By now, you probably have heard about how oil and gas companies are profiting off of global warming.
The reality is that oil and other natural gas are a finite resource, and there are only so many wells we can drill in the US to supply our demand.
As such, it’s critical that we drill and drill and keep drilling to keep the demand growing.
But the process of drilling and drilling has also brought us a host of other risks.
In fact, oil and natural gas have a lot of risks and hazards that should be considered before investing in these resources.
These risks can be avoided by following some of these simple rules when it comes to oil and oil and coal: Don’t drill for free.
Don’t drill on private property.
Do your research first.
And don’t invest in companies that may be profiting from climate change.
A few more things that should worry you about oil and fuel include: Oil companies have a long history of profiting illegally from climate pollution.
Oil companies have repeatedly violated federal environmental regulations by dumping carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, and they’re still making billions off of it.
Over the past few years, oil companies have been using the fossil fuel as an easy way to make money.
According to a 2014 report by the Natural Resources Defense Council, “more than a quarter of all oil and petroleum-related fossil fuel reserves worldwide have been exploited for profits in some way.”
The report found that in the past decade, the United States had more than $1.3 trillion in profits derived from fossil fuel extraction.
Since the start of the shale boom in the 1970s, companies have increased production to fill the void left by the industry’s decline.
In 2014, for example, ExxonMobil extracted more than 1 million barrels of oil from shale deposits in the U.S. The company reported $1 billion in revenue from the drilling.
So what happens to these profits?
According to the Environmental Working Group, “companies have used the money they make from their fracking activities to pay themselves big bonuses and other perks.”
According the report, in 2011, the ExxonMobil board approved the company’s annual bonus package worth $18 million, with the CEO earning $12.5 million, the president receiving $6.5, and the chief financial officer receiving $4.5.
The chief operating officer earned $14.5million.
And the president received $2.5m.
“There’s no limit to how much ExxonMobil can pocket from fracking, which is why the company is not required to disclose its profits to shareholders, which means that we don’t know how much profit the company has made from fracking,” said Tom Stemberger, the executive director of the Natural Resource Defense Council.
If you’ve ever wondered how much money ExxonMobil made off of fracking in 2014 alone, check out this chart: (Source: Greenpeace)