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Times of Oman
27-05-2025
- Business
- Times of Oman
What role does your money play in the climate crisis?
Paris: Personal finance is a climate blind spot for many — lagging behind decisions on things like diet, travel or shopping when it comes to individual action. Yet when it comes to lowering a personal carbon footprint, moving to a sustainable pension provider can be 20 times more effective than the combined impact of giving up flying, going vegetarian or switching energy provider, according to analysis from UK campaign group Make My Money Matter. What role do banks have in funding fossil fuels? The world's 60 biggest banks are estimated to have committed $705 billion (€619 billion) to the fossil fuel industry in 2023, and $6.9 trillion since the Paris Agreement was reached in 2015. Much of this is funding expansion plans that fly in the face of science's unequivocal climate warnings. "We all have pots of money that are contributing to this in various ways without our knowledge a lot of the time," said Adam McGibbon, campaign strategist at US-based research and advocacy organisation Oil Change International, adding that it could be in the form of current accounts, pensions or insurance policies that are reinvested into the fossil fuel industry. Yet experts note the difficulty in precisely quantifying personal finance's contribution to fossil fuel funding due to complex financial systems and individual circumstances. This is largely because it is through the corporate rather than retail side of a bank's operations — where individual customers' money is held — that they usually lend money or underwrite bonds for companies developing fossil fuel projects, explained Quentin Aubineau, policy analyst at BankTrack, an international NGO documenting the financial activities of commercial banks. However, McGibbon added that banks are still using our money to grow their business, create more revenue and attract investors. He said our savings might at the very least be "used to inflate the balance sheet of a bank, which will then allow them to service corporate clients" with links to fossil fuels. Is there a link between our cash and rising global temperatures? When it comes to investments, some personal finances go directly into the fossil fuel industry via stocks or bonds, said Carmen Nuzzo, executive director of the Transition Pathway Initiative Centre in the UK, which researches progress made by the financial and corporate world to low-carbon economy. "This includes investment in oil and gas companies, which have been very attractive and profitable in recent years ... as well as investment in other companies that rely heavily on fossil fuel for their production or service provision, such as steel or aviation," said Nuzzo. Many people will also be funding fossil fuels through savings going into pension funds that invest in "brown" companies — those within the highest greenhouse gas and carbon-emitting industries. Pensions are usually held and controlled by either the state, employers or private companies. "You pay into a pension pot, that money is invested on your behalf and some of that may end up being invested in companies that make sure that your retirement will be one where you live in an unstable, difficult world," said McGibbon. Recent studies have estimated that in a world of 4 degrees Celsius (7.2 degrees Fahrenheit) warming, an average person will be 40% poorer and that pension fund returns in the US and Canada could fall up to 50% by 2040, due to the exposure of assets to extreme climate events. Pension funds are among the world's largest investors in fossil fuels, with an estimated $46 trillion plowed into the industry and holding 30% of its shares, according to Climate Safe Pensions, a divestment campaign based in the US and Canada. They were also found to be among the leading funders of fossil fuel expansion across Africa. In 2023, the German investigative platform Correctiv revealed that 10 out of 16 German federal states invested pension funds in fossil fuel activities. What are green finance alternatives? While green banks don't always have the most favorable conditions, among climate-conscious people there is a growing appetite for sustainable financial alternatives, said Katrin Ganswindt, a finance researcher at the German NGO Urgewald. Among the growing pool of green banks are those that pledge to stop lending to fossil fuel companies and invest in climate-friendly activities. Online tools such as have also emerged to help consumers compare the environmental credentials of different banks. But overcoming a lack of financial knowledge is still one of the key challenges, explained Nuzzo. "In the countries where most people have a pension, individuals do not keep track of where their pension assets are being invested .... or they might not review their options