Now that the House has voted to lift the longstanding ban on crude oil exports, it’s up to President Obama and the Senate to stop this dangerous proposal – a big boost for the oil companies at the expense of the climate and our health.
The need for urgent action to curb global warming pollution is clear. Following the hottest year ever recorded, 2015 is on pace to set a new record. Extreme weather has been wrecking havoc across the country this fall, from intense rainfall and flooding in the Southeast to devastating drought in the West. Here in Ohio, we are experiencing terrible smog pollution and ozone depletion because of the heavy extraction industries. These are all catastrophes scientists say will become more frequent and severe as the planet warms.
Perhaps even more alarming, just last month, a new study found that burning the earth’s remaining fossil fuels would melt all of Antarctica—causing sea levels to surge more than 160 feet.
To avert climate catastrophe, we must end our dependence on fossil fuels and chart a course to 100 percent pollution-free, renewable energy. That means supporting President Obama’s Clean Power Plan, which places the first-ever limits on carbon pollution from power plants. It means renewing tax incentives for wind, solar, and other forms of clean energy.
It does not mean lifting the ban on exporting U.S. crude oil overseas.
If the oil companies have a larger distribution market for oil produced in the U.S., they will drill more. Estimates vary, but some from the General Accounting Office are as high as 3.3 million more barrels per day for the next 20 years. Even if only a fraction of all this extra oil is burned, global warming pollution could still increase 22 million metric tons per year, the same amount of pollution produced by five average-sized coal power plants.
Lifting the ban would worsen global warming, but strengthen profits for the oil companies, who are already among the most profitable in the world. An Energy Information Administration study shows their revenue could jump an additional $25 billion by 2025 without the ban in place. That’s a big reason these corporations are spending millions on lobbying and third-party studies supporting repeal of the ban.
