oil workers

By Brian Parkin - RS21, December 31, 2016

Between November 2014 and January 2015, oil prices on international markets fell by nearly 80%. Since then many of the smaller ‘unconventional’ shale fracking operations have gone bust while the deep water and Arctic circle developments by the oil and gas ‘majors’ have been put on hold or abandoned. Here Brian Parkin surveys the damage and finds that despite the most bruising experience since 1973 oil price crisis the world of hydrocarbons is still driven by the same speculative greed and climate crisis disregard as ever. But with the cancellation (at the time of publication) of the XL Keystone pipeline, an outstanding victory at Standing Rock and a rediscovered militancy in the UK North Sea offshore industry, things may be changing.

House of fools

Prior to the oil price collapse of late 2014, the sustained high price of oil, largely predicated on expectations of sustained high Chinese economic growth, as well as heroic predictions of world economic growth post-2008 credit crash, had given rise to a speculative boom in ‘unconventional’ oil and gas exploration and production ventures. This meant that hitherto high cost and ‘marginal’ production techniques in smaller and relatively low yield fields, in combination with record low interest rates, suddenly and overnight looked like safe bets.

Another key factor at work was the shared political and strategic consensus in the US, that after the Gulf (of Arabia) military clean-up of a ‘new American century’, the US would seek to become energy self-sufficient by the mid-2030’s, by which time it would have also largely completed its imperialist ‘pivot on Asia’ strategy for the economic and military containment of China[1].

Apart from the marginalisation of OPEC[2] and the securing of wider MENA[3] regional oilfields dedicated to the supply of the US’s strategic allies in Europe and East Asia, the decisive factor would be in the development of ‘tight’ oil (and gas) from hydrocarbon bearing shale ‘plays’ that make up much of the north American east, mid-west and southern states geological formations. Additionally, high production cost ventures in the Gulf of Mexico and Outer Continental Shelf deep waters as well as within the Arctic Circle augmented further by the Canadian tar sands would complete the future hydrocarbon supply mix.

By George Lakey - Waging NonViolence, November 10, 2016

This was a highly emotional election, and we need time to feel our feelings and sort out what it means for us and for the country. Donald Trump is a con man; his game is to manipulate emotions and activists can be as vulnerable as anyone else. Knowing that, we can give ourselves some space to breathe rather than hype each other’s fear. We can also begin to ask, what does his victory mean for social activists on the left?

First, and most obviously, Bernie Sanders was not Trump’s opponent. Many Trump voters liked Sanders for the same reason they supported Trump: He was an outlier who was an alternative to the establishment that has for decades been implementing what billionaire Warren Buffett calls the economic elite’s “class war.”

We activists on the left, even with some disagreements with Sanders, could reasonably regard him as a standard-bearer for us, but that’s not the choice voters made this November. I voted for Hillary without believing for a minute that she was putting forth my politics — or that my politics even got attention in the general election.

What we learn from the vote against Hillary is that many people who are losing the class war don’t like losing, and took it out on a pillar of the establishment. In 2008 and 2012, many white working-class people in the North gave their support to Barack Obama because he was the most credible hope for change, running in each election against a pillar of the establishment. By wide margins they didn’t let the color of his skin prevent them from voting for the chance of a pause in the battering they’d been getting.

For people interested in learning how to make major change in the United States, the electoral arena is only a tiny peephole covered with gauze. Voter participation is low in the United States compared with, say, Scandinavia, and that was true this year, too. Because the election only involves part of the citizenry and is mostly about money, celebrity and manipulation, it tells us little and invites us to make up stories laced with our own fears.

Nevertheless, combing the electoral data can tell us something. Exit polls, for example, tell us that one in five voters who pulled the lever for Trump do not believe he is qualified to be president.

Why vote for someone so unqualified? One answer is because that voter feels certain they know what a second Clinton presidency would bring: unjust policies that further degrade the lives of the oppressed. Here’s the chance for activist empathy, crucial for our having any chance of success in the future: When people so desire change that they will vote for someone they believe unqualified, they are desperate. Activists are used to calling people who are rendered desperate by unjust polices “the oppressed.” If using that name helps us stop othering working-class Trump voters, let’s use that name.

The white working class reading of recent American history may be more accurate than that of many activists. Bill Clinton betrayed the Democratic Party’s traditional working-class base through the North American Free Trade Agreement, destruction of “welfare as we know it,” and subsidizing corporations’ moving industrial jobs overseas. Even when the presidency and both houses of Congress were in the hands of the Democrats, a union movement that worked night and day to get Democratic politicians elected could not get its priorities enacted.

Many in a social class that once believed the Democratic Party was its ally were bound to notice, sooner or later, that the party’s allegiance is elsewhere. I’ve often heard middle-class liberals complain about working-class people voting against their interests, but I’m not hearing them complain that tens of millions of middle-class people vote against their interests – something they do routinely, and did so again by voting for Trump. In fact, the middle class reportedly provided Trump’s most reliable funding during the primary season.

