In states around the country, oil-backed groups are fighting utilities' EV plans. Their strategy is reminiscent of the lobbying campaign against California's auto regulations in the 1990s, which set electric vehicle adoption back by a couple decades.
Meanwhile, oil majors are increasingly under legal pressure. States and cities around the country are mounting legal challenges to companies like ExxonMobil, claiming they either misled investors or hid the threat of climate change.
In this week's episode of The Energy Gang, we'll look at both legal stories.
We’ll start first with a story from Politico’s Gavin Bade about the state-level campaign to slow utility EV progress. Are we seeing a coming political clash between the oil industry and utility industry?
Then, we'll devote the second half of the show to the legal challenges against fossil fuel companies. Everyone in the industry is paying close attention to this very complicated yet riveting issue. As the attribution science and legal arguments evolve, will big fossil fuel companies be held accountable for a warming planet?
Recommended reading:
- Politico: The Oil Industry Versus the Electric Car
- Bloomberg: How Exxon’s Climate Change Trial Became a Battle Over Numbers
- Guardian: The 20 Firms Behind a Third of All Carbon Emissions
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