regularly." Things such as pensions that invest in the long-term are effective places to make a change, said Ganswindt. "Pension funds have a big effect because they invest large sums." Make My Money Matter estimated that the UK's pension industry could invest €1.2 trillion into renewable energy and climate solutions by 2035. The green pension landscape is, however, evolving. In the Netherlands, pension funds for civil servants and teachers as well as health care workers have divested from fossil fuel companies, and in the UK, large pension schemes are also now required to report their climate risks. What is 'green' and 'sustainable,' and what is 'greenlaundering'? Yet despite growing awareness and green finance options, there is still a lack of standards and regulation in this space, said Franziska Mager, senior researcher at Tax Justice Network, a UK advocacy group working against tax avoidance. "Even if you're banking with a 'green' bank, you might be surprised to find out where your money is invested — if you're able to find out, that is. Let alone what the big players define as sustainable," she said. A recent paper she co-authored on "greenlaundering" in the banking industry said the existence of opaque financial practices — including the use of secrecy jurisdictions, a type of tax haven — obscure the true scale of fossil fuel financing. When it comes to ETFs — a type of investment fund traded on the stock market — you have been able to say it is "green" and it can mean nothing," said Ganswindt. There has, however, been recent progress when it comes to transparency, she added, pointing to new EU guidelines that will regulate which companies are allowed into funds that are labeled green or sustainable. Ultimately, personal finances likely make up a small fraction of the enormous sums of funding fossil fuels — but that is not the point of actions like switching your bank to a greener provider, explained Ganswindt. It's about sending a message. "Certainly, there's some power as customers, but we have way more power as citizens," said McGibbon. "So great to move to a greener bank, great to move to a greener pension scheme. But ultimately, we could have much more power as citizens, changing the way we vote, demanding the politicians regulate the financial sector."
DW
26-05-2025
- Business
- DW
What role does your money play in the climate crisis? – DW – 05/26/2025
What roles do our pensions, investments and banking decisions play in supporting fossil fuel projects? And how green are the sustainable alternatives? Personal finance is a climate blind spot for many — lagging behind decisions on things like diet, travel or shopping when it comes to individual action. Yet when it comes to lowering a person carbon footprint, moving to a sustainable pension provider can be 20 times more effective than the combined impact of giving up flying, going vegetarian or switching energy provider, according to analysis from UK campaign group Make My Money Matter. The role of banking in funding fossil fuels The world's 60 biggest banks are estimated to have committed $705 billion (€619 billion) to the fossil fuel industry in 2023 and $6.9 trillion since the Paris Agreement was reached in 2015. Much of this is funding expansion plans that fly in the face of science's unequivocal climate warnings. "We all have pots of money that are contributing to this in various ways without our knowledge a lot of the time," said Adam McGibbon, campaign strategist at US-based research and advocacy organization Oil Change International, adding that it could be in the form of current accounts, pensions, or insurance policies that are reinvested into the fossil fuel industry. Yet experts note the difficulty in precisely quantifying personal finance's contribution to fossil fuel funding due to complex financial systems and individual circumstances. This is largely because it is through the corporate rather than retail side of a bank's operations — where individual customers' money is held — that they usually lend money or underwrite bonds for companies developing fossil fuel projects, explained Quentin Aubineau, policy analyst at BankTrack, an international NGO documenting the financial activities of commercial banks. However, McGibbon adds that banks are still using our money to grow their business, create more revenue and attract investors. He said our savings might at the very least be "used to inflate the balance sheet of a bank, which will then allow them to service corporate clients" with links to fossil fuels. Is there a link between our cash and rising global temperatures? When it comes to investments some personal finances go directly into the fossil fuel industry via stocks or bonds, said Carmen Nuzzo, executive director of the Transition Pathway Initiative Centre in the UK, which researches progress made by the financial and corporate world to low-carbon