Our World and Everything in It

I knew what my blog was going to be today when I caught the new Exxon Mobil advertisement for the ENVIRONMENT over the weekend. I stopped dead in my tracks. I almost fell over. Of course no one around me understood all the fuss I made. We’re-in-the-business-of-oil-not-the-environment-Exxon Mobil was publicly announcing investment in a cleaner future. Unbelievable!

I immediately thought of the Rockefeller’s public announcement to Exxon Mobil to contribute to alternative energy sources for the environment. It was a little over a month ago. Here it is, a short time later and a commercial appears on TV from Exxon Mobil relative to technological advances to help the environment. It was a prime spot on CNN too. I heard something about cars of the future running on something other than gas. To tell the truth I was so stunned that Exxon had this commercial out, I had to go to Exxon’s website to see for myself.

It was a pretty easy presentation of facts done with videos. The videos are just enough to let everyone know Exxon is working for the environment although 2 presentations out of 3 are for same ole, same ole oil and natural gas.  The first video is about drilling for oil and how new technology will allow them to drill less wells. Not such a good point. The second is about compressing natural gas. Natural gas may burn clean but the way natural gas drilling takes a toll on the surrounding area is devastating. The 3^rd presentation is the charm. It’s about lithium ion batteries and their use in hybrid cars of the future. This is very good news.

So Exxon Mobil is giving up the attitude problem and finally investing in the environment. Hopefully it’s more than the other oil companies. It always sounds good that they are investing millions, but we have to remember these companies make profits in the billions so the percentages invested for the environment are ridiculously low. In mid-March I did a blog about the top oil companies and what they actually did contribute to the environment and Exxon got a big fat zero. So things are looking up from there.

http://www.blogsmonroe.com/world/2008/04/30/rockefellers-pressure-exxon-mobil-to-invest-in-alternative-energy/

http://www.media.exxonmobil.com/media/microsite/index1.html

http://www.blogsmonroe.com/world/2008/03/18/how-much-does-big-oil-really-invest-in-alternative-energy/

I just loved this one. Not long ago I wrote a blog that showed the percentage of money all top 5 oil companies contribute to alternative energy for the world’s future, and there was Exxon Mobil with a big fat zero, and an impudent attitude that they are in the oil business period. Well, Exxon Mobil sprouted from Standard Oil, you know Rockefeller Standard Oil. And that family has a very different take on environmental issues.

This I know personally. My husband and I visited the Rockefeller mansion and estate in Sleepy Hollow, New York not 2 years ago. And yes, it was Halloween season, and it is the real Sleepy Hollow on the edge of the Hudson. Lovely little town by the way. Anyway, the Rockefeller’s were environmentalists way before that word became common. If I recall right, they actually bought the land across the Hudson River, in Orangeburg County, just so the cliffs and hills on the other side didn’t get all built up because it was in their view and they didn’t want the panorama destroyed. It’s still not build up from what I can see. These people did not live as extravagantly as we would think and were not prone to buying bigger, better, or newer on a whim. They considered the environment in their plans.

The estate is like a botanical garden that was restored from a wasted rolling hillside over-grazed by sheep owned by Dutch settlers. The Rockefellers brought in all types of flora and fauna and turned this place into a little Eden. If you ever go to Sleep Hollow visit this estate, and many other very interesting and historical spots nearby. Of course going at Halloween time is exceptional. Make it across the Tappanzee bridge to Orangeburg and some really quaint little villages near water’s edge. The country’s second largest mall is over there too—sorry—I digress.

So as environmentalists, the Rockefellers, whose family still owns a good portion of what is now Exxon stock and as the article on MSN states, “like to consider themselves the longest continuing shareholders,” went public with their complaint to Exxon Mobil. The family wants Exxon to buy into the future of alternative energy. Don’t you just love it?

The article went on to say that “Peter O’Neill, who heads the Rockefeller Family committee dealing with Exxon Mobil and is the great-great-grandson of John D. Rockefeller” thinks Exxon is fighting the last war and not seeing the new war ahead. O’Neill also stated that he had the support of 80 percent of family members. That’s a lot of clout. Remember my blog that the hypothetical “Chicken Littles” are getting bigger and with more clout? Well this family is pretty mighty. Exxon Mobil was formed by the combination of two offspring of John D. Rockefeller’s Standard Oil Trust. It is now the world’s largest publicly traded oil company. The family doesn’t quite know how much of the company they still own collectively.

