# Do big oil CEOs feel like gods ? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [November 27, 2015, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-big-oil-ceos-feel-like-gods/738716 "2015-11-27T16:58:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![GIGObuster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gigobuster/32/421_2.png) [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2015, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-big-oil-ceos-feel-like-gods/738716/21 "2015-11-28T00:03:46Z")
I ran out of edit time, I wanted to add that I just heard on NPR that the Republicans are making noises that they are willing to shut down the government if there is a deal in Paris to help undeveloped nations to deal with the issue. The willingness to [del]massacre the peasants[/del] not do anything to deal with the issue is still there and their guardians (the fossil fuel industry) needs more than just the Shell CEO to tell their congress critters to stuff it and to stop apologizing to them. ---
**Author:** ![MrQwertyasd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9d8465/32.png) [@MrQwertyasd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrQwertyasd)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2015, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-big-oil-ceos-feel-like-gods/738716/22 "2015-11-28T00:34:01Z")
> [@GIGObuster](#): > > I ran out of edit time, > > I wanted to add that I just heard on NPR that the Republicans are making noises that they are willing to shut down the government if there is a deal in Paris to help undeveloped nations to deal with the issue. The willingness to [del]massacre the peasants[/del] not do anything to deal with the issue is still there and their guardians (the fossil fuel industry) needs more than just the Shell CEO to tell their congress critters to stuff it and to stop apologizing to them. I don’t see there’s much van Beurden could do but resign. I would guess that you don’t get the job if you look like you’re squeamish. What would happen if he resigned saying it was just a filthy business he didn’t want to be responsible for ? It would be mega publicity, but he would be looking under his car every time he got in it for the rest of his life wouldn’t he ? OK no, that would be too obvious. Still, wouldn’t go down well. ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2015, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-big-oil-ceos-feel-like-gods/738716/23 "2015-11-28T00:52:51Z")
Dick “Zeus” Cheney comes to mind. ---
**Author:** ![GIGObuster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gigobuster/32/421_2.png) [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2015, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-big-oil-ceos-feel-like-gods/738716/24 "2015-11-28T01:17:37Z")
> [@MrQwertyasd](#): > > I don’t see there’s much van Beurden could do but resign. I think you are missing the point; even with all the accusations launched at proponents of change like myself, we are not communists nor fascists, in reality most of the serious proponents of change do know that industry will be a part of than change. It may be needed to go all RICO on the butts of just the fossil fuel industry but history shows that with pressure from both government **and members of the industry** is that change also does happen in the USA. ---
**Author:** ![Stringbean](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d6d6ee/32.png) [@Stringbean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stringbean)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2015, 2:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-big-oil-ceos-feel-like-gods/738716/25 "2015-11-28T02:16:57Z")
Pay triple the price for green energy and be the change you want to see. ---
**Author:** ![pool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pool/32/4152_2.png) [@pool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pool)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2015, 3:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-big-oil-ceos-feel-like-gods/738716/26 "2015-11-28T03:47:04Z")
A friend of mine’s father owned a smaller oil company in California many moons ago and he met Dick Cheney years before he was Vice President. He said when shaking his hand how Cheney had this crazy intensity or presence in his eyes, almost like looking him in the eyes and shaking his hands he felt like there was electricity in the air. Of course maybe it was just a pacemaker in Cheney’s chest or something. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![XT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xt/32/456_2.png) [@XT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/XT)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2015, 3:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-big-oil-ceos-feel-like-gods/738716/27 "2015-11-28T03:50:19Z")
