Letters to the Editor: Oil companies are killing the planet. Now they want to sell us a fake solution?
To the editor: Let’s recognize “carbon management†for what it is — a fossil fuel industry euphemism for commodifying pollution and providing life support to this dirty industry. While urgent action is needed to address the climate emergency, carbon capture is not a real solution. (“Will storing CO2 in old oil fields slow global warming? First California plan nears approval,†Jan. 14)
The process in question requires vast amounts of energy and water. The presence of oil wells and pipelines can result in dangerous and potentially deadly leaks. That’s especially true of improperly plugged wells in the oilfields that companies like California Resources Corp. want to use as carbon dumping grounds.
Carbon capture and storage projects divert funds away from what is truly needed: a just transition from fossil fuels to renewable energy such as wind and rooftop solar.
Rather than marking “a drastic transformation for fossil fuel companies†and communities, as oil industry supporters claim, carbon management is nothing more than corporate greenwashing intended to keep these polluting companies in business.
Victoria Bogdan Tejeda, Oakland
The writer is a staff attorney with the Center for Biological Diversity.
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To the editor: Let me see if I understand this correctly.
California Resources Corp. wants to utilize its depleted oil fields to store carbon emissions deep underground. This company polluted California for decades, for profit, and now it wants to utilize the same ground that is basically a wasteland of little to no value to store carbon emissions that resulted from the extraction of its product in the first place.
The company made unbelievable amounts of money extracting fossil fuels that have resulted in the loss of many lives through their detrimental effects on the environment. Now, it wants to be part of the solution by profiting from the removal of the very same environmental toxins.
I think California Resources Corp. could pay for this sequestration itself in an attempt to mitigate the horrid effects it’s had on the human population over the decades. But then again, there would be no profit in that.
Jonathon Baker, Riverside
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To the editor: Since humans are emitting 40 billion metric tons of carbon dioxide each year, it would take about 27,000 such places with similar equipment just to keep up with global output.
Douglas Chapman, Santa Ana
