Thread: Big business wants Trump to stick with Paris climate accord

Big business wants Trump to stick with Paris climate accord

by Alanna Petroff
May 29, 2017: 12:29 PM ET

The heat is on: President Trump says he will decide this week whether to stick with the landmark Paris climate accord.

If Trump bails on the agreement, which has been signed by 195 countries, he will do so over the objections of hundreds of major U.S. businesses.

In recent months, big business has lobbied fiercely in favor of the deal, which aims to end the fossil fuel era. Even major oil firms like Chevron (CVX) and ExxonMobil (XOM) back it.

Exxon CEO Darren Woods wrote a personal letter to Trump earlier this month, urging him to stick to the deal. The U.S., he said, is "well positioned to compete" with the agreement in place and staying in means "a seat at the negotiating table to ensure a level playing field."

It might appear to be a strange move for energy firms, but many like the agreement because it favors natural gas (which they produce) over dirtier coal.

It's more than just energy firms, though: Microsoft (MSFT, Tech30), Apple (AAPL, Tech30), Starbucks (SBUX), Gap (GPS), Nike (NKE), Google (GOOGL, Tech30), Adidas (ADDYY) and L'Oreal (LRLCY) all support continued U.S. involvement.

Large companies around the world are warning President Trump against leaving the Paris climate pact.

Business leaders say the Paris deal, also called COP21, will help generate new jobs, limit damage from climate change and help assert American leadership on the global stage.

"By expanding markets for innovative clean technologies, the agreement generates jobs and economic growth," business leaders wrote in a recent ad published in major newspapers. "U.S. companies are well positioned to lead in these markets. Withdrawing from the agreement will limit our access to them and could expose us to retaliatory measures."

Trump has called climate change a "hoax" and blasted the Paris agreement as a "bad deal."

At this weekend's G7 Summit in Sicily, European Union officials and the leaders of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and Britain reaffirmed their commitment to the Paris agreement. The group said the U.S. was "reviewing its policies on climate change and on the Paris Agreement and thus is not in a position to join the consensus."

Trump issued a tweet on the topic: "I will make my final decision on the Paris Accord next week!"

The Natural Resources Defense Council, an environmental group, estimates that unchecked climate change could cost the U.S. economy almost $2 trillion per year in current dollars by 2100.

Here's a list of other major firms that support the Paris agreement:

Adobe (ADBE)
Allianz (ALIZF)
BP (BP)
DuPont (DD)
eBay (EBAY)
General Mills (GIS)
Hilton (HGV)
Intel (INTC, Tech30)
Johnson & Johnson (JNJ)
Kellogg Company (K)
Monsanto (MON)
Royal Dutch Shell (RDSA)
Salesforce (CRM, Tech30)
Staples (SPLS)
Symantec (SYMC)
Tesla (TSLA)
Dow Chemical Company (DOW)
Tiffany & Co. (TIF)
Unilever (UL)

http://money.cnn.com/2017/05/29/news...ange-business/

This is all about money and their own products, not the environment.

Pull out of the Paris Accord. We don't need Exxon or BP telling US what to do with our environment. Exxon-Valdez Spill in Alaska still hasn't been cleaned up and BP's Horizon Spill in the Gulf while virtually cleaned up visually was done so with a chemical oil and grease-buster that will contaminate those waters for several lifetimes.

Trump is not going to continue this international gang bang against clean coal or other fossil fuel industries where emissions are down and controlled. NO WAY JOSE.

But as always we thank our big polluters for their concern about our environment, but instead of the Paris Accord, we're going to give you big tax cuts so you can go clean up your big messes at your expense and tariffs on imports that threaten our American jobs and industries.

A new way for a new day.

ExxonMobil Bets $600 Million on Algae

Partners with genomics pioneer J. Craig Venter

By Katie Howell on July 14, 2009 4

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Credit: Synthetic Genomics, Inc.

Oil giant Exxon Mobil Corp. is making a major jump into renewable energy with a $600 million investment in algae-based biofuels.

Exxon is joining a biotech company, Synthetic Genomics Inc., to research and develop next-generation biofuels produced from sunlight, water and waste carbon dioxide by photosynthetic pond scum.

"The world faces a significant challenge to supply the energy required for economic development and improved standards of living while managing greenhouse gas emissions and the risks of climate change," said Emil Jacobs, vice president of research and development at Exxon Mobil Research and Engineering Co. "It's going to take integrated solutions and the development of all commercially viable energy sources, improved energy efficiency and effective steps to curb emissions. It is also going to include the development of new technology."

