Saudi Arabia’s Secret Plan To Keep Us Hooked On Oil

And wait there’s actually something we can do about this maybe? Our friends at Climate Changemakers have put together a playbook on how to advocate for federally funded climate programs in your area (in the U.S.): https://www.climatechangemakers.org/a...

Special thanks to Centre for Climate Reporting (https://climate-reporting.org/) for their fantastic climate journalism, and in particular their undercover work exposing the details of the Oil Demand Sustainability Plan. Read the original investigation here: https://climate-reporting.org/underco... & check out the Saudi OSP slideshow here: https://www.documentcloud.org/documen...

Sources & Citations

Citations reference first appearance, without repeating for subsequent usage:

• Fortune: Saudi Aramco is the most profitable company ever – and closing in on Walmart as the world’s biggest company by revenue (2023)

• Saudi Green Initiative: From Ambition to Action (2022)

• Saudi Green Initiative: Saudi Green Initiative (2022)

• U.N. Climate Change: MENA Climate Week: Opening Ceremony (2023)

• Kingdom of Saudi Arabia: Updated First Nationally Determined Contribution, 2021 Submission to UNFCCC (2021)

• Saudi Aramco: Aramco delivers innovation at COP21 (accessed 2023)

• Centre for Climate Reporting: An undercover investigation by the Centre for Climate Reporting can reveal the hidden truth about a sweeping Saudi state program designed to keep poor countries hooked on fossil fuels. (2023)

• Centre for Climate Reporting: Cheap cars, supersonic jets and floating power plants: Undercover in Saudi Arabia’s secretive program to keep the world burning oil (2023)

• Channel 4 News: Revealed: ExxonMobil’s lobbying war on climate change legislation (2021)

• UNEARTHED: Inside Exxon’s Playbook: How America’s biggest oil company continues to oppose action on climate change (2021)

• BuzzFeed News: This Man Was Deported From Saudi Arabia For Being Too Sexy (2013)

• ExxonMobil: Energy and Environment: Climate change (website, archived 2019, accessed 2023)

• International Energy Agency: The Oil and Gas Industry in Net Zero Transitions (revised version, 2023)

• MotorBiscuit: 63% of Ford F-150 Owners Almost Never Tow Anything (2023)

• Associated Press: Premier League club Newcastle bought by Saudi sovereign fund (2021)

• BBC: Saudi investment fund to buy 10% stake in Heathrow airport (2023)

• United Nations: UN Chief: "We can drastically cut emissions & win the race to net zero" (2023)

• CBC News: The National: Shift away from fossil fuels now or face catastrophic warming by 2100, UN report says

• Sky News: World on 'fast track to climate disaster' as UN urges fossil fuels reduction (2022)

• Bloomberg: The Saudi Prince of Oil Prices Vows to Drill ‘Every Last Molecule’ (2021)

• The Ascent: How Many Cars Are in the U.S.? Car Ownership Statistics 2022 (2022)

• DW: German car industry raises African ambitions (2021)

• New York Times: British and French to Halt Concorde Flights (2003)

• BBC: Concorde: A Supersonic Story (2017)

• Saudi Green Initiative: Greening Saudi Arabia (2022)

• The World Bank: Report: Universal Access to Sustainable Energy Will Remain Elusive Without Addressing Inequalities (2021)

• Forbes: What Is Heavy Fuel Oil, And Why Is It So Controversial? Five Killer Facts. (2020)

• International Journal of Toxicology: The Toxicological Effects of Heavy Fuel Oil Category Substances (2014)

• National Library of Medicine: Particulate Matter from Both Heavy Fuel Oil and Diesel Fuel Shipping Emissions Show Strong Biological Effects on Human Lung Cells at Realistic and Comparable In Vitro Exposure Conditions (2015)

• Reuters: UN adopts ban on heavy fuel oil use by ships in Arctic (2021)

• International Maritime Organization: IMO 2020 – cleaner shipping for cleaner air (2019)

• International Maritime Organization: IMO 2020 sulphur limit implementation – carriage ban enters into force (2020)

• European Commission: New shipping fuel standards to reduce sulphur oxides in the Mediterranean by 80% (2022)

• Middle East Institute: Small-scale LNG as a solution for Saudi Arabia’s environmental and fuel supply problems (2023)

• The Washington Post: Global carbon dioxide emissions hit new highs last year, says IEA report (2023)

• The New York Times: Global Fossil Fuel Emissions Are Rising, Report Finds (2023)

• Centre for Climate Reporting: COP28 president secretly used climate summit role to push oil trade with foreign government officials (2023)

• BBC News: COP28: UAE planned to use climate talks to make oil deals (2023)

• France24: Biden Administration greenlights controversial Willow oil project in Alaska (2023)

• Reuters: Biden admin greenlights LNG exports from Alaska project (2023)

• Reuters: China issues plan to hit carbon emission peak before 2030 (2021)

• The New York Times: The World Is Falling Short of Its Climate Goals. Four Big Emitters Show Why. (2022)

• NPR/WYNC: China is building six times more new coal plants that other countries, report finds (2023)

Episode Credits

Creator/Host: Rollie Williams

Writers: Rollie Williams & Matt Nelsen

Director: Matt Nelsen

Editors: Rollie Williams & Laura Conte

Executive Producers: Rollie Williams, Matt Nelsen, Ben Boult, & Daniella Philipson

Cinematography: Ben Boult

Producer: Daniella Philipson

Assistant Editor: Paul Ramsdell

Colorist: Nicholas Lareau

Intro Animator: Ian MK Cessna (https://ianhasawebsite.com/) 

Theme music by: Gratis (https://www.youtube.com/@gratis3241)

Special thanks: Andrew Dessler, Zeke Hausfather, & Amy Westervelt

Special thanks to the Civil Liberties Defense Center (https://cldc.org/) for their continued support.

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