Shell, Gazprom, BHP and other fossil fuel companies are involved in 14 massive coal, oil and gas projects that would produce as much new carbon dioxide emissions in 2020 as is currently emitted by the entire US, and would delay action on climate change for more than a decade, according to a Greenpeace report prepared by consultancy Ecofys.
According to Point of No Return, burning the coal, oil and gas from these 14 projects would significantly push emissions over what climate scientists have identified as the "carbon budget," the amount of additional CO2 that must not be exceeded in order to keep climate change from spiraling out of control.
The project that threatens climate change the most is Chinese coal mining, the report says. China's five northwestern provinces plan to ramp up coal production by 620 million metric tons by 2015. This increase would generate an additional 1.4 billion metric tons of greenhouse gasses, the report says. Companies involved include China Datang Corporation, China Guodian Corporation, China Huadian Corporation, China Huaneng Group, China Power investment Corporation and Shenhua Group Corporation.
Other projects are:
In September last year, Shell halted its Arctic drilling program for 2012 after a containment dome to cap potential spills was damaged. The time needed to repair the dome meant that Shell didn’t have enough time to deep-drill off Alaska in 2012.
On New Year's Eve, Shell's drilling rig the Kulluk ran aground in the Gulf of Alaska, while being towed to Seattle for maintenance. In light of these and other issues, the Interior Department is now reviewing the company's Arctic drilling efforts.
Shell has invested $4.5 billion in offshore leases and equipment and fought at least 50 lawsuits from environmental groups opposing the first Arctic wells in about 20 years, according to the San Francisco Chronicle.