Exxon Mobil's collaboration with Synthetic Genomics will last five to six years, Jacobs said, and will involve the creation of a new test facility in San Diego to study algae-growing methods and oil extraction techniques. After that, he said the company could invest billions of dollars more to scale up the technology and bring it to commercial production.

"We're not claiming to know all the answers," said Craig Venter, founder and CEO of Synthetic Genomics, which has so far done early work on algae strains. "There are different approaches to what is truly economically scalable, so we're testing things and giving a new reality to the timelines and expectations of what it takes to have a global impact on fuel supply."

Jacobs and Venter are mum about the specific technology the collaborative effort would employ. They said the team would investigate all options, including growing organisms in open ponds and in closed photobioreactors.

They added that they were likewise uncertain what end-product fuels would result from the collaboration. Other startup companies have announced that they were producing both synthetic crude and biodiesel using photosynthetic algae (Greenwire, April 2.

"As far as products to expect from this program, our intent is to make hydrocarbons that look a lot like today's transportation fuels," Jacobs said. "We want to produce hydrocarbons that look like today's refinery products, that can go into a refinery to be processed along with other petroleum streams and then used in the transportation fleet or even jet fuel. And we think we've got a good chance of doing that."

Exxon Mobil launched the partnership after years of being publicly opposed to investing in renewable energy. Privately, though, Jacobs said the company has been investigating the sector for years.

"It's fair to say that we looked at all the biofuels options," Jacobs said. "Algae ended up on top."

Others in the algae-biofuels industry say Exxon Mobil's investment validates the sector.

"A couple years ago, the petroleum institute said there's only a couple of years left for oil, and now they're really finally acting on that," said Riggs Eckelberry, president and CEO of OriginOil Inc. "Algae is the feedstock to overtake petroleum. It's the real alternative to petroleum."

Environmentalists were more cautious in their appraisal of the Exxon Mobil-Synthetic Genomics plan.

"They've never done anything like this before -- invested real money in the renewables sector," said Kert Davies, research director at Greenpeace. "We've always said [the oil industry] has to be part of the climate change solution. We can't solve anything without companies like Exxon helping."

He added, "I'm guarding my optimism."

Exxon Mobil's timing is noteworthy, Davies said, because of the ongoing energy and climate legislative fight.

"It's interesting timing as the oil companies are struggling to find a place at the table," Davies said.

Renewable fuels standard

While Exxon Mobil's investment marks a sea change in activity in the sector, significant challenges remain in place to achieve wide-scale commercial development.

Next-wave biofuels that could reduce carbon emissions and displace oil imports are politically popular but have not moved into commercial production as fast as supporters would have hoped. Biofuels overall got a boost through a 2007 law that expands the national renewable fuels standard, or RFS, to reach 36 billion gallons by 2022.

But Senate Energy and Natural Resources Chairman Jeff Bingaman (D-N.M.) said the RFS expansion is too restrictive and could freeze out emerging technologies -- including algae-based biofuels. He is calling for changes that would make it more "technology- and feedstock-neutral" to accommodate fuels that could ultimately prove superior in several respects.

"Algae-based fuels are the most obvious example, which, despite having characteristics superior to any renewable fuels in commercial production today, have no home in the RFS," Bingaman said in a column about the standards published in the Politico newspaper.

Senior reporter Ben Geman contributed.

https://www.scientificamerican.com/a...-exxon-venter/

Jan 18, 2017 - 09:00 a.m. EST

Synthetic Genomics and ExxonMobil Renew Algae Biofuels Research Agreement

Renewal continues fundamental research into advanced biofuels
Large team of researchers focused on Synthetic Genomics’ core synthetic biology technologies
Progress continues toward development of algae-based transportation fuels

Dateline:

LA JOLLA, Calif.
Public Company Information:

NYSE:
XOM

LA JOLLA, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Synthetic Genomics, Inc. and ExxonMobil (NYSE: XOM) announced today that they have extended their agreement to conduct joint research into advanced algae biofuels after making significant progress in understanding algae genetics, growth characteristics and increasing oil production.

ExxonMobil and Synthetic Genomics have been jointly researching and developing oil from algae for use as a renewable, lower-emission alternative to traditional transportation fuels since launching the program in 2009. Work continues toward developing strains of algae that demonstrate significantly improved photosynthetic efficiency and oil production through selection and genetic engineering of higher-performance algae strains. The agreement continues to focus on Synthetic Genomics’ core strengths in synthetic biology and builds on recent discoveries of biological pathways regulating lipid production and growth in advanced algal strains.