The best part is that the Rockefellers are eyeballing Exxon’s leadership. The article stated: “Members of the family said they have sponsored four proxy resolutions this year that raised concerns about the company’s leadership under Chairman and Chief Executive Rex Tillerson. They also said they have spent years behind the scenes prodding the company to change its approach to the oil business.” And now they’ve gone public”because they believe future energy will come from sources other than oil and natural gas, and say the company needs to move more quickly into sustainable technology to secure its long-term viability.”

Do ya think? It’s called foresight, something that is curiously lacking in some of today’s biggest industries that I’ve been complaining about for a while now. Small businesses can’t afford to ignore trends, sustainability, or the competition, why should the big guys? Ditto for utilities that keep pushing for fossil fuel, then last minute can’t afford quick changes and pass costs on to us! Logic dictates a portion of net gains should be invested in the newest energy trend with more and more invested as that trend takes hold, and while the other side of the investment in fossil fuels winds down, eventually switching over completely to alternative energy to continue the wealth. It looks like greed got in the way here, and the Rockefellers don’t like it. I’d be a little worried about my attitude if I were Rex.

Read the whole story:
Read the whole story: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/24387781/wid/18298287/

This was  fairly easy information to find as far as the big 3 American oil companies. I did the math for percentages. BP is on the list because they bought Amoco. Shell is on it because Royal Dutch Shell has an American operation, and holds leases in Alaska under heavy protest against drilling in delicate habitat.

Here’s how it looks below. The results are what I expected, a pretty dismal picture. But I ended up reading many of the oil company websites, and what their opponents wrote as well. It comes down to the fact that they are, after all, oil companies and intend to stay that way.  They are pretty much throwing some money at alternatives to look good while others really seem in earnest and are investing for the environment. It’s Conoco-Phillips. I’m going to do a blog on them and a really big move they are making with Tyson Foods.  I am impressed. All of these oil companies are at the upper echelon of earnings worldwide! They can afford to invest.

Exxon Mobil, one of the biggest oil companies in the world had net profit earnings in 2007 of $40.6 billion. http://money.cnn.com/2008/03/04/news/international/bc.apfn.eu.fin.com.britain.bp.ap/

“Exxon Mobil, meanwhile, dismisses renewable energy and puts its record profits into shareholder dividends” http://energypriorities.com/entries/2005/12/bp_alternative_energy_unit.php

Chevron had a net profit in 2007 of $18.7 billion. http://www.chevron.com/news/press/release/?id=2008-02-01
Chevron invested $300 million per year for alternative energy sources, which is .016% or 16 thousandths of their profit.

Conoco-Phillips had a net profit in 2007 of $11.9 billion. It fell from $15.5 billion last year. http://www.wtopnews.com/?nid=111&sid=1331478. Conoco-Phillips said that investments in alternative energy would be around $150 million. That’s .012% or 12 thousandths of their profit. http://money.cnn.com/2007/04/10/news/companies/pluggedin_gunther_conocophillips.fortune/index.htm?postversion=2007041109

BP had net profit income in 2007 of $20.8 billion.
http://money.cnn.com/2008/03/04/news/international/bc.apfn.eu.fin.com.britain.bp.ap/  BP “may invest up to $8 billion over 10 years that’s 800 million per year, and very generous for an oil company. But the article went on to say:  Meanwhile, their budget for conventional oil and gas projects is almost $15 billion per year.” http://energypriorities.com/entries/2005/12/bp_alternative_energy_unit.php. Eight hundred million dollars per year is a lot, but it’s only .038% or thirty eight thousandths of their profit income. http://www.bp.com/sectiongenericarticle.do?categoryId=9021952&contentId=7040761

Dutch Royal Shell had net profits in 2007 of $27.5 billion.             
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=511387&in_page_id=1770. John Hofmeister, president of Shell answered when asked how much Shell was investing in alternatives fuels: “I’d say about $1 billion over the last five years. We’ll continue to spend at that level.    That’s $200 million per year and only .007% or 7 thousandths of their net profits. http://www.shell.com/home/Framework?siteId=us-en&FC3=/us-en/html/iwgen/energy_security/faq/faq.html#4.

A quick summary gives us a total of over $119 billion dollars ($119,500,000,000.00) in net profits among all oil companies listed. Their investment for alternative energy is almost $1½ billion dollars ($1,450,000,000.00) annually. That’s .012% or 12 thousandths of their combined income-not a heck of a lot, but hey, we’ll take it. And the next time somebody tries to tell you how much the oil industry is investing in alternative energy, you won’t be naive.
 
