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It was a deceptively low-key occasion on Capitol Hill: an older man in a dark suit, speaking to a television camera about an energetic report.
According to his company’s 362-page analysis, the fastest path to California’s climate goals was to continue relying on fossil fuels. The analysis was funded by gas companies and related groups, but he was neither a lobbyist nor an industry consultant. On the contrary, he was the much respected energy secretary of the Obama administration, Ernest Moniz.
“We definitely need to get beyond… climate deniers,” he said in the April 2019 interview with C-SPAN. “But we also need to move beyond what we think are often totally unrealistic proposals about how quickly we can decarbonize.” Tackling climate change at the necessary pace would require a “broad coalition,” he said – a coalition that would include the oil and gas industry.
Moniz was sinking into a dispute that will define how the new Biden administration will tackle the crisis: Can oil and gas companies be part of the solution? Or have they proven, with years of disinformation campaigns and efforts to slow climate action, that they will always stand in the way?
As Biden’s transition team grapples with this issue, they are already facing pressure from activists not to hire more people with fossil fuel ties, like Louisiana Congressman Cedric Richmond, who will join Biden’s White House as a senior adviser.
In the case of Moniz:
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Moniz is a member of the board of directors of one of America’s most polluting utilities, the Southern Company, based in Georgia.
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His company Energy Futures Initiative (EFI) conducted research funded by Southern California Gas (SoCalGas), which a consumer advocate says should since be fined for using customer money to oppose progress. climate.
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Moniz presented the results at an event sponsored by Stanford University’s Natural Gas Initiative, which SoCalGas and other fossil fuel companies are helping fund as affiliate members. The initiative provides corporate members with access to research “from start to finish.”
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EFI also partnered with researchers at Stanford on a report exploring the possibilities of capturing climate emissions from fossil fuel-related operations. One of the funders was the Oil and Gas Climate Initiative industry group.
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EFI’s advisory board is chaired by the former CEO of UK oil company BP, though it also includes prominent climate scientists and environmentalists.
EFI’s analysis in California aligned perfectly with what SoCalGas had argued as the state tightened its climate targets. He found that gas-fired power plants with technologies to capture their emissions would reduce climate pollution more than any other option, including renewable energy. He suggested a comprehensive approach.
Although gas has helped the United States reduce its global heating emissions by replacing dirtier coal, it remains a major climate polluter linked to significant health problems.
Collin Rees, a senior campaign official for Oil Change International, said Moniz’s ties to fossil fuels are not “a stain on his resume.”
“It’s his entire professional career of the last two decades, which is of deep concern,” Rees said.
Moniz’s gas industry sponsors have never been a secret. Financial contributors were prominently featured on the third page of EFI’s report, and Moniz said when he released the results in 2019 that even though gas companies had requested the research, it was still independent. A spokesperson for Moniz declined to comment for this story.
Moniz released the California report at an event sponsored by Stanford University’s Natural Gas Initiative, which offers companies access to “start-to-finish” research, meetings with professors and opportunities to recruit students. The price per year varies between $ 35,000 and $ 250,000.
An internal email from the initiative, shared with the Guardian, shows the initiative’s comfortable relationship with SoCalGas, an affiliate member.
In April 2019, the Sierra Club criticized a separate analysis SoCalGas had paid for by consultancy firm Navigant. This report supported the company’s argument for “renewable gas” – biogas collected from decaying landfills and sewage treatment plants. SoCalGas touted biogas as cities across the state took steps to reduce climate emissions from buildings, moving away from gas appliances.
When contacted by SoCalGas, Stanford Initiative CEO Naomi Boness stepped in to help. She sent an email to her colleagues with the subject line: “SoCalGas is looking for a decarbonization consultant in California.”
The company has sought a “highly regarded energy resource scientist or economist” to respond to the Sierra Club’s complaints.
“This could take the form of a letter or opinion piece, possibly followed by further research if necessary, and a peer-reviewed article on this topic in the not too distant future,” said Boness. “Please let me know if any of you would be interested in taking on this challenge, and feel free to move forward within the Stanford community.”
Stanford spokesperson EJ Miranda said: “Stanford energy researchers engage with a wide range of stakeholders in open forums. Our individual professors and researchers carry out their academic responsibilities with independence, professional ethics and personal integrity. “
A spokesperson for SoCalGas did not respond to Guardian questions on time.
During the Obama administration, SoCalGas argued against the efforts of climate agencies, including a rule that would entice electric devices to gas-powered ones, according to notes from an American Gas Association meeting obtained by the Guardian. SoCalGas owner Sempra Energy is also making big bets on the future of gas – investing in export infrastructure in the United States and Mexico.
Despite this record, SoCalGas used Moniz’s research to try and bolster its climate reputation. He posted his report on Facebook without noting that he funded the work, and he cited the analysis in an August 2020 letter to California regulators in which he claimed that “natural gas and renewable gas … are clean, reliable, affordable and resilient sources of energy. which play an essential role in Solution to California’s energy concerns.
The company came to the attention of California Senator Diane Feinstein and her Representative Nanette Barragán, who wrote to it last month about reports that it “had worked to undermine California’s transition away from fossil fuels.” .
The internal watchdog for the California Public Utilities Commission, which regulates the company, has asked the commission to fine SoCalGas $ 255 million for abusing customer funds to subvert climate action.
“A lot of people might think, ‘Oh, it’s a gas company, it’s lobbying for gas, it makes it like every other gas company,’ said Sara Gersen, clean energy lawyer at Earthjustice. , an environmental group that has reached out to consumers. lawyer complaint. “But his lobbying machine is actually quite unique among gas companies in the country, as most gas companies simply leave it to the trade association.”
Charlie Spatz, a researcher at the Climate Investigations Center, said Moniz had beefed up this lobbying machine.
“The report is not necessarily super proscriptive, but by putting its name in it, SoCalGas was able to post press and social media releases and letters to various commissions and other regulatory bodies,” Spatz said.
EFI has also partnered with the AFL-CIO labor group to support an “all of the above” energy strategy that preserves jobs.
Moniz did not so subtly pluck a progressive Green New Deal that would simultaneously fight climate change and inequality, instead touting a “Green Real Deal”, which would work “within the constraints of technical, cost and social realities”. Moniz believes fossil gas will be part of the solution, used to back up solar panels and wind turbines that don’t produce electricity all the time.
Already, Biden has chosen someone from the orbit of Stanford to lead the transition of his energy department. The team leader, Arun Majumdar, was the first head of the Advanced Research Projects Agency – Energy, ARPA-E, which incubates energy technologies. He then set up a program at Stanford called the Strategic Energy Alliance, funded by oil companies Shell, Exxon and Total, as well as Bank of America. Shell contributed $ 20 million over five years and Majumdar praised the company for supporting Stanford for 40 years.
“This support comes at a critical time for our energy future,” he said.
Jesse Jenkins, an assistant professor at Princeton University who previously worked under Moniz, said some of the criticism against him was “misplaced.”
“There are very different theories of change about how we’re going to progress on clean energy in this country. Some progressives believe the goal is to defeat the oil and gas industry, ”Jenkins said. “There are others also committed to the fight against climate change who believe that one of the most effective ways to do this is to convince incumbent industries that there is money to be made. and a role to play in supporting a clean energy transition. opposed to fighting her to death.
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