economy. "This includes investment in oil and gas companies, which have been very attractive and profitable in recent well as investment in other companies that rely heavily on fossil fuel for their production or service provision, such as steel or aviation," said Nuzzo. Many people will also be funding fossil fuels through savings going into pension funds that invest in 'brown' companies — those within the highest greenhouse gas and carbon-emitting industries. Pensions are usually held and controlled by either the state, employers or private companies. Why does the world keep investing in fossil fuels? To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video "You pay into a pension pot, that money is invested on your behalf and some of that may end up being invested in companies that make sure that your retirement will be one where you live in an unstable, difficult world," said McGibbon. Recent studies have estimated that under 4 degrees Celsius (7.2 degrees Fahrenheit) of warming an average person will be 40% poorer and that pension fund returns in the US and Canada could fall up to 50% by 2040. Due to the exposure of assets to extreme climate events. Pension funds are among the largest investors in fossil fuels in the world, with an estimated $46 trillion ploughed into the industry and holding 30% of its shares, according to Climate Safe Pensions, a US and Canda based divestment campaign. They were also found to be among the leading funders of fossil fuel expansion across Africa. In 2023, the German investigative platform Correctiv revealed that 10 out of 16 German federal states invested pension funds in fossil fuel activities. Green Finance alternatives While green banks don't always have the most favorable conditions, among climate conscious people there is a growing appetite for sustainable financial alternatives, said Katrin Ganswindt, a finance researcher of German NGO Urgewald. Among the growing pool of green banks are those that pledge to stop lending to fossil fuel companies and invest in climate friendly activities. Online tools such as have also emerged to help consumers compare the environmental credentials of different banks. One study predicts that the hotter the world becomes, the harder it will impact personal affluence Image: Noah Berger/AP/dpa/picture alliance But overcoming a lack of financial knowledge is still one of the key challenges, explains Nuzzo. "In the countries where most people have a pension, individuals do not keep track of where their pension assets are being invested.... or they might not review their options regularly." Things such as pensions that invest in the long-term are impactful places to make a change, said Ganswindt. "Pension funds have a big effect because they invest large sums." Make My Money Matter estimated that the country's pension industry could invest 1.2 trillion into renewable energy and climate solutions by 2035. The green pension landscape is, however, evolving. In the Netherlands, pension funds for civil servants and teachers as well as healthcare workers have divested from fossil fuel companies, and in the UK, large pension schemes are also now required to report their climate risks. What is 'green' and 'sustainable', and what is 'greenlaundering'? Yet despite growing awareness and green finance options, there is still a lack of standards and regulation in this space, said Franziska Mager, senior researcher at Tax Justice Network, a UK advocacy group working against tax avoidance. "Even if you're banking with a 'green' bank, you might be surprised to find out where your money is invested — if you're able to find out, that is. Let alone what the big players define as sustainable," she said. A recent paper she co-authored on "greenlaundering" in the banking industry said the existence of opaque financial practices — including the use of secrecy jurisdictions, a type of tax haven — obscure the true scale of fossil fuel financing. There has been a lack of regulation for green finance products, according to some experts Image: Jan Haas/picture alliance When it comes to ETFs — a type of investment fund traded on the stock market — you have been able to say it is "green" and it can mean nothing," said Ganswindt. There has, however, been recent progress when it comes to transparency, she adds, pointing to new EU guidelines that will regulate which companies are allowed into funds that are labeled green or sustainable. Ultimately, personal finances likely make up a small fraction of the enormous sums of funding fossil fuels — but that is not the point of actions like switching your bank to a greener provider, explains Ganswindt. It's about sending a message. "Certainly, there's some power as customers, but we have way more power as citizens," said McGibbon. "So great to move to a greener bank, great to move to a greener pension scheme. But ultimately, we could have much more power as citizens, changing the way we vote, demanding the politicians regulate the financial sector." Edited by: Sarah Steffen