[QUOTE=GIGObuster] Like if on many occasions I did not reported that the change will not be instant. [/QUOTE] No, I think you do know this. Sorry, I was really using your post to respond to the OP. Didn’t mean to imply that you were in the same boat. > [@](#): > > Not my point but the OP, and I did sigh at his OP, it really was too much. Yeah, my bad there. > [@](#): > > This is also confuses me as many times I said that the issue is emissions, IMHO once all the fossil fuel companies comply and press their congress critters to allow regulations, the regulations then will come and we will find that a lot of the technology that was not economical before as there was no incentive to use them will be, as there will be a price for emissions then. I think so as well. But it won’t be instant. As I’ve said many times, we need a market solution to this issue. A market solution with the government writing sane legislation and regulation and the various industries buying in, in conjunction with the populace in the various nations. Even with all of that it’s going to take time as this is going to be a major paradigm shift from what we’ve been doing for over a century now, and right now the tech just isn’t there wrt the cost and performance envelop. With market forces driving it, however, I think it will be, as demand will certainly drive companies to supply. > [@](#): > > As mentioned I do think so, just like a Rockefeller Jr. changed course and after his company used to massacre workers he followed advice from William Lyon Mackenzie King and gave more freedoms to them. > > Not at that level, but I do think that many of the fossil fuel companies need a “going to meet with the miner’s” moment and tell their congress critters to change course and support emissions controls and taxes. This is probably where we differ the most. You see it as analogous to the tobacco industry, but myself I don’t see that. I don’t think that the Big Oil™ companies are really the problem. Oh, they have certainly done similar things by trying to shift the public perceptions on AGW and muddy the waters wrt the science…no doubt of that at all…but in the end we’d still be here, IMHO, though with more of the real costs being shown in the market there would be more and more drivers for alternatives. However, even with the much greater costs in Europe we aren’t seeing those drivers or forces yet bring viable alternatives, so I have my doubts that those greater costs on Americans would magically show results. This isn’t to say we shouldn’t do it anyway, since I think we are both in agreement we should. To me, the biggest problem today is the lower cost of oil is impacting the market in what I think is a short term negative way wrt a shift to alternatives, and I would like to see (much as this would have a short or even medium term impact on the economy and on peoples pocketbooks) the government stepping in to increase taxes on fossil fuels (and using that money on encouraging VARIOUS alternatives, not just the pet ones of this or that faction in the government). Anyway, sorry about using your post to address the OP…blame it on the massive amounts of turkey and carbs I ingested yesterday or my increasing old age. Both are probably true. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![PastTense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pasttense/32/14550_2.png) [@PastTense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastTense)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2015, 6:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-big-oil-ceos-feel-like-gods/738716/28 "2015-11-28T06:09:36Z")
In the United States and most other countries there is a basic split: some functions are the responsibility of private industry and other functions are the responsibility of the government. Dealing with climate change is the responsibility of government and it has numerous tools to do so: regulations, subsidies, taxes, etc. The problem is that it (more so but not totally the Republicans) has decided to do very little. ---
**Author:** ![MrQwertyasd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9d8465/32.png) [@MrQwertyasd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrQwertyasd)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2015, 10:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-big-oil-ceos-feel-like-gods/738716/29 "2015-11-28T10:55:40Z")
Dunno what all this stuff about markets fixing the problem is. It’s already too late in many ways. eg Miami. They bought into the market for CO2 and it just doomed them. I guess what you mean is that markets will work for those that either have money and an education, and a lucky place on the map, which is fine for middle class Americans and Europeans. If I asked which people are 1. already hurt by climate change and 2. which are imminently about to have their lives changed for the worse - would you be able to point to them on a map or name them ? I’d struggle with that myself, but I’d finger Bangladesh first I think. And, actually, my own spot on the map. Miami too. ---
**Author:** ![MrQwertyasd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9d8465/32.png) [@MrQwertyasd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrQwertyasd)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2015, 10:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-big-oil-ceos-feel-like-gods/738716/30 "2015-11-28T10:57:53Z")
:D…but anyway - like gods, licking their finger and rubbing it on the map - “hahaha, see I rub you out, ant people!” ---
