Big Oil’s View On Global Warming Essay, Research Paper

Big Oil?s Proposals

Proposal 1

Representatives of major corporations that will be affected by the Kyoto Protocol should play a major role in the procedures:

Justification:

Many corporations that will be affected by decisions made during the procedures are some of the most powerful decision makers in the world. the policies that these corporations adopt influence the decisions made by governments on a global scale. In fact, many of their annual incomes are larger than the GDP?s of some countries. When embarking on a global conference, it only makes sense to include the major players and multinational corporations are, without a doubt, some of the largest players in the global casino. Without these representatives present, I feel that few decisions can actually be reached. With so much at stake for these corporations, they actually serve as a catalyst during discussion and decision making.

These same corporations may end up being the hardest hit by the implementation of the Kyoto Protocol. When discussing global warming, pollution from such things as fossil fuel is always the reoccurring topic. For a company like ExxonMobil, fuel is its mainstay. In the effort to curb the use of fossil fuels, there are winners and losers. Both should have a say in the meetings. In fact, the losers are always the most willing to fight for what they want. It is unfair to exclude those entities from the discussions.

Proposal 2

Developing countries should be forced to participate because they have the most potential to increase their greenhouse gas emissions in the coming years. Decide on how to enforce the provisions within the Protocol to prevent one country from voluntarily complying while others fail to comply. Also, make decisions about international mechanisms that may be used to satisfy the requirements such as unused emission credits and technology transfers to nations unable to curb emissions.

Justification:

Developing nations lack both the technology and finances to make the conversion over to more sustainable fuels. Companies like ExxonMobil are actually pushing the use of fossil fuels on developing nations based on the premise that fossil fuels are becoming cheaper and cleaner through expanding technology. When a powerful corporation speaks a developing country will listen and this, more often than not, will lead to the expansion of the use of fossil fuels. Also, as their name suggests, these countries are developing. Economic development includes not only progress socially but also industrially. As industry develops the amount of fossil fuels increase.

Yes, developed nations are currently the leading users of fossil fuels, however, if developed countries comply voluntarily and developing nations are not even required to comply, these countries are likely to abuse their freedom and increase the use of fossil fuels beyond current expectations.

International mechanisms such as unused emission credits and the transfer of technology to developing nations have really not even been discussed. These may be the most important means of compromise for the Protocol. A country that voluntarily curbs it?s emissions of greenhouse gases can actually be rewarded for doing so, while those that do not will be forced to purchase the right to emit gases. Decisions need to be made on topics such as these so that the groundwork can be laid for establishing the rules for operating these mechanisms.

Proposal 3

Nations should learn more through science about the separate causes of global warming and be able to decipher whether or not the causes related to their specific country is human caused or caused naturally.

Justification:

ExxonMobil actually goes as far as to say that global warming due to the increase of greenhouse gases from fossil fuels doesn?t exist. The corporation extends the idea that global warming is caused by natural rather than human causes. Only through sound scientific research can the true causes of global warming be exposed and understood. Indeed, every country around the world contributes to global warming, but never are they sure whether their contribution can be prevented or if its just a part of nature at work. If the causes are human induced than they would have discovered this through science and be more capable of finding viable solutions.

www.exxon.com