By various - International Transport Federation, et. al., November 2016

In the recent election, Chevron-backed campaigns lost bigtime, despite the $61 million the company has spent to influence California elections since 2009. That’s far more than any other oil company spend in state elections. The report, by the International Transport Workers Federation, was released Nov. 17 at the Chevron gates by a coalition including the Richmond Progressive Alliance (RPA), Alliance of Californians for Community Empowerment (ACCE), Communities for a Better Environment (CBE), and more.

Members of the coalition said the report, The Chevron Way: Polluting California and Degrading Democracy, will educate the public about the corrupting influence of corporate money and alert politicians that they will be judged on whether they act in the public interest or in Chevron’s interest.

In this election, in State Assembly and State Senate races, candidates heavily backed by Chevron lost. In Monterey County, Chevron spent $1.5 to oppose a ballot measure to ban fracking and expanded oil drilling. Despite being outspent 33 to 1, the measure passed.

In Richmond, Chevron sat out this election, having spent $3 million in the last election, when its candidates lost anyway. This year, two additional progressive candidates won seats on the city council and a longstanding Chevron candidate was voted out.

Chevron makes billions in profits from its huge retail and refining business in California, but has aggressively cut tax payments to federal, state and local governments. In 2015, the company paid no net income tax in the US, but instead banked nearly $1.7 billion in tax credits.

In 2015, Chevron had over $45 billion stashed in offshore accounts, including the company’s 211 active Bermuda subsidiaries, and the company’s global effective tax rate fell to below 3%.

Read the report (PDF).

By Rosie Jones - Green Left Weekly, October 12, 2016

The Geelong refinery dispute may not hold the record for the longest campaign for workers’ rights, but the dispute over safety nevertheless won due to a concerted campaign.

On October 5, almost 300 workers voted to walk out of the refinery, owned by Viva Energy Australia, over safety concerns. They began a 24-hour picket, covering four access gates to the refinery. The initial walk out was facilitated by the Australian Workers Union (AWU) and the Australian Manufacturing Workers Union (AMWU).

The next afternoon, a notice was put up on all four gates, literally nailed to the trees along refinery road, saying the AWU and the AMWU had received an injunction order from the Supreme Court to refrain from any further participation in the action — not just on the site but anywhere. In response, concerned community members set up a small camp at the main gate to support the workers.

Compiled by x344543 - IWW Environmental Unionism Caucus, September 20, 2016

A supplement to Eco Unionist News:

Lead Stories:

• Another coal domino falls as the Indian Government’s billion tonnes a year by 2020 target fades - By Bob Burton, End Coal, September 14, 2016
• Seven charts show new renewables outpacing rising demand for first time - By Simon Evans, Carbon Brief, September 14, 2016
• Creditors lose historic sums in oil bankruptcies, Moody’s says - By Collin Eaton, FuelFix, September 12, 2016
• China’s Continuing Renewable Energy Revolution – latest trends in electric power generation - By John A. Mathews, Asia-Pacific Journal, September 1, 2016

By Robert Pollin and Brian Callaci - Department of Economics and Political Economy Research Institute (PERI), University of Massachusetts-Amherst, September 9, 2016

ABSTRACT: We develop a Just Transition framework for U.S. workers and communities that are currently dependent on domestic fossil fuel production. Our rough high-end estimate for such a program is a relatively modest $600 million per year. This level of funding would pay for

• 1) income, retraining and relocation support for workers facing retrenchments;
• 2) guaranteeing the pensions for workers in the affected industries; and
• 3) mounting effective transition programs for what are now fossil- fuel dependent communities.

The paper first summarizes the evidence on how much the U.S. fossil fuel industry will need to contract to achieve CO₂ emissions reduction targets consistent with the global targets established by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). We then consider the impact of fossil fuel cutbacks on five ancillary U.S. industries, including support activities for coal and oil/gas as well as oil refining, electric power generation, and natural gas distribution.

Section 3 presents estimates on job cuts that will occur in the fossil fuel and ancillary industries due to U.S. fossil fuel production cutbacks. Combining all fossil fuel and ancillary industries, we show that fully 83% of the job losses can be covered through attrition-by-retirement. To address the remaining 17% of job losses through fossil fuel industry cutbacks, we propose reemployment guarantees in the growing clean energy industries for displaced workers. As part of this job guarantee program, we estimate the costs of three provisions for the displaced workers: 100 percent compensation insurance for five years; retraining; and relocation support.

Section 4 reviews the status of pension programs in the fossil fuel and ancillary industries and propose measures to maintain these pension programs at full funding int o the future.

Section 5 examines measures to support communities that are presently heavily dependent on the U.S. fossil fuel industry.

The concluding Section 6 brings together our cost estimates for the three components of our Just Transition program.

