Don’t Let Gas Giant Undermine Climate Goals

Target: Madeleine King, Minister of Resources for Australia

Goal: Prioritize green energy solutions rather than faulty carbon capture and storage technology.

When a prominent Australian politician went on the attack against one of the world’s leading environmental advocacy organizations, Greenpeace, it signaled where the nation’s priorities rested. This politician’s successor recently reinforced these priorities by touting the prominence fossil fuels would still hold in the country’s future. Gas in particular is responsible for about one-fifth of Australia’s carbon emissions, and a major producer is soaring this number under the guise of environmental stewardship.

Chevron, to much fanfare, launched the world’s largest commercial carbon capture and storage project. These initiatives, as their name implies, seek to capture emissions of carbon dioxide (in Chevron’s case, from their gasfields) and inject the emissions into large storage containers. While Chevron boasts that it has captured roughly eight million tons’ worth of emissions, the storage project itself—in addition to other company actions—pour about 50 million tons of emissions into the atmosphere. Similar underperformance has plagued other carbon capture initiatives.

Sign the petition below to urge the Australian government to stop putting momentum behind this proven non-starter technology and instead invest more strongly in green energy aims.

PETITION LETTER:

Dear Minister King,

“Gas and the gas sector are a significant source of Australian greenhouse gas emissions.” This sentence, tucked away in a speech mostly promoting the need for gas, states the truth that this nation—plagued by record-setting natural disasters and heat—cannot and should not ignore. Green energy investment is no longer a luxury or a political talking point, but a necessity.

And please do not rest your fortunes on carbon capture and storage technology, which Barrow Island’s Gorgon LNG project has proven to be ineffective and insufficient. Chevron and its initiative put more than six times more emissions into the atmosphere than it can ever capture or store. At the current rate, Chevron’s—and Australia’s—climate pledges are nothing more than empty promises.

Do not follow in the footsteps of your fossil fuel-loving predecessor. Change the narrative before you cannot turn back.

Sincerely,

[Your Name Here]

Photo Credit: Matt Hrkac