Shell Oil Tags Administration For Ignoring Global Warming

by Steve

How backward is the Bush Administration when an oil company executive sounds like a realist compared to the president and vice president on global warming and energy conservation and diversification?

Touting the importance of a "culture of conservation" and investment in alternative fuels, John Hofmeister sounded less a leader of the world's third-largest oil company as much as a speaker at an Earth Day celebration.

The Shell Oil Co. president, addressing a group in St. Louis Thursday, said as far as the company was concerned, the debate over the science of global climate change is over.

"It's a waste of time to debate it," he said. "Policymakers have a responsibility to address it. The nation needs a public policy. We'll adjust."

He said it is a perfect time for policy makers to keep fuel prices high and force market changes. In Europe, where fuel prices are higher, less fuel is used, he said.

[snip]

He said conventional oil and gas resources are no longer enough for the nation's energy security. The energy future, he said, will include fuel derived from oil shale, gasified coal and other unconventional sources; biofuels such as ethanol from grasses, straw, corn stalks and other plant matter; wind and solar energy; hydrogen fuel cells; and conservation.

He didn't mention nuclear?

Despite BP’s spotty record, this means that two of the largest oil companies (Shell and BP) think that the government needs to deal with energy diversification, conservation, and global warming right now, no matter how long BushCo and ExxonMobil try to sweep these issues under the rug. A new Democratic congress next year might find the industry’s reception to a New Apollo Initiative less chilly than they think.