It’s past time for the fossil fuel industry to face the same type of courtroom reckoning the tobacco industry did in the late 1990s and Alex Jones faced yesterday
All you say here, Thom, is absolutely accurate and true. However, I am old enough to remember the gas-rationing days during President Jimmy Carter's time in office and we (the USA at least) had a wake-up call regarding our great dependence on oil & gas--especially the foreign variety. We as consumers had choices--and we became well aware of that fact. But then Ronald Reagan stepped into the White House...and suddenly we as a country had complete amnesia about our wake-up call. We resorted to bigger & "better" gas-guzzling SUV's and monster trucks whose MPG's decreased greatly--not increased. In 2015 I found my dream car on Craigslist, took a Greyhound bus to Portland, OR (your city, Thom), and bought a 2003 Honda Civic Hybrid. I found it was advertised brand-new as getting 50+ mpg...and hoped for at least 40. To my surprise, to this day it's still getting very close to 50 mpg--even with my mountain-home driving. It is the smartest, most economical, least polluting, least gas-consuming car I've ever owned in my 75 years. And the one question I haven't been able to answer is this: Why didn't we Americans fall absolutely in love with such a vehicle way back when this car came out in 2003? Can you imagine what a terrific stepping stone hybrids like this would have been for everyone while we weaned ourselves from foreign oil, cut emissions, and developed EV's & transitioned to them? I think we need to stop pointing the finger so much to "others"--even gas & oil companies--and wean our minds and choices from their products by choosing much more efficient vehicles...especially now that EV's are becoming affordable. Yes, climate change is real--and too often these days devastating. We consumers need to accept partial responsibility for THAT fact because, in my opinion, we really blew a great opportunity to really cut our consumption when we had our first big wake-up call some 45 years ago.
Once again, it's about how our brains work. From your BBC link: "This ideological divide has had far-reaching consequences. Polls conducted in May 2020 showed that just 22% of Americans who vote Republican believed climate change is man-made, compared with 72% of Democrats." That's in 2020 for Christ's sake!
I just want to add to the discussion on who drives what. I watched the creeps from the oil industry testify with the creeps from the car manufacturers in front of Congress. Simply put, they tried to act like they worked together to give the public what it wants to drive and clean fuels for those vehicles. I call BS! Neither industry cares about that. They build the BIG ones to keep sucking gas while trying to convince mom and pop their responsibility is to get an SUV to transport kids, dogs, and groceries. They try to equate macho with a big-ass-gas-sucking truck. Propaganda and collusion between those industries has set us back 50 years on the existing climate emergency.
It was all done on purpose---the big cars and trucks. We had to force the CAFE standards, and we had to fight the Republicans to do that. All along people on a budget have wanted small economical vehicles as well as hybrids. Now they want an affordable electric car they should have had nearly 30 years ago.
Same story as always, Republicans learn when the flood, tornado, hurricane, or fire takes away their home. Fossil fuels were a wonder, till we found out it will be a wonder if anyone survives the effect they have had. Make 'em pay for not stopping when they knew. Great Report as always, Thom.
Regarding your P. S., what is the name of the bill Congressman Mark Pocan announced? Once I know the name, I can contact my members of Congress. I agree with you that eliminating the "Medicare" name from the Advantage Plans is a big deal!
I like the perspective you have, John--especially that "laissez-faire capitalism" is our "our TRUE religion." We've gone overboard, eh? And now the bills are coming due...in terms of climate change,
natural disasters, high gas prices, etc. I am a bit surprised---and perhaps still a bit to naive--that our leaders in power have not renewed the several-times-used Windfall Profits Tax (as Thom has repeatedly pointed out on his show) right after Putin invaded Ukraine and drove up gas prices worldwide. It was a no-brainer that this would contribute to inflation, especially with our "disaster capitalists" working full-time here in the States. Thanks again !
We have today something similar to what the tobacco companies did - it's called the World Health Organization. Their product is "fear". We're all expected to fall in line with this panel of "experts", despite the fact that their methods are fear and panic-based.
After reading your in-depth analysis of the mechanical & electrical problems you've encountered in your vehicles, I have to agree with you that these were not mere "lemons." They were more in the line of "speed bumps" by not having solved or avoided problems that need not occur...yeh? I also agree that outrageously expensive & unneeded "solutions" to some of these problems don't make sense / cents! in our current economy....of "retired persons"? That is definitely my first and bottom line. No, all-electric is not "automatically good"....as I've found true about any new item produced in our society. I do hope the "bugs" are worked out in short order so that we can get off fossil fuels, save our planet, and stiff Putin & Saudi Arabia. Do you consult with any of the EV manufacturers? You seem very knowledgeable. Best of luck into the future....for us all !
I worked in oil many years. Something most articles overlook is that oil companies buy and sell each other and their reserves ALL THE TIME.
Every case of serious pollution I've seen was done by "rogues" who got in trouble and sold off the reserves to other oil companies. Punishing Chevron for something done by a different company 20 years ago is pointless, we can't change the past. What we need to do is regulate oil FROM DAY ONE. Norway did exactly that. Norwegian oil companies are very green, but not because they WANTED to be green, because the people of Norway insisted that the government of Norway educate the children of Norway to not be easily fooled.