The Guardian
12-05-2025
- Business
- The Guardian
UK windfall tax can fund switch to green jobs for North Sea oil workers
Making permanent the UK's windfall tax on oil and gas producers would generate enough cash to enable North Sea workers to move to green jobs, research has found. Cutting current subsidies to fossil fuel producers would free up yet more funds to spend on the shift to a low-carbon economy, according to the report. About £1.9bn a year will be needed to provide for oil and gas workers to be retrained and to create new infrastructure and green jobs in a 'just transition' away from fossil fuels, according to the campaign group Oil Change International. Of this, about £1.1bn would be needed to help develop the wind industry and create new green jobs; about £440m would be needed to invest in ports to make them capable of constructing and maintaining offshore wind turbines; and £355m would cover a training fund for oil and gas workers. Making permanent the current windfall tax – called the energy profits levy, and imposed on North Sea producers after Russia's invasion of Ukraine hiked oil and gas prices, resulting in an unprecedented bonanza of hundreds of billions in unearned profits for the sector globally – would raise at least £2bn a year, the analysis found. Rosemary Harris, a senior campaigner at Oil Change International (OCI ), said: 'Transitioning to a renewable energy economy is one of the greatest opportunities the UK has to create secure, well-paid jobs for energy workers and build a fairer future. But right now, the government is failing to meet the challenges facing workers and communities. As jobs disappear and the cost of living soars, communities are being left behind. This plays right into the hands of those who wish to weaponise the government's inaction for their own profits, under the guise of caring about workers.' One of Labour's manifesto pledges was to end the issuance of new licences in the North Sea, which has come under fierce attack from the Conservatives and Reform, which argue for continuing to exploit the resources. However, fossil fuel reserves in the North Sea are rapidly dwindling, which will mean a decline in jobs whatever happens. Harris said: 'We need to see the government take the needs of workers seriously, through coordinated, purposeful and, crucially, funded interventions to support them. It should be clear to everyone at this point that we cannot rely on the market and industry bosses to deliver these.' OCI also advocates closing tax loopholes, such as the 'carried interest' provision in capital gains tax. That allows private equity fund managers to pay a much lower rate on their investment tax than they would if they had to pay income tax on it. Closing it would boost revenues by about £490m a year, OCI estimates. Fossil fuel producers are benefitting from £17.5bn a year in UK government assistance, according to the campaign group Global Justice Now (GJN). This is the highest level in nearly a decade and is on course to increase over this parliament. Tax breaks for fossil fuel producers, such as those on extracting oil and gas from the North Sea, and decommissioning oilfields, are worth about £2.7bn a year, according to the report. Nearly £900m a year of investment in carbon capture and storage technology, intended to help meet the UK's goal of net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, is also classed as a subsidy to the fossil fuel industry by GJN. Sign up to Down to Earth The planet's most important stories. Get all the week's environment news - the good, the bad and the essential after newsletter promotion The UK joined the Coalition on Phasing Out Fossil Fuel Incentives last year at the UN Cop29 climate summit in Azerbaijan, and is pledged to phase out 'inefficient' fossil fuel subsidies. However, some of the measures classed as subsidies in the GJN report are in part a response to high fossil fuel prices, and the increased cost of living, which have hurt the UK's poorest households most. These include a reduced rate of VAT on gas and other fuels, worth about £6bn a year, and £4.7bn in fuel duty relief, which is supposed to help drivers in rural areas who would otherwise face higher costs for vehicle fuel. The authors said amending some measures would need to be done carefully to ensure low-income households were not hit. A government spokesperson said: 'We are making the UK a clean energy superpower so we can protect family finances and our national finances. The UK does not give fossil fuel subsidies and supports international efforts on reform. This government has delivered on its manifesto commitment to remove unjustifiably generous investment allowances from the energy profits levy regime, and extended it to 31 March 2030.'
