In another piece we have seen how the giant oil and gas company GP is behind the “carbon footprint” scam. In typical corporate giant fashion BP is spending absurd sums of money to oppose the tax policies that it supports.
In Washington it ran a 13 million dollar campaign in 2018 that was successful in blocking the implementation of a carbon tax. BP was the top oil and gas company in the world for lobbying against climate policies in 2019 spending a total of 53 million.
BP has been counting on us to contribute in some way but it has also been running a disinformation campaign to give the impression that it is also making an effort. All the while actively preventing policies that would harm its profits in secret.
Although BP was the one to create the “carbon footprint ” the entire oil industry also contributed to it so it is not just BP that has frequently made enormous profits. As a result it is clear how many oil companies have been able to earn 2.8 billion dollars in profits every day for the past 50 years. The G20 countries have provided 3.3 trillion dollars in subsidies to these oil companies since 2015 despite the fact that they are earning all this money.
How does the saying go? Whom do ten out of ten governments serve? And even if you think things can’t possibly get worse there is still some room for optimism. There is more in the rabbit hole than this.
Carbon offsets a new industry that is making them all extremely wealthy was founded by these enormous oil companies. The market for carbon offsets is driven by individuals and businesses looking to reduce their carbon emissions by making investments in reforestation greener alternatives and other emission-reducing measures. Over the past ten years this industry has grown significantly reaching a value of up to $261 billion in 2020 generating millions of dollars for the companies involved. Future predictions indicate that this trend will persist.
Similar to the stock market it is about buying and selling carbon credits and offsets. To sell these commodities for a profit investors will purchase them. Many experts believe that the carbon market is currently in its infancy and will one day become ten times bigger than the oil market.
Oil and gas companies are trying to get ready for that by investing in companies that produce carbon credits. To further increase the 50 to 100 million dollars it is already making from carbon trading for instance BP purchased the majority of a company called Finite Carbon. Profit is the goal of the game just like in all corporations so it doesn’t end there. The largest carbon market in the world that of Europe has allowed these oil companies to easily steal 50 billion dollars through a variety of loopholes.
What method do they employ? The first is the European Carbon Market Regulators who gave these major polluters an excessive number of free carbon credits allowing them to ultimately sell the leftovers for a profit. The second method involves purchasing less expensive carbon offsets in less developed nations to fulfil their quota and then reselling the free carbon credits they were given for considerably more money.
This is how BP was able to purchase carbon credits in the most underdeveloped regions of Mexico for a low price resulting in the communities that were actually preserving the forest and replanting new ones earning about a week’s wages for years of labour.
