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BP pulls the plug… The British energy giant was once a leader in developing alternate power sources, which gave it a reputational boost that helped distinguish it from its dirty fossil fuels competitors.
The company proudly said the letters “B” and “P” translated into “Beyond Petroleum.” Sadly, those days are long gone.
The company announced July 19 that it was selling BP Wind Energy North America (assets in Indiana, Kansas, South Dakota, Colorado and Pennsylvania) to LS Power as part of its $20B divestment program.
Guess which parts of the sprawling company are not for sale. BP CEO Murray Auchincloss has promised a corporate “reset,” which is focused on investment in fossil fuels.
William Lin, executive VP for gas & low carbon energy, said though BP Wind Energy North America is a business with great assets and fantastic people, “we have concluded we are no longer the best owners to take it forward.” Why not?
BP’s sale of its American wind power unit comes as the United Nations released a report called “Seizing the Moment of Opportunity,” which found the global shift toward renewable energy has reached a “positive tipping point.”
It begins: “We stand at a unique and defining moment in history. In the ten years since the Paris Agreement was adopted, renewable energy technologies have undergone a remarkable transformation. With spectacular cost declines and manufacturing capacity growth, the global deployment of solar, wind, and electric vehicles has exceeded even the most optimistic projections and continues to advance exponentially. The world is poised for a breakthrough in the rapid and widespread transition from energy systems dominated by fossil fuels to those dominated by homegrown, low-cost renewables."
“The fossil fuel age is flailing and failing,” said UN secretary Antonio Guterres. “We are in the dawn of a new energy era. An era where cheap, clean, abundant energy powers a world rich in economic opportunity.”
The UN report states that seizing this moment of opportunity is not a given as significant political and economic barriers and obstacles remain.
Short-sighted decisions from corporate giants such as BP to pursue fossil fuel profits is one of the obstacles. BP will rue the day it withdrew from the US wind market.
Politicians hooked on doling out favors to Big Oil and its supporters are another barrier.
Donald Trump is doing his best to stymie solar and wind power, which grew at a 12.3 percent per-year clip from 2018 to 2023. Out of spite, he is trying his best to undo the green energy policies of Joe Biden.
But the nearly 80-year-old president stands on the wrong side of history.
“What's good for General Motors is good for America,” is a paraphrased quote attributed to CEO Charles Wilson during his 1953 confirmation hearings for the Secretary of Defense job.
An updated version, “What’s good for Donald Trump’s ego is bad for General Motors,” sums up the automaker’s second quarter financials.
The Tariff Man had a lot to do with a 32 percent crash in GM’s adjusted profits to $3B. GM had estimated a $5B 2025 hit from Trump’s trade policies. The automaker now expects tariff expenses will come down as Trump cuts trade deals. It hopes.
GM will now switch gears and worry about Trump’s plan to choke off growth in the electric vehicle market.
EVs were a strong performer at GM as unit sales soared 111 percent to 46,280. Sales of GM’s EV line-up which includes Chevrolet Silverado and Equinox; GMC Sierra and HUMMER; and Cadillac Escalade helped the company displace Ford as the No. 2 seller of battery-powered vehicle. Tesla, by far, remains EV king of the road.
“We believe the long-term future is profitable electric vehicle production, and this continues to be our north star,” wrote CEO Mary Barra in her letter to shareholders.
We will see if Death Star Trump shoots down Barra’s EV plans.
Zeldin the MAGA Zealot… Scott Pruitt, who was EPA head during Trump’s first term, is mostly remembered for installing a $43K soundproof phone security booth in his office and a penchant for flying first-class. The EPA survived Pruitt. It might not be so lucky this time around.
Current EPA chief Lee Zeldin will be remembered for gutting the agency.
On July 18, Zeldin announced that he was eliminating EPA’s research and development office, which provides the scientific underpinnings of the agency’s purported mission to protect the environment. More than 1,150 chemists, biologists and toxicologists are getting the boot.
Sara Chieffo, VP of Government Affairs at the League of Conservation Voters, said shutting down the R&D unit is a gift to chemical and oil companies trying to hide the public health consequences they’re responsible for causing.
“Career staff who’ve spent decades protecting air and water are being pushed out,” noted Chieffo. “Their expertise is being lost at a moment of rising climate-fueled disasters, and is clearing the way for industry-aligned political appointees to call the shots behind closed doors.”
Zeldin justified carving out the heart and soul of the EPA by saying the move is part of the plan to be a responsible steward of taxpayer dollars.
He is supposed to be a responsible steward of the environment, not a patsy for polluters.
The gift that keeps on giving... The 2024 UN Climate Change Conference convened on Nov 22 in Baku, Azerbaijan. Teneo had a seven-month $4.7M contract with the Azerbaijan Operating Company to handle the event.
The Azerbaijanis, though, just don’t want to let go of their COP29 glory.
They extended Teneo’s COP29 work for another seven months, effective May 1, for a sum capped at $1,650,000.
That means Teneo will be “sharpening the COP29 narrative” while Edelman is promoting COP30 slated for Brazil.
Call it the PR battle of the COPS.
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