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Re:Sue Big Oil by 0daystock on Friday June 17, 2022 @10:53AM (#31779085)
Let's charitably assume we sue, win, and "big oil" goes completely bankrupt. Does anyone here actually think this will meaningfully change anything? That a void for fossil fuel energy production will just continue to exist unfilled?
Re:Sue Big Oil by thinkcontext on Friday June 17, 2022 @11:26AM (#31779622)
The way I've imagined it is an orderly winding down. Existing production continues but no expansion. All profits are redirected to aid in the transition with an emphasis on helping the poor in replacing their fossil fuel use.
Re:Sue Big Oil by pdonis on Friday June 17, 2022 @11:47AM (#31779946)
And the way for this to happen is for people who want it to happen to start their own companies to do it. That's how free market competition works: if there is a genuine market need that is not being filled, someone starts a new company to fill it. You don't sue existing companies.

In the case of fossil fuels, this already is happening; there are plenty of companies working on alternative sources of energy. (And the "Big Oil" companies are among them.) As far as using government and the law to help, the single biggest impact ordinary people can have is to make it clear to our elected representatives that nuclear energy is a thing and we need more of it.

Re:Sue Big Oil by jthrowsitaway on Friday June 17, 2022 @01:57PM (#31781890)
This is how it works in a free market economy. The incumbent (oil and gas) is directly state sponsored in the US.

> the US government alone spends $20 billion every year on direct fossil fuel subsidies. Of that figure, around $16 billion goes towards oil and gas, while the remaining $4 billion benefits the coal industry.

https://en.as.com/en/2022/03/29/latest_news/1648510535_73079...

Re:Sue Big Oil by pdonis on Friday June 17, 2022 @03:26PM (#31783094)
> The incumbent (oil and gas) is directly state sponsored in the US.

The solution for that is not to sue Big Oil. It's to make it clear to our elected representatives that we want these subsidies to end, and vote them out of office if they don't do it.

Re:Sue Big Oil by konfusinomicon on Friday June 17, 2022 @11:41AM (#31779860)
i think that everyone including the FF companies ultimately wants a wind down, its a finite resource after all. it's a matter of how long will that take, and how long will winding up other energy industries take, be it building out the infrastructure, limiting the environmental impact of that build out, or researching the future technologies that will make 100% clean energy feasible. any timelines need to be reasonable. maybe a 50 year plan is doable and in the mean time, there is no sense in kneecapping the world by limiting expansion
Re:Sue Big Oil by notatoad on Friday June 17, 2022 @11:42AM (#31779872)
and suing big oil is exactly the opposite of the way to achieve this.

if you can successfully drive western oil companies out of business, all our oil will have to come from saudi, russia, venezuela, etc. countries where we have no ability to tax the profits of oil companies and redirect that money to something beneficial.

Re:Sue Big Oil by OrvalWintermute on Friday June 17, 2022 @11:57AM (#31780129)
I believe that it is likely BigOil that will finally solve much of our renewable energy needs.

They have the huge amounts of capital, and the management abilities to do nation-state levels of production around energy. Some of the more challenging ideas like space based power beaming on a massive scale would require the kind of capital and longterm projects current day BigOil can bring to bear. Truly massive solar farms are the same way, they require huge capital.

Re:Sue Big Oil by thinkcontext on Friday June 17, 2022 @11:59AM (#31780149)
Carbon tariff at the border.
Re:Sue Big Oil by notatoad on Friday June 17, 2022 @11:21PM (#31787017)
Yup, great idea and I absolutely agree.

But that's not part of the agenda for people pushing the abolition of domestic oil. Which makes the conspiracy theorist in me wonder how much of the north American anti-oil environmentalist movement is actually Saudi propaganda

Re:Sue Big Oil by r_harriso on Friday June 17, 2022 @12:52PM (#31780976)
Seize the assets, nationalize the oil industry, use the profits to pay for infrastructure.
Re:Sue Big Oil by worker_person on Friday June 17, 2022 @11:18AM (#31779479)
Get rid of oil in a rapid fashion, and we go the route of Venezuela.

Getting rid of oil is the goal of the current Administration. They are having some success by making it difficult as possible.

Now we have a huge mess from it and elections are coming up, so goal is to blame oil for the problems caused by the Administration.

If you want to get off oil because you believe it's bad for environment. That is a respectable position. But there is a huge political price to pay when the poor in the country are suffering now from it.

Re:Sue Big Oil by jthrowsitaway on Friday June 17, 2022 @11:36AM (#31779772)
How do you support your argument that the current administration is being effective in killing off oil? We are still a net exporter of oil [0] and crude oil production is about where it was at in late 2018. It took a dive during COVID-19 and has been recovering since.

0 - https://www.eia.gov/dnav/pet/hist/LeafHandler.ashx?n=pet&s=m...

1 - https://www.macrotrends.net/2562/us-crude-oil-production-his...

Re:Sue Big Oil by worker_person on Friday June 17, 2022 @01:52PM (#31781805)
You're joking right? He has been killing off pipelines, suspending leases, increasing regulations.

https://www.cnbc.com/2021/01/27/biden-suspends-oil-and-gas-d...

Re:Sue Big Oil by jthrowsitaway on Friday June 17, 2022 @02:24PM (#31782290)
My question still stands. We're near ATH of oil production and are a net exporter. Sure, the Boogeyman wants to kill oil, but has he been able to do that with great success in 1.5 years as president?
Re:Sue Big Oil by whatever1 on Friday June 17, 2022 @11:25AM (#31779608)
The poor will be also starving when we will not be able to produce crops due to extreme weather.

Climate disaster is around the corner and we need to act yesterday. With our current approach it seems that we screw the poor both today and in the future.