Takeaways from the Dem's Big "Big Oil" investigation? There is nothing there. They found nothing. Chevron is skeptical of net zero? They aren't idiots.
Energy In Depth (12/9/22) reports: "After a year-long investigation and a report that was billed as 'explosive,' the anti-oil and natural gas charade from Democrats on the House Oversight Committee turned out to be a giant nothingburger right before they exit the majority. The committee’s report was dropped on a Friday afternoon without a press conference – a sure sign that even Democrats think it’s a dud, as Energy In Depth noted a few days ago. Even Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.), a top Democrat leading the investigation, told E&E News that the report would not 'break through' with the public and the Center for Climate Integrity, an activist group pushing climate litigation, admitted the investigation hadn’t turned up any 'bombshells.' Here’s what you should know about the report: If the committee was looking for a 'gotcha' moment, the internal company documents they published merely highlighted the obvious fact that oil and natural gas companies continue to invest in high producing basins because there is ongoing global demand for those resources. As E&E News put it: 'Unsurprisingly, the Committee found that oil and gas companies, for the most part, want to continue producing oil and gas.'...The committee’s report is yet another example of mixed messages towards the domestic energy industry. With Americans facing an historic energy crisis and gasoline hitting record highs, the committee built their investigation on vilifying the industry for producing oil and natural gas. During the October 2021 hearing with industry executives, Rep. Khanna called on the executives of oil and natural gas companies to commit to lowering production, even asking the CEOs if they were 'embarrassed' about producing oil. Just months later, Rep. Khanna reversed course and told Bloomberg that energy companies need to increase production to help bring down costs. When gas prices hit record highs over the summer, Rep. Khanna doubled down on the mixed messages, demanding companies produce more oil while threatening tax hikes that would have the opposite effect."
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"In sum, science shows that the earth’s warming over the last century is not dangerous in itself or catastrophic in its pace. Endangering the lives of people to address this modest change is the definition of irresponsible public policy, for which much of the media bear almost as much responsibility as the current administration."
– Peter Wallison & Benjamin Zycher,
American Enterprise Institute
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