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Clearing the Air: Big Oil makes big bucks

Second in a series of columns by the West Kootenay Climate Hub
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Sue Big Oil West Kootenay wants the City of Nelson to join class action lawsuit against several big oil companies.

Part two of 10 in a series of columns about climate change and our Kootenay community.

Like most Canadians, Kootenay folks worry about the cost of living, with over two-thirds of young B.C. residents naming it as their top concern. While it’s easy to point fingers at current governments, price increases are a global problem. Canada’s inflation rate is actually lower than many countries like the United Kingdom, the Netherlands and the entire Eurozone.

Our housing market is clearly disconnected from real incomes. But unnatural disasters associated with climate disruption are also fuelling rising costs – not only direct damages but also through knock-on effects like rising home insurance rates and global food systems disrupted by drought and floods. The Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives released a study calculating 2021’s costs from extreme weather events like floods, landslides, wildfires, and the deadly heat dome at up to $17.1 billion in B.C. alone. And it’s just beginning. 

Here in the Koots, it’s too early to calculate the costs from this past summer’s wildfires. But numerous homes and properties were damaged, tourism and arts revenues were severely impacted, and the fiscal and emotional costs to residents who had to flee the fires are incalculable.

With widespread financial stress, it’s no surprise that people feel concerned about a carbon tax that many feel may be contributing to their rising costs. Yet B.C.’s Business Insider Voice recently reported that the carbon tax increased grocery bills by only $0.33 per $100 (before rebates), while the tax’s impact at the pump is almost negligible, with 96 per cent of the increase attributable to the global oil market.

So what drives global oil prices? It’s complicated, but the answer includes international conflicts and – no surprise here – fossil fuel industry profits. ExxonMobil topped out the list of fossil fuel giants in 2023, raking in a net $36 billion, with the other five oil majors reporting profits of $15-$21 billion each while our forests burned. Exxon CEO Darren Woods pulled a cool $36.9 million salary last year, not including perks and bonuses. 

One would think that with profits like these, big fossil fuel companies would be paying a fair share of taxes to help with the increasing costs of health care, housing and climate disasters. But research from the Fossil Fuel Subsidy Tracker shows that in fact citizens are subsidizing these multinational corporations more than ever. In 2022, governments in Canada put money back in the pockets of big oil, gas, and coal producers to the tune of over $4.4 billion in tax breaks and direct subsidies. That’s a 37 per cent increase over 2021, at a time when people are struggling to pay for basic living expenses. 

As if these subsidies weren’t enough, the Guardian reported in June that fossil fuel firms have been awarded $80 billion of public money in secretive court proceedings connected with international trade agreements.

With this kind of coin, these corporations have the means to invest in energy resources that don’t destroy the planet’s life support system. Their PR implies they’re all in for transitioning to renewables. But reality is otherwise. A 2023 Narwhal article series outlines how fossil fuel front groups like Canada’s Pathways Alliance have spent millions on greenwashing while lobbying politicians for increased production limits and reduced emissions curbs, as oil majors around the world slash investment in renewables and double down on manipulating the public (more on this next month).

What makes this particularly appalling is the fact that these companies have known about the ecological harms of their products since the late 1950s. According to Charlotte Taylor of Georgetown University, by 1968, when a report prepared for the American Petroleum Institute itself on gaseous atmosphere pollutants was published, “the oil industry knew beyond reasonable doubt about the relationship between burning fossil fuels and climate change.”

So what can we do about it?

Besides voting for representatives who recognize the real costs of climate pollution, now and down the road, we can start by holding Big Oil legally and fiscally accountable for these costs. With the Sue Big Oil movement, B.C. municipalities – which rarely have taxation power over large corporations – are planning legal action to recover the costs we’re paying for corporate profits in the form of climate-related disasters. Slocan was one of the first communities to sign on, and Nelson is currently considering joining after hearing from a local delegation. 

This may not fix the whole problem, but at least we can demand that those accountable – corporations with “no soul to damn and no body to kick,” in the words of Edward Thurlow – start paying for the impact their actions have on our lives. 

Tamara Schwartzentruber is a musician, teacher, editor and healer who lives in Kaslo with her partner and two kids. She volunteers with the West Kootenay Climate Hub.