Houston Chronicle, TX
04-10-07
ConocoPhillips joins emissions push
Company backs mandatory actions, but critics say oil giant is still behind
By KRISTEN HAYS
Copyright 2007 Houston Chronicle
ConocoPhillips, the world's fifth-largest oil company, is joining a call for
mandatory federal reductions of greenhouse gas emissions, CEO James Mulva
said Tuesday.
In discussing the Houston-based oil company's climate-change policy, which will
be unveiled today, Mulva told reporters Tuesday that ConocoPhillips has joined a
coalition of corporations and environmental groups to push for what he called a
"mandatory framework to address the challenge of climate change."
"Voluntary programs have worked reasonably well, but voluntary programs are
not going to meet the challenge of climate change," Mulva said. "The longer we
wait, it won't be mitigation — it'll be adaptation."
In February, an international panel of hundreds of scientists said new research
showed global warming was "unequivocal." The Intergovernmental Panel on
Climate Change also said human activity was primarily responsible for
greenhouse gases, the most significant factor in temperature change.
"The science has become quite compelling over the last number of years," Mulva
said Tuesday. "We want to be part of the solution and do it in a way that's open
and in the right way so as to not create winners and losers."
The United States Climate Action Partnership, or USCAP, is a coalition of 10
corporations — 11 with ConocoPhillips — and four nonprofit environmental
organizations.
The companies include the U.S. division of one other oil major, London-based
BP, as well as General Electric, DuPont, Alcoa and Caterpillar.
The environmental groups include the Pew Center on Global Climate Change
and the Natural Resources Defense Council.
In January, the partnership announced that it wants Congress to mandate certain
levels of emissions reductions within five, 10 and 15 years, with a target of
cutting emissions by 60 percent to 80 percent by 2050.
Mulva said the partnership's proposal "may be somewhat aggressive, but that's a
good start."
Compared to peers
Among the world's five largest oil majors, ConocoPhillips hasn't launched
initiatives into alternative fuels like three of its larger peers.
BP, San Ramon, Calif.-based Chevron Corp. and The Hague-based Royal Dutch
Shell all have divisions focused on alternatives, from solar and wind energy to
biodiesel and hydrogen fuel cells. All three are putting hundreds of millions to
billions of dollars into renewables and alternative fuels.
But the largest of them all, Exxon Mobil Corp., isn't pouring money into
renewables, saying they aren't currently viable without subsidies. Exxon Mobil
has had solar and nuclear initiatives in the past that proved unprofitable.
ConocoPhillips hasn't created renewable fuel divisions either, opting instead to
focus on research and development of technologies for "economically viable"
renewables, according to the company's 2007 proxy statement.
Mulva said Tuesday that ConocoPhillips has doubled research spending on
alternatives to $150 million and methods of capturing carbon dioxide emissions
to $150 million.
However, he included unconventional fossil fuels in the alternatives category —
tarlike oil extracted from Canada's oil sands and oil shale.
The company also announced Tuesday that it will establish an eight-year, $22.5
million research program at Iowa State University to develop technologies to
produce biorenewable fuels.
Other oil majors also have funded similar research initiatives at universities.
'Could be doing a lot more'
"They could be doing a lot more," said Shelley Alpern, director of social research
and advocacy for pro-environment investment firm Trillium Asset Management, a
ConocoPhillips investor.
Trillium is among investment firms, pension funds and other investors that in
February formed a "Climate Watch" list of companies identified as lagging behind
their industry peers regarding climate change. ConocoPhillips and Exxon Mobil
are on the list.
"It seems like they are ignoring zero-carbon technologies," Alpern said. "These
steps strike me as being behind the curve. In this respect, BP, Shell and Chevron
are just poised to take over the market by the time ConocoPhillips gets in the
market."
At its May 9 annual shareholders meeting, ConocoPhillips directors will consider
a shareholder proposal — presented by Trillium and others — asking the board
to prepare a report on its response to rising competitive and regulatory pressure
to "significantly develop renewable energy sources."
Management has recommended that the board reject the proposal, saying the
company is already open about its research investments and climate change
initiatives.
Mulva said Tuesday that he expected a discussion of climate change at the
meeting.
He also said ConocoPhillips expects more announcements on its climate-change
policy "in the next month or two."
"We're going to be quite proactive on climate change," he said.
kristen.hays@chron.com