Yahoo
09-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
International coalition quietly delivers billion-dollar results after US bows out: 'The ... initiative has been successful'
The Clean Energy Transition Partnership has helped many countries stem the flow of money to polluting oil and gas projects, according to Oil Change International. The partnership was formed by 39 governments and institutions at the 2021 U.N. Climate Change Conference. The signatories committed to stopping public funds from going to fossil fuel projects. Oil Change International dug into the progress of those members toward that goal. America pulled out of CETP along with the Paris Agreement in President Donald Trump's first term, though it is still on the hook with a similar G7 commitment. Oil Change International found that the European Union, Germany, the Netherlands, Switzerland, and Japan were still spending billions of dollars in public funds on fossil fuel projects. That said, Norway, Australia, Spain, and Sweden have all shown progress on cutting ties. Eleven of the 17 high-income members have existing or new policies that make contributions to the cause. The study showed public funding of fossil fuels has dropped by two-thirds since before the agreement, which works out to $15 billion less each year. Should signatories and the G7 meet their goals, $30.2 billion per year could be siphoned from fossil fuels and put toward renewables. The agreement also encourages investment in renewable energy, but efforts are stuttering. The report said $21.3 billion had gone from the member organizations into clean energy in 2023. This is compared to $26 billion in 2022 and an average of $18.4 billion annually between 2019 and 2021, prior to the CETP. Reducing oil, gas, and coal production is vital to slowing their use and hastening their replacement with sustainable alternatives, which include solar, wind, and hydro. Fossil fuel usage generates the lion's share of pollution, which is exacerbating destructive weather events and heating the world's oceans. Despite political headwinds in the United States, there's reason to be optimistic. "The CETP initiative has been successful in bringing down fossil fuel finance, and it will make even more progress with or without the Trump administration," said Oil Change International strategist Adam McGibbon, per Sustainable Views. Should the government be able to control how we heat our homes? Definitely Only if it saves money I'm not sure No way Click your choice to see results and speak your mind. Join our free newsletter for good news and useful tips, and don't miss this cool list of easy ways to help yourself while helping the planet.
The Guardian
03-04-2025
- Business
- The Guardian
Revealed: Trump's fossil-fuel donors to profit from data-center boom and green rollbacks
Oil and gas barons who donated millions of dollars to the Trump campaign are on the cusp of cashing in on the administration's support for energy-guzzling data centers – and a slew of unprecedented environmental rollbacks. Energy Transfer, the oil and gas transport company behind the Dakota Access Pipeline, has received requests to power 70 new data centers – a 75% rise since Trump took office, according to a new investigation by the advocacy nonprofit Oil Change International (OCI) and the Guardian. The fossil-fuel gold rush threatens to unleash massive amounts of pollution and greenhouse gases while undermining the renewable energy industry. 'Given Energy Transfer's extensive natural gas infrastructure, we continue to believe that we are in the best position to capitalize on the anticipated rise in natural gas demand,' the company told investors in February. The positive shareholder forecast came as Energy Transfer's legal team were in a North Dakota court suing Greenpeace, claiming the environmental group had orchestrated the Standing Rock Indigenous-led protests – in what has been widely condemned as an attack on free speech by advocates and experts. Energy Transfer, among the largest pipeline companies in the US, was the 13th-biggest corporate funder of Trump's Make America Great Again Super Pac last year, according to OpenSecrets, donating $5m, while executive chair Kelcy Warren has been a major Republican donor since 2016. The firm is part of the powerful fracked-gas industry set to use its influence on Trump and the Republican party to make billions in profits from cryptocurrency mining, AI and other data centers – which look likely to proliferate rapidly amid a slew of new incentives and regulatory rollbacks. Data centers may have expanded regardless of last year's election winner, but Trump's victory means a much bigger and faster expansion – and a prioritization of fossil fuel over cleaner types of energy. 'The words that have replaced 'energy transition' are 'AI' and 'data centers',' Mike Sommers, from the powerful lobby group the American Petroleum Institute (API), recently said. 