[…] we came to the conclusion that it was impossible for today’s oil and gas majors to adapt in a timely and intelligent way to the imperative of radical decarbonisation.
Das schreibt Jonathan Porritt, einer der führenden Umweltschützer in Großbritannien, in einem aktuellen Beitrag für den Guardian. Seine Organisation, Forum for the Future, hat über Jahre mit großen Ölfirmen zusammengearbeitet, um sie darin zu unterstützen, aus dem fossilen Geschäft aus- und in erneuerbare Energien einzusteigen. Porrits Fazit: Ölfirmen bleiben Ölfirmen. Nun hat das Forum for the Future seine Partnerschaften mit Shell und BP weitestgehend gekündigt und Porrit schreibt:
This has been quite a painful journey for me personally. I so badly wanted to believe that the combination of reason, rigorous science and good people would enable elegant transition strategies to emerge in those companies. But we learn as we go. And go those companies surely will, if not in the near future.
Interessant sind aber bei dem Guardian Artikel vor allem auch die vielen Kommentare der Leser/innen. Dabei weist einer auf den Zusammenhang mit dem Emissionshandel hin:
„Cap and trade“ is a fancy name for quota-based supply management, in which quota is called „allowances“. Whether we are talking about quota-based taxi/cab systems, quota in fisheries, dairy quota, or quota for carbon-intensive goods and services (cap and trade), market incumbents are always huge winners, at the expense of new market entrants, when governments elect to create and allocate quota to „fix“ a market. Cap and trade is a quota system that market incumbents can and do use to enhance their market power relative to competitors. There are no stranded assets, under cap and trade, for which the companies are not compensated through the quota market.