Fossil Fuel Frenzy

Fossil fuels (gas, oil and coal) are major causes of 'greenhouse gas' emissions. There is an urgent need to wind them down, if global heating is to be limited. The rocketing profits of the major petrochemical companies, however, make this appear less and less likely. After Shell's bonanza, BP's profits reached an 8 year high of $12.8bn in 2021. Soaring gas and oil prices, accounted for these extraordinary figures. The damage produced by climate change and the economic pressures loaded onto consumers (especially those already impoverished), are both very costly. In spite of this, none of the big petrochemical companies seem to think that subjecting them to a 'windfall tax' would be at all equitable. They wail instead about the 'poor' shareholder and the 'stretched' pension funds. Polluters should pay or nothing will change.