'We're transitioning from the energy transition to the energy reality … we're going to need a lot more oil and gas.' Energy Transfer's first AI deal was announced the day before its investor meeting in February – a long-term agreement with CloudBurst to provide up to 450,000 cubic feet per day of fossil gas to their flagship AI-focused data center development in San Marcos, Texas. Burning this gas for electricity will generate 25,000 metric tons of greenhouse gases per day – the equivalent of 2.4 average US coal plants, according to the EPA greenhouse calculator, or 2.1m cars driven for one year. 'This project represents our first commercial arrangement to supply natural gas directly to a data center site, and it will not be the last,' the company told investors, who reacted favourably to the deal, with Energy Transfer's share price rising 2.1% after it was announced. 'In aggregate, we have now received requests for potential connections to approximately 62 power plants that we do not currently serve in 13 states … In addition, we have now received requests from over 70 prospective data centers in 12 states,' investors were told by executives, outlining how the company is benefiting from the Trump data center and AI boom. Energy Transfer slide shown to investors Earlier this month, a jury with known ties to the fossil-fuel industry found in favor of Energy Transfer and ordered Greenpeace to pay the $65bn oil and gas company $660m in damages – an unprecedented figure that could bankrupt Greenpeace US and chill environmental activism. Greenpeace has said it will appeal. Energy Transfer is not the only fossil-fuel firm ready to benefit from the expected boom in AI and cryptocurrencies. The Guardian/OCI investigation illustrates how the US fracked-gas industry in particular looks set to use its influence on Trump and the GOP to expand operations and make billions in profits from powering data centers – while dumping huge amounts of additional planet-warming gases and other toxins into the atmosphere. The expected gas bonanza comes amid growing climate breakdown, including a slew of deadly and costly disasters in the US in recent months, such as the Los Angeles wildfires and Hurricane Helene in southern Appalachia. More than 150 'unprecedented' climate disasters struck around the world in 2024 – the hottest-ever year on record. The crypto industry was last year's biggest corporate campaign donor for the White House and Congress – and the candidates it backed won big, including Trump. But even before the latest push, US authorities believed that crypto mining was responsible for up to 2.3% of the nation's total electricity demand – roughly equivalent to the state of West Virginia. According to investment bank Goldman Sachs, the data-center-and-AI boom means that US power demand is 'likely to experience growth not seen in a generation'. And this demand for energy, largely fuelled by fracked gas, is set to soar under Trump, who embraced cryptocurrencies during the campaign, posting on his Truth Social platform last summer that Bitcoin mining would 'help us be ENERGY DOMINANT!!!' Trump is now betting big on AI, too, signing several executive orders since taking office to slash regulation. This includes one on his first day to roll back safety-testing rules for AI used by the government, followed by another order three days later revoking existing policies 'that act as barriers to American AI innovation'. Trump also announced private-sector investment of up to $500bn to fund infrastructure for artificial intelligence, aiming to outpace rivals. In recent weeks, Meta, Google, OpenAI and other tech companies have lobbied the Trump administration for more AI tax breaks and incentives, to block state laws and for access to federal data to develop the technology – as well as for easier access to energy sources for their computing demands. Tech companies 'are really emboldened by the Trump administration, and even issues like safety and responsible AI have disappeared completely from their concerns', Laura Caroli, a senior fellow at the Wadhwani AI Center at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a non-profit thinktank, told the New York Times. Rachel Rose Jackson, director of climate research and policy at Corporate Accountability, said: 'This investigation is a harrowing illustration of just how out of touch with reality this government is with the facts of climate science – and highlights the treacherous relationship between big tech and fossil fuels. 