Here is a pretty good website that gives a snapshot of the top oil companies also:
http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/2007/07/money_guzzlers.html

http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2007/dec/11/oil.bp

St. Patrick’s Day is a good, green holiday that didn’t turn out well for many when festivities began on Friday for this holiday. Savannah, Georgia had terrible thunderstorms that knocked out power to at least 150,000 customers and blackened the streets in Savannah, home to the second largest St. Patty’s Day celebration in the country. At least it was that large back in the 80’s. I was there.

Apparently that storm was the result of conditions that also produced a tornado that hit downtown Atlanta in a 200 yd. wide swath, 6 miles long at 130 mph!!! It never happened before. All I could think of: What if something like this hit downtown New York or Chicago? I think of a domino effect on the buildings. And I’m back to the analogy between terrorism and Mother Nature. Both are extremely destructive, but one always trumps the other, trumps everything, and it’s the weather. Extreme weather kills randomly and is getting worse, and more erratic. It’s caused enough destruction in Florida that insurance premiums are outrageous. Even though the debate continues about our responsibility in global warming, it’s not illogical to think we’re polluting way beyond bounds. Our demands for oil and food increase yearly as our populations grow. It is plausible that it is affecting climate conditions that many scientists admit have happened before to our world, BUT NEVER AT THE RATE IT IS PROGRESSING NOW.

This is the point I tried to make to someone I got into an argument with at a bar (Clamdiggers) during Friday night happy hour. The Irish were already getting tuned up and will appreciate this. It was a beautiful afternoon on Friday. I stopped with friends to a really crowded and loud bar. Good thing it was loud in there, because before I finished one drink, my friend announced to 2 guys next to us that we were environmentalists. All I could think was: “Oh no!” I don’t want to argue with anyone about that.

I ended up in a face-to-face argument with a guy who was proud to be a polluter, who had already got into it with another friend of mine who owns a Prius. He didn’t know what he was talking about relative to electric cars, and then announced to me that the oil industry contributes the most money to alternative energy research. I know BP has invested, and Conoco Philips, but do all of them invest—not Exxon Mobil? I caught parts of his argument while he was in my face asking if I was naive. It ended when his buddy started laughing as he realized the steady degradation of events that took place in a matter of 20 minutes from smiling to yelling, and said he was dragging his workmate out. Well the argumentative one put on a Lion’s jacket, which just invited my sport’s minded friends to jeer: “That explains it all,” where they proceeded to do the loser “L” at him. I had one more cocktail and left. The best made intentions can just go awry, can’t they? My friends and I started with lively conversation about classic poets and novelists. I was heading toward limericks in honor of St. Patrick’s day and all just ran amuck and got rude.

That’s why there was no blog Friday night, but I did decide to investigate the polluter’s argument. How much do our oil companies invest in alternative energy? It’s a good question. I caught the BP commercial about investing in alternative energy. I’m finishing a post for tomorrow that shows how much American oil companies contribute to alternative energies, and also each company’s current net earnings. I know BP stands for British Petroleum, but they bought our Amoco in 98, I think.

It’s one thing to hear statements that the oil industry is investing millions in alternative energy, and like polluter guy, assume it’s a lot, probably more than anyone else. But since I did accounting, I want to know what percentage is invested as compared to net earnings in the billions and climbing? I’ve already seen some of the numbers. It’s a pretty paltry picture compared to the wealth streaming in from oil. So, Stay tuned.  
 

“We were in fully open ocean, dozens of miles from the ice pack, in a sort of half-fog at what passes for dusk around here, when a 10 foot wide chunk of ice flowed past. It was visible for maybe 15 seconds - the only ice we’d seen for days. On it: a polar bear, just drifting wherever the ocean wanted to take him” http://www.ens-newswire.com/ens/feb2008/2008-02-11-01.asp.

I quoted that to say this. As the polar bear waits to get on the Endangered Species List, a decision that comes from the Department of the Interior, the polar bear’s habitat continues to disintegrate. It is practically wide-open seas according to the same article, and “the polar ice cap has reached its lowest extent in recorded history.” The summer Arctic may be ice-free as soon as 2040 and polar bear populations will decrease by two thirds. Out of an estimated 22,000 bears, that means over 14,500 polar bears will die. The one that floated by the Coast Guard Cutter is just one example that they won’t be afforded a quick death.

Many animals are at the mercy of the Department of the Interior lately, the wolves, and now the polar bears. The polar bear’s biggest and most volatile habitat is in the Chukchi Sea. Despite an outcry from native Eskimos, environmental groups, animal welfare organizations, a lawsuit, and citizens from around the world, the Chukchi Oil leases are going through as per the Dept. of the Interior. Royal Dutch Shell, and Conoco Phillips, you know the oil company that is supposedly investing in a green future like BP, plan to bid on the leases.
 