All you say here, Thom, is absolutely accurate and true. However, I am old enough to remember the gas-rationing days during President Jimmy Carter's time in office and we (the USA at least) had a wake-up call regarding our great dependence on oil & gas--especially the foreign variety. We as consumers had choices--and we became well aware of that fact. But then Ronald Reagan stepped into the White House...and suddenly we as a country had complete amnesia about our wake-up call. We resorted to bigger & "better" gas-guzzling SUV's and monster trucks whose MPG's decreased greatly--not increased. In 2015 I found my dream car on Craigslist, took a Greyhound bus to Portland, OR (your city, Thom), and bought a 2003 Honda Civic Hybrid. I found it was advertised brand-new as getting 50+ mpg...and hoped for at least 40. To my surprise, to this day it's still getting very close to 50 mpg--even with my mountain-home driving. It is the smartest, most economical, least polluting, least gas-consuming car I've ever owned in my 75 years. And the one question I haven't been able to answer is this: Why didn't we Americans fall absolutely in love with such a vehicle way back when this car came out in 2003? Can you imagine what a terrific stepping stone hybrids like this would have been for everyone while we weaned ourselves from foreign oil, cut emissions, and developed EV's & transitioned to them? I think we need to stop pointing the finger so much to "others"--even gas & oil companies--and wean our minds and choices from their products by choosing much more efficient vehicles...especially now that EV's are becoming affordable. Yes, climate change is real--and too often these days devastating. We consumers need to accept partial responsibility for THAT fact because, in my opinion, we really blew a great opportunity to really cut our consumption when we had our first big wake-up call some 45 years ago.
Once again, it's about how our brains work. From your BBC link: "This ideological divide has had far-reaching consequences. Polls conducted in May 2020 showed that just 22% of Americans who vote Republican believed climate change is man-made, compared with 72% of Democrats." That's in 2020 for Christ's sake!
I just want to add to the discussion on who drives what. I watched the creeps from the oil industry testify with the creeps from the car manufacturers in front of Congress. Simply put, they tried to act like they worked together to give the public what it wants to drive and clean fuels for those vehicles. I call BS! Neither industry cares about that. They build the BIG ones to keep sucking gas while trying to convince mom and pop their responsibility is to get an SUV to transport kids, dogs, and groceries. They try to equate macho with a big-ass-gas-sucking truck. Propaganda and collusion between those industries has set us back 50 years on the existing climate emergency.
It was all done on purpose---the big cars and trucks. We had to force the CAFE standards, and we had to fight the Republicans to do that. All along people on a budget have wanted small economical vehicles as well as hybrids. Now they want an affordable electric car they should have had nearly 30 years ago.
Same story as always, Republicans learn when the flood, tornado, hurricane, or fire takes away their home. Fossil fuels were a wonder, till we found out it will be a wonder if anyone survives the effect they have had. Make 'em pay for not stopping when they knew. Great Report as always, Thom.
Regarding your P. S., what is the name of the bill Congressman Mark Pocan announced? Once I know the name, I can contact my members of Congress. I agree with you that eliminating the "Medicare" name from the Advantage Plans is a big deal!
I like the perspective you have, John--especially that "laissez-faire capitalism" is our "our TRUE religion." We've gone overboard, eh? And now the bills are coming due...in terms of climate change,
natural disasters, high gas prices, etc. I am a bit surprised---and perhaps still a bit to naive--that our leaders in power have not renewed the several-times-used Windfall Profits Tax (as Thom has repeatedly pointed out on his show) right after Putin invaded Ukraine and drove up gas prices worldwide. It was a no-brainer that this would contribute to inflation, especially with our "disaster capitalists" working full-time here in the States. Thanks again !
We have today something similar to what the tobacco companies did - it's called the World Health Organization. Their product is "fear". We're all expected to fall in line with this panel of "experts", despite the fact that their methods are fear and panic-based.
After reading your in-depth analysis of the mechanical & electrical problems you've encountered in your vehicles, I have to agree with you that these were not mere "lemons." They were more in the line of "speed bumps" by not having solved or avoided problems that need not occur...yeh? I also agree that outrageously expensive & unneeded "solutions" to some of these problems don't make sense / cents! in our current economy....of "retired persons"? That is definitely my first and bottom line. No, all-electric is not "automatically good"....as I've found true about any new item produced in our society. I do hope the "bugs" are worked out in short order so that we can get off fossil fuels, save our planet, and stiff Putin & Saudi Arabia. Do you consult with any of the EV manufacturers? You seem very knowledgeable. Best of luck into the future....for us all !
I worked in oil many years. Something most articles overlook is that oil companies buy and sell each other and their reserves ALL THE TIME.
Every case of serious pollution I've seen was done by "rogues" who got in trouble and sold off the reserves to other oil companies. Punishing Chevron for something done by a different company 20 years ago is pointless, we can't change the past. What we need to do is regulate oil FROM DAY ONE. Norway did exactly that. Norwegian oil companies are very green, but not because they WANTED to be green, because the people of Norway insisted that the government of Norway educate the children of Norway to not be easily fooled.