**Author:** ![nicky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/f0a364/32.png) [@nicky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nicky)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2015, 11:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-big-oil-ceos-feel-like-gods/738716/31 "2015-11-28T11:16:38Z")
Why blame the oil companies? They are just meeting demand. ---
**Author:** ![GIGObuster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gigobuster/32/421_2.png) [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2015, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-big-oil-ceos-feel-like-gods/738716/32 "2015-11-28T16:35:23Z")
> [@nicky](#): > > Why blame the oil companies? They are just meeting demand. Well, one should look at the past to see why this is not a good excuse. Decades ago there was the issue of phosphates from detergents making algae grow in rivers and lakes killing fish and polluting. Sure, the detergent companies were meeting demand for washing machines and other industrial uses. But no one was or is demanding that we should pollute our rivers or lakes in exchange. The solution was to put regulations and the industry then did find ways to limit the use of the phosphates **and still they delivered the product** and most rivers and lakes nowadays are not polluted as before and with no poisonous algae. > **[Phosphorus and Water | U.S. Geological Survey](https://www.usgs.gov/special-topics/water-science-school/science/phosphorus-and-water)** > > Nutrients, such as nitrogen and phosphorus, are essential for plant and animal growth and nourishment, but the overabundance of certain nutrients in water can cause a number of adverse health and ecological effects. (Currently the issue is popping again, this time from agriculture that is clearly overusing fertilizers with phosphates and nitrogen) We will continue to demand products that come from oil and even fuel for vehicles, the thing what we are demanding is clear, we need to stop dumping the emissions into the atmosphere. Regulations and taxes then are needed to induce the industry to find ways to prevent or limit the emissions, just like it was done with many other issues. Once the price of dumping CO2 and other gases into the atmosphere is accounted for you bet the industry will find ways to meet the demand anyhow just like phosphates can be controlled and still we keep our clean clothes. So the demand issue is not the problem, is the emissions; but to this item we have to add that the fossil fuel industry hired virtually the same FUD producers that the Tobacco companies used. Instead of facing restrictions these companies have resorted to fund doubt and that is also a factor in pointing out how silly these points are about the excuses to avoid blame or to point at demand alone. ---
**Author:** ![MrQwertyasd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9d8465/32.png) [@MrQwertyasd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrQwertyasd)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2015, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-big-oil-ceos-feel-like-gods/738716/33 "2015-11-28T16:56:13Z")
fargle ---
**Author:** ![GIGObuster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gigobuster/32/421_2.png) [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2015, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-big-oil-ceos-feel-like-gods/738716/34 "2015-11-28T17:00:37Z")
> [@MrQwertyasd](#): > > Dunno what all this stuff about markets fixing the problem is. It’s already too late in many ways. eg Miami. They bought into the market for CO2 and it just doomed them. :sigh: Tell me something I did not know already, but this unfortunately also implies that “it is too late”, many experts I have checked report that while it is too late now to avoid some changes the point remains, the reason why we need to act is to prevent worse scenarios from taking place. And history shows that we can deal with issues that are caused by our technology and progress. > [@MrQwertyasd](#): > > If I asked which people are > > 1. already hurt by climate change and > 2. which are imminently about to have their lives changed for the worse > > - would you be able to point to them on a map or name them ? This was already pointed before: > **[Syria's climate-fueled conflict, in one stunning comic strip](https://grist.org/climate-energy/syrias-climate-fueled-conflict-in-one-stunning-comic-strip/)** > > How climate change helped spark a bloody civil war. [http://www.unilad.co.uk/articles/this-cartoon-succinctly-explains-the-background-to-the-syrian-conflict/](http://www.unilad.co.uk/articles/this-cartoon-succinctly-explains-the-background-to-the-syrian-conflict/) > [@](#): > > The shocking photograph of Aylan Kurdi lying dead on a Turkey beach made many wake up to the horrifying reality of the crisis but, although most of us now know that millions of people have been displaced from their homes in the nation to escape civil war and persecution, there are many who may not actually understand what is happening over in Syria. > > That’s why this helpful cartoon has been produced in an attempt to try and help people understand the situation in the country and how and why it has happened and escalated to such an extent. > > And the major information about climate change, politics and the instability of the region all imply that the events in Syria and across Europe are part of a larger story which affects us all. ---