Compiled by x344543 - IWW Environmental Unionism Caucus, September 7, 2016

A supplement to Eco Unionist News:

Lead Stories:

• The $8 Trillion Fight Over How to Rid America of Fossil Fuel - By Eric Roston, Bloomberg, August 30, 2016
• Mass protests by China’s coal, iron and steel workers on the decline - By staff, China Labour Bulletin, August 18, 2016

Carbon Market Watch:

• Oil ends slide on Putin freeze comments - By Bloomberg, FuelFix, September 2, 2016; [related]: OPEC output rises to record before talks with Russia on freeze - By Bloomberg, FuelFix, September 2, 2016 | Oil holds near lowest levels in three weeks - By Bloomberg, FuelFix, September 1, 2016 | Oil has worst day in almost a month; back below $45 - By Bloomberg, FuelFix, August 31, 2016 | Oil trades near $47 as gasoline inventories appear to have dipped - By Bloomberg, FuelFix, August 30, 2016 | Doubts linger over potential OPEC deal - By Bloomberg, FuelFix, August 29, 2016

Other Carbon Bubble News:

• QUT becomes first Queensland University to its dump fossil fuel investments - By 350.org, REnew Economy, September 5, 2016
• California nixes funding for coal export terminals - By Paige Blankenbuehler, High Country News, September 2, 2016
• India shelves coal mining target on weak demand - By Megan Darby, Climate Change News, September 2, 2016
• Petrobras sheds 11,704 workers in plan to save $1.2 billion - By Bloomberg, FuelFix, September 2, 2016
• Baker Hughes cuts employee pay 5 percent through furloughs - By Jordan Blum, FuelFix, September 1, 2016
• Canada’s Enbridge drops Sandpiper crude oil pipeline - By Cecilia Jamasmie, Mining.Com, September 1, 2016
• Caterpillar to close Belgium plant, lay off 2000 workers - By Cecilia Jamasmie, Mining.Com, September 1, 2016
• Over 3000 UK churches on way to ditching fossil fuels - By Ed King, Climate Change News, September 1, 2016
• Mass adoption of electric vehicles is “much sooner than most people realize” - By Andy Rowell, Oil Change International, August 31, 2016
• Canada’s mining industry faces workers shortage of up to 127,000 - By Cecilia Jamasmie, Mining.Com, August 30, 2016
• U.S. universities using less coal for heat, power - By David Hunn, FuelFix, August 30, 2016
• Solar power growing rapidly as prices tumble and tax credits are extended - By John Funk, Cleveland Plain Dealer, August 27, 2016
• The Gilded Rage: A Conversation With a Trump Supporter That Will Surprise You - By Alexander Zaitchik, Alternet, August 22, 2016
• Old King Coal - By Dan Weissmann, WBEX 91.5 FM, June 22, 2016

Utility Death Spiral News:

• Back to school? Schools that have installed solar panels threatened with an unfair tax bill - By staff, The Ecologist, September 5, 2016
• A Battle Over Bringing Local Renewables To Rural Electric Co-ops - By Cally Carswell, Inside Energy, September 2, 2016
• Facing stricter climate goals, California passes 4 bills to boost energy storage - By Robert Walton, Utility Dive, September 2, 2016
• The graph that shows the death of traditional energy utilities - By Giles Parkinson, REnew Economy, September 2, 2016
• In 11th hour deal, California public utility reaches net metering compromise - By Robert Walton, Utility Dive, September 2, 2016
• The Climate Change Authority’s gamble on political pragmatism - By Frank Jotzo, The Conversation, September 1, 2016
• Nevada regulator blocks SolarCity from grandfathering proceedings - By Krysti Shallenberger, Utility Dive, September 1, 2016; [related]: SolarCity Barred From Intervening in Nevada Grandfathering Dockets - By Julia Pyper, GreenTechMedia, August 31, 2016
• 2 GW Of Colorado Wind Can Replace 6000 GWh Of Coal - By Aisha Abdelhamid, Clean Technica, September 1, 2016
• Florida votes to strike property taxes on solar panels - By Robert Walton, Utility Dive, August 31, 2016
• Wind Power Curtailment in China Expected to Increase in Second Half of 2016 -  By Liu Yuanyuan, Renewable Energy World, August 31, 2016
• Australia’s natural-gas cartel is bleeding Australia - By Bruce Robertson, REnew Economy, August 30, 2016
• New England’s Big Energy Switch - By Alisa Barba, Inside Energy, August 30, 2016
• New Hampshire Sticks With Solar Net Metering, Which Voters Support - By Peter Allen, Clean Technica, August 30, 2016
• No new solar! How network lobby imagines Australia’s clean energy transition - By Giles Parkinson, REnew Economy, August 30, 2016
• Solar groups pour money into Arizona utility regulatory election - By Peter Maloney, Utility Dive, August 30, 2016
• AEP Ohio wants to double fixed charges, joining net metering debate - By Robert Walton, Utility Dive, August 29, 2016
• Distributed Generation Under Fire (Q2 2016) - By Karlee Weinmann, Institute for Local Self-Reliance, August 29, 2016
• A Funny Thing Happening in the Race for Renewables - By Steve Hargreaves and Courtney St. John, Nexus Media, August 22, 2016

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