“Together with ExxonMobil, we have made significant strides to identify and enhance algal strains capable of high oil production while still maintaining desirable rates of growth,” said Oliver Fetzer, Ph.D., chief executive officer of Synthetic Genomics. “The extension of our agreement reflects the tremendous progress made to date, and the promise in using our core synthetic biology technologies to build cell production systems capable of reshaping industries.”

Vijay Swarup, vice president for research and development at ExxonMobil Research and Engineering Company, said that renewal of the agreement underscores the importance of the research and recognition of milestones the team has achieved together over the past few years.

“Synthetic Genomics and ExxonMobil remain committed to advancing the scientific fundamentals of algal biofuels,” Swarup said. “We know this will be a long-term endeavor and are optimistic based on the results we have seen to date.”

The development of algae biofuels and a path toward commercial-scale production remain key components of ExxonMobil’s suite of research projects focused on producing energy to meet global demand while reducing greenhouse gas emissions to mitigate the risk of climate change.

ExxonMobil is engaged in a broad range of research on advanced biofuels, partnering with universities and other companies. The purpose of these research and development programs is to explore new technologies and seek the best pathways toward scalable and cost-effective production of advanced biofuels.

Global demand for transportation fuels is projected to rise by nearly 30 percent through 2040, and accelerating the reduction in emissions from the transportation sector will play a critical role in reducing global greenhouse gas emissions.

Cautionary Statement : Statements of future events or conditions in this release are forward-looking statements. Actual future results, including project plans and timing and the impact of new technologies, could vary depending on the outcome of further research and testing; the development and competitiveness of alternative technologies; the ability to scale pilot projects on a cost-effective basis; political and regulatory developments; and other factors discussed in this release and under the heading “Factors Affecting Future Results” on the Investors page of ExxonMobil’s website at exxonmobil.com.

About ExxonMobil

ExxonMobil, the largest publicly traded international energy company, uses technology and innovation to help meet the world’s growing energy needs. ExxonMobil holds an industry-leading inventory of resources, is among the largest refiners and marketers of petroleum products and its chemical company is one of the largest in the world. For more information, visit www.exxonmobil.com or follow us on Twitter www.twitter.com/exxonmobil.

About Synthetic Genomics

Synthetic Genomics Inc. is a leader in the field of synthetic biology, advancing genomics to better life. Synthetic Genomics applies its intellectual property in this rapidly evolving field to design and build biological systems solving global sustainability challenges. Synthetic Genomics’ core technology enables two connected genome-writing businesses: engineering advantaged cell platforms and printing biological components. The company’s subsidiary, SGI-DNA, is revolutionizing science and medicine by automating next-generation genomic solutions for life sciences. Synthetic Genomics applies its integrated synthetic biology and engineering capabilities to create and commercialize novel solutions and transform existing products. Synthetic Genomics is reinventing bio-based production by improving existing production systems and developing novel, optimized production hosts. The company develops its products and solutions, typically in partnership with leading global organizations, across a variety of industries including sustainable bio-fuels, sustainable crops, nutritional supplements, vaccines, biotherapeutics and transplantable organs. More information is available at www.syntheticgenomics.com.

http://news.exxonmobil.com/press-rel...arch-agreement

The Paris Accord isn't about the environment, it's about solar panels for the Germans, natural gas and future alternative fuels for Exxon, and pre-fixing a market for their products at the expense of other more economical products and markets. Does the environment benefit from these new products? Not necessarily. The environment doesn't benefit any more from natural gas than clean coal when scrubbers are used.

You don't want to reduce the number of products available, you want them all, that is how you maintain the healthy competition that keeps energy affordable. Today, utility energy is not affordable for at least half of the United States. In hot summer and cold winter, half of Americans have to decide whether to pay the utility bill, their rent or mortgage or buy food. Utility costs are way too high due to lack of competition not only at the retail consumer level but within the supply chain itself. What Trump wants to do and is already doing is ramping up that competition, bringing coal back, increasing supplies of oil and natural gas, as well as promoting ethanol and all other forms of alternative energy sources. He wants it all from A to Z, what he calls "all of the above".

Trump is right to withdraw from the Paris Accord. These European countries promoting this the hardest have their own vested interest at heart, their own products they're promoting, using energy "shaming" to get their way. These are socialist gobalists promoting Globalism and Globalization, the people we want to disengage from so we can fix the enormous damage their snake oil attitudes have caused the United States.

But withdrawing from the Paris Accord has nothing to do with our own efforts in our own country to reduce air pollution or clean up contaminated sites and waterways.