**Author:** ![MrQwertyasd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9d8465/32.png) [@MrQwertyasd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrQwertyasd)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2015, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-big-oil-ceos-feel-like-gods/738716/35 "2015-11-28T17:10:24Z")
fargle = I can’t find a delete button. is there one ? Cool cartoon. (it doesn’t mention the possible covert action by non Syrians though) > **[Water and the Roots of Violent Conflict in Syria](https://www.huffpost.com/entry/water-and-the-roots-of-vi_b_3884175)** > > I am often asked these days about whether I think that the decade-long drought in Syria has played any role in the violent conflict there. My answer is always the same: absolutely. ---
**Author:** ![MrQwertyasd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9d8465/32.png) [@MrQwertyasd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrQwertyasd)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2015, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-big-oil-ceos-feel-like-gods/738716/36 "2015-11-28T17:21:07Z")
so Syria - damming of rivers outside Syrian borders, Turkey and Iran - depletion of aquifers - urban overcrowding - poor government management of resources - internal religious factionalism - brutal relationship with citizens - interference by outside actors - geopolitical pressures, pipeline politics, grand religious blocs - successful completion of war = burning of gas = greater environmental pressure - negative feedback ---
**Author:** ![MrQwertyasd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9d8465/32.png) [@MrQwertyasd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrQwertyasd)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2015, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-big-oil-ceos-feel-like-gods/738716/37 "2015-11-28T17:26:27Z")
more toons > **[Raghead The Fiendly Neighbourhood Terrorist](https://ragheadthefiendlyterrorist.wordpress.com/)** > > Hi, I’m Raghead E Villdoer, your honest, hardworking, murderous fiendly neighbourhood terrorist. Death to everybody. ---
**Author:** ![GIGObuster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gigobuster/32/421_2.png) [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2015, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-big-oil-ceos-feel-like-gods/738716/38 "2015-11-28T18:18:34Z")
Besides self tread shitting, do you have something better than Google vomited cartoons\* and conspiracy theories? Almost nothing to do with the issue of Big Oil CEOs and responsibility about the current climate change. - I have to notice that I always wondered where the bad cartoonists of the spam fax era did go, now we know… ---
**Author:** ![MrQwertyasd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9d8465/32.png) [@MrQwertyasd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrQwertyasd)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2015, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-big-oil-ceos-feel-like-gods/738716/39 "2015-11-28T18:36:23Z")
> [@GIGObuster](#): > > Besides self tread shitting, do you have something better than Google vomited cartoons\* and conspiracy theories? > > Almost nothing to do with the issue of Big Oil CEOs and responsibility about the current climate change. > > - I have to notice that I always wondered where the bad cartoonists of the spam fax era did go, now we know… Oh stop moaning, what are you talking about conspiracy theories ? Everyone knows Syria was pushed as much as it fell. ---
**Author:** ![GIGObuster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gigobuster/32/421_2.png) [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2015, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-big-oil-ceos-feel-like-gods/738716/40 "2015-11-28T19:03:17Z")
> [@MrQwertyasd](#): > > Oh stop moaning, I’m not moaning. I find you only confusing and silly. > [@MrQwertyasd](#): > > what are you talking about conspiracy theories ? Everyone knows Syria was pushed as much as it fell. It is more a parody what you linked to, but is riffing though on the idea that Hollywood is manipulating what we are seeing coming from Syria, Iraq, etc. The issue here is that you need to point specifically to what is your idea, not to think that a vomit (and really that is not a cartoonist) is a good point. And again: this has virtually nothing to do with the issue of the OP. Indeed, your latest posts are just a fargle. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-big-oil-ceos-feel-like-gods/738716.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-big-oil-ceos-feel-like-gods/738716.md?page=3)