivized to feed us any story that keeps them on top.

[texaswunderkind]

I grew up in Nebraska, and want to clarify a few things about the Keystone XL pipeline. In the beginning, farmers and ranchers in Nebraska were all for the pipeline. Like having a cellular tower on their property, it would be a steady income stream that generally would not impact their operations. Except that right before the XL was announced, the original Keystone pipeline suffered a series of leaks (LINK AT END). When investigating the leaks, it was found that the steel quality and welds were deficient. In other words, to save money, Keystone cut corners that resulted in leaks. Plus, to avoid lawsuits, small sections of the pipeline were put under different front companies, so Keystone could declare bankruptcy with the small company, sell the pipeline to another front company, and avoid legal damages.

Nebraska sits on the Ogallala Aquifer, and for an agricultural state with no natural resources, that underground water is critically important. Dumping thousands of gallons of oil into it can basically destroy a farm. But even that wasn't the deal breaker.

To start the XL pipeline lease process, Keystone sent big-city attorneys out to knock on property owners' doors. They introduced themselves by saying: "sign this goddamn lease agreement right now, without having an attorney review it, or we will sue your ass into the stone age." Thousands of Nebraskans got their land from the Homestead Act. Just on my dad's side of the family, there are three plots of land that were obtained that way. No one else has ever owned that land, since it was divided up from open prairie. There are six generations of my family buried in a little country cemetery there. In Nebraska NO ONE walks onto your land and threatens to take it away from you. So in a politically conservative state, suddenly there was overwhelming opposition to Keystone and their tactics. In what might have been a historic first, environmentalists and farmers stood shoulder-to-shoulder protesting the project. Only those being well compensated by the oil companies are for the project.

Plus, you know, it doesn't even benefit Americans. It was to sell dirty Canadian tar sands oil to the Chinese. It was built with Chinese steel, would have provided a few jobs during construction, and then almost no jobs after completion. Except for maybe jobs cleaning up oil spills.

[cika]

It always baffles me that lobbying is legal in the US. In other places it is called corruption.

[picahudsoniaunflocked]

Climate Town has a real gift for discussing the scariest things with humour, grit, optimism, & a sense of championing hopeful individual actions & a collective problem-solving approach. I really appreciate that, as a Faller Into Despair-er Way Too Often -type of bird. Putting the SOLID into Solidarity.

[AmyDentata]

If countries actually shift to renewables, it will completely change geopolitics. That, of course, is why a lot of powerful people don't want it to happen.

[francisrogers]

Another good way to end dependence on oil and gas is to build communities where people can live without needing a car to do literally everything

[kaboozle]

Interesting video; you are making excellent points! What I’m missing in many videos about this topic is the many advantages of changing to renewable energy. I live in the Netherlands. Gas costs about $10/gallon at the moment. I recently moved to a four bedroom house and when my car lease was up I opted for an electric car. I had solar panels installed on my roof. My first year energy bill worked out to about $20/month but this year I’ll pay around $10/month. That includes heating, cooling, cooking, hot water AND around 8, 000 miles in my electric car. If I would have stayed with a gas guzzler and natural gas for heating and cooking I would have paid around $250/month instead of $10. So not only am I saving literal tons of CO2 emissions but I am also saving tons of money. The switch to renewables does not cost money or jobs; instead it saves money and creates jobs. It’s time to change the narrative and explain that we are being lied to on an unprecedented scale.

Meanwhile I’ll keep enjoying my warm comfortable house and my electric car - which outperforms pretty much any gas guzzler to boot!

[Lunageldia]

This was honestly such a great video because by the end when you went "and we didn't even talk about climate change!" I had gotten completely absorbed by the economic reasoning and just started laugh-crying over how good of a position you can make against oil without even touching that issue.

[AlleonoriCat]

As a Ukrainian I liked how at the very first day of the invasion our government was like "don't you fucking dare increase gas price you fucks!" and the gas stations were like "but what if we did tho?..".

[patrickmorse]

When talking to people that think climate change is a hoax I often start by explaining the economics of renewables over that of fossil fuels instead of focusing on climate change itself. The economic argument is usually an eye opener that can lead to further acceptance of of the validity of renewable energy sources. I appreciate you take on the subject.

[jeremiahtitus]

I'm a Climate Town fan boy, and I can't believe you got this made and posted in such a short time. It's almost like you predicted that oil companies would take advantage of a crisis and find a way to make money at the expense of others... weird.

[ClimateTown]

Notes & Corrections:
- As pointed out by twitter user Bananaft, the original thumbnail image included an American tank rather than a Russian one so I swapped them out.
- As pointed out by twitter user Bananaft, the country outline used to depict Russia at 11:35 was accidentally (quite ironically) a Soviet Union outline. The 34x larger than Spain is accurate, but the visual is wrong. There's no fixing that now, but just know the shape is different.

[aubreejobizzarro]

I really love how you present the facts. With sarcasm, humor, and despair. But also some optimism. It makes me excited about taking on policy makers and oil and gas companies. I think the awareness is awesome! Thank you so much for using your degree and knowledge to spread awareness. I hope you become a major player in Climate policy reforms!!!!

[thomasblyth]

Also worth noting that gas prices started spiking well before supply became more constrained through Russian oil sanctions, which were only enacted yesterday. They were literally just raising prices early to make extra money because they could and because people largely wouldn’t question it

[bluesagebrett]

On a personal level I have transitioned to solar, gardening, fishing, composting and mostly reducing. It has taken 6 years and many thousands of dollars. It was very difficult but now I am starting to see a small payoff. The biggest payoff is sleeping better at night knowing I give as little as possible to big corporate.

[dogabc]

Hi big fan we literally just discussed this in government class today, my government teacher spent an embarrassing amount of time explaining to everyone else that Biden does not control the gas prices. I love all your videos but this one is rlly good cuz u explain everything clearly and with relevant examples, surprised u got it up so soon. Love how u always try to keep the topics upbeat and remind people they can make a difference! Anyways I might share this with my government teacher, sometimes he plays those crash course videos at the end of the hour if we have time, and considering this is so relevant he might show it instead

[MegaphoneMan]

We live in a deeply capitalist society. While the science of climate change theoretically SHOULD be enough to convince the public, I think that talking more economics and energy independence would actually be a really effective way of convincing people.

I got hooked on climate town because of your single family housing video, one that is only tangentially related to climate change but really bolstered my opinion on the topic!

[Antoniogut]

We need more people calling out these corrupt politicians. I don't understand how they get away with all this.