Ben van Beurden, Shell CEO

“The potentially devastating impact of climate change, if unchecked, is a concern for all of us.”

Edison Electric Institute

“Global climate change presents one of the biggest energy and environmental policy challenges this country has ever faced.”

Darren Woods, ExxonMobil CEO

“Climate risks warrant action and it’s going to take all of us – business, governments and consumers – to make meaningful progress.”

Energy Companies & Climate Change

Utilities are making investments and operational improvements to protect their energy infrastructure from increasingly disruptive climate conditions. Extreme weather affects energy production and deliveries, such as when large storms shutdown refineries or power.

Power utilities across the country, from Minnesota to Georgia, are also increasingly investing in clean power and committing to steep carbon pollution cuts. The world’s largest oil companies are also investing in clean energy, incorporating climate risks into their investment decisions and advocating for climate policies. 

An analysis of 28 years of power outage data shows extreme weather events are causing more major U.S. power outages. 

Source: Climate Central

Fast Facts

%

of U.S. electricity is carbon free

U.S. power utilities have zero emissions goals

%

less carbon pollution from U.S. power plants since 2005

Heard Around the Country

How are climate & weather different?

Climate means the long term behavior of weather. Weather is local and short-term; climate describes the average weather for a region at a given time of year based on historical patterns. Climate change means the average temperature and precipitation is not following those old patterns.

Where is there scientific agreement?

The world’s leading scientific organizations, including MIT and NASA, agree that human-caused climate change is happening and just a few more degrees of warming will increase the risk of intense storms, sea level rise and other extreme weather events.

How much warming has happened?

People have caused about 1.5ºF of unnatural warming by putting greenhouse gases into the air since 1889. While it may not sound like much, the extra warming has been linked to some natural disasters such as wildfires in the U.S. and drought in the Mediterranean.

Visualizing Climate Change

Sources and Citations

  1. McKinsey & Company. Why, and how, utilities should start to manage climate-change risks. www.mckinsey.com/industries/electric-power-and-natural-gas/our-insights/why-and-how-utilities-should-start-to-manage-climate-change-risk
  2. Edison Electric Institute. Climate. www.eei.org/issuesandpolicy/environment/climate
  3. Xcel Energy. Building a Carbon-Free Future Our bold vision for 2030 and 2050. www.xcelenergy.com/Environment/Carbon_Reduction_Plan 
  4. Southern Company. Climate. www.southerncompany.com/corporate-responsibility/environment/air-and-climate.html
  5. ExxonMobil. Climate change. http://www.corporate.exxonmobil.com/energy-and-environment/environmental-protection/climate-change

Media

  1. Top Photo: Senior Airman Kyle Gese, U.S. Air Force.
  2. Bottom Photo: Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class Martin Cuaron, U.S. Navy.
  3. Climate Central. Weather-Related Blackouts Doubled Since 2003: Reportwww.climatecentral.org/news/weather-related-blackouts-doubled-since-2003-report-17281
  4. Video: Vox Media. New York is building a wall to hold back the ocean.