According to a Wall Street Journal Article Conoco Phillips said that “listing the polar bear as threatened ‘is not warranted’ based on the bears’ current population numbers. Listing them as threatened ‘will have an adverse impact on the oil and gas industry and people that live in the Arctic.’ Well I feel real sorry for the oil and gas industry, don’t you? Exxon Mobil netted $75000 per minute in 2006 and we should feel for the oil and gas industry and the heck with the polar bears? We’ll be on that soon-to-be extinct list too if ignoring ethics in favor of money, money, money keeps up.
 
The idea here is prevention. There are 22,000 bears, the Arctic is already open water so bear numbers will soon be declining rapidly without frozen land to walk and hunt. The Dept. of the Interior should put the bear on the list immediately to stop a catastrophic loss of most of that population, but waits instead using the bear’s current numbers to validate the delay. Meanwhile, the Dept. of Interior rushes to OK the auction of some 30 million acres in one the most pristine parts of the sea, a major polar bear habitat, for oil drilling?

I’m sorry but in a business situation the Department of the Interior’s single authority in both the protection of a clearly endangered species of animal like the polar bear and the very lucrative sale of the polar bear’s habitat for the purpose of drilling for oil presents a conflict of interest. And the delay in adding the polar bear to the Endangered List is an obvious morally unethical decision by a dubious Secy. of Interior, Dirk Kempthorne.

For Kempthorne, Conoco Phillips, and anyone else like President Bush that doesn’t appear to understand the English language, the word endangered means: exposed to danger, in peril. ENDANGERED DOES NOT MEAN ALREADY DEAD! The polar bear is in danger, and definitely in peril with a ruthless administration like this one.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB120208255421639257.html?mod=googlenews_wsj.
http://world-wire.com/news/0802060002.html

A train fueled by used vegetable oil left London for Wales today. It is the culmination of efforts by Richard Branson the billionaire who has pledged to help fight global warming. When the train arrives in Wales it may possibly be refueled at the first community based bio-fuel plant in the U.K. that utilizes used vegetable oil versus ethanol made from corn.
 
An article in BBC News, http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/wales/3741184.stm, reports, “Sundance Renewables, a co-operative in Ammanford, will produce over 300,000 liters of the “green” fuel a year.” The article went on to say that it is hoped the plant will encourage other small communities throughout Wales to produce their own bio fuels.  The co-op is registered as a waste carrier. It will be able to collect used vegetable oil from fast food places, restaurants, pubs, schools, wherever vegetable oil is used to fry food. This is a two-fold gain for the environment. Not only is it a cost effective, renewable source of fuel for the train and other vehicles, it eliminates oil that may find its way into sewer systems, and eventually lakes and streams.

Since Sundance Renewables is a low cost, community co-op they are presently looking for volunteer drivers to collect the used oil. As demand and production increases, the company may no longer have to rely on volunteers, but will be able to offer paid employment in the community. It is so new that prospective customers still have the opportunity to register as “preferred,” which guarantees they will always get the bio-fuel they need.

The article said, “The company also runs training courses for people who want to set up their own bio-diesel plant.” Hear that entrepreneurs of America? My question is what is wrong with America? A little country like Wales is taking the bull by the horns and forging ahead with small community efforts to make a difference for the environment and their citizen’s pocketbooks. It’s not even a new idea here in America. Willie Nelson has been recycling used vegetable oil for fuel in all of his vehicles to include his huge touring buses for years. I read about a class of students here who were trained to collect, modify, and use vegetable oil from fast food places to fuel their school buses. So why isn’t it catching on everywhere? Why are we stuck on ethanol? Obviously, it will be easier to raise the price of corn and tax the ethanol. To me this is just more evidence of the wealth and power of our oil companies, like Exxon Mobil, being used to squelch any type of innovation that might interrupt their mega profits of $75,000 per minute last year. And those were net profits folks. 

Of course, as with anything brand new, the bio fuel from used vegetable oil, has spawned further innovation by motorists in Wales that is causing a problem for tax collectors there. It seems with or without a plant to buy the used vegetable oil; many motorists are simply putting ordinary frying pan oil in their diesel fuel tanks to cut costs knowing full well they are committing an offense. All cars on public roads in Wales must pay fuel tax. The taxation system is not up to par with this newest innovation. Cooking oil is not taxed yet as motorist fuel. The use of frying pan oil is so widespread that there is a police crackdown for rogue motorists and they could face up to 7 years in jail for repeated offenses.

Willie Nelson should count his blessings he’s not a Welsh citizen or else the taxman cometh again.