'Not only are fossil-fuel corporations literally fueling the ramp-up of AI data centers, but big tech works with fossil-fuel corporations to use AI to discover and extract oil that should never see the light of day.' The gas industry – like the tech and crypto industries – is now set to reap the benefits of the data-center expansion. EQT Corporation, a leading fracked-gas producer and pipeline company and another major Trump donor, recently told investors that data centers are becoming the 'cornerstone of natural gas bull case' – in other words, the cornerstone of fossil gas expansion and shareholder profits. In February, EQT, which is worth $32bn, told investors that the company was ideally placed to take advantage of a forecasted 10-18bn-cubic-feet increase in gas demand from AI, crypto, EVs and other data centers by 2030. This is a huge amount of extra fossil gas, which even at EQT's lower forecast would generate as much carbon dioxide as 52 coal plants or 46.5m passenger cars over a year, according to the EPA calculator. Said EQT: 'We'll see those opportunities across the country – but we'll also see those largely in our backyard as well, especially given the proximity to the data center demand that's taking place.' Slide shown to EQT investors The Mountain Valley pipeline (MVP), a joint venture in which the gas giant is the controlling shareholder and operator, provides 'unique access' to the US south-east region, which is home to 'burgeoning data center demand', investors were also told. The MVP, which stretches 300 miles (482km) from north-western West Virginia to southern Virginia and was pushed through by the Biden administration in 2023 despite court orders and environmental regulators blocking construction, looks set to boost the data-center boom – and EQT profits. 'MVP capacity and long-term sales to the region's largest utilities mean EQT's natural gas can underpin power generation to support data-center build-out,' investors were told. A couple of days after the investor call, CEO Toby Rice told CNBC's influential investor-focused Mad Money TV show, 'we firmly believe that natural gas is going to take the lion's share of power demand to meet this growing AI demand need'. 'We need to unleash American energy,' added Rice, who has been lobbying politicians in Washington about the need to expand American fracked gas. 'Build, baby, build. Thank goodness this administration will let this happen. It could not have happened at a more critical time in the face of this AI boom that is taking place.' There are already almost 5,400 data centers in the US, 70% more than the next 10 largest markets combined, including China. They not only guzzle electricity, but also water. One large data center can consume as much as 5 million gallons of water per day, the equivalent to a town of up to 50,000 people. EQT made a $250,000 donation to the Republican Senate Leadership Fund just days after Biden announced he would pause liquefied natural gas (LNG) export permits in January 2024. The Super Pac's one stated goal is to build a Republican majority that will 'defend America from Chuck Schumer and Senate Democrats' destructive far-left agenda'. EQT boss Rice personally donated more than $100,000 to Republican Pacs and candidates in the last election cycle, according to OpenSecrets. Rice was also among a crew of 20 oil and gas executives at the infamous meeting with Trump at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida last April, in which he asked for donations of $1bn, which included fossil fuel giants ExxonMobil and Chevron and the influential lobby group the API. But the meeting also included smaller but increasingly powerful fracking companies drilling and/or exporting gas, which have revitalized the American fossil energy scene over the last two decades. It was organized by the fracking boss Harold Hamm, who for years has helped craft Republican energy policies. Hamm, who picked cotton barefoot as a child before making billions from fracking, runs Continental Resources, among the US's largest fracked-gas companies. Also in attendance was longtime oil industry ally Doug Burgum, then governor of North Dakota, who was appointed secretary of the interior in Trump's new administration. After the meeting, it was reported by the Washington Post that the oil and gas executives discussed how to try to meet Trump's request for $1bn to help fund his election campaign. In return, Trump promised to roll back environmental regulations, auction off more oil and gas leases on federal lands and waters, reverse pollution standards for new cars, and end drilling restrictions in the Alaskan Arctic, among other vows. The alleged 'quid pro quo' event was later investigated by a group of high-ranking Democratic lawmakers including Sheldon Whitehouse, then the Senate finance committee chair, and Jamie Raskin from the congressional committee on oversight and accountability. 'Such an obvious policies-for-money transaction reeks of cronyism and corruption,' they found. A second fossil-fuel fundraiser for Trump was organised the following month, in May 2024, by Warren of Energy Transfer, Vicki Hollub from Occidental Petroleum, and Hamm, who has been called Trump's energy whisperer. The event, which took place at a luxurious hotel in Houston where guests had to hand over their phones, was sponsored by Trump's Make America Great Again Pac. Hamm's company, Continental Resources, donated $1m to the Maga Super Pac in April last year, the month after Hamm donated $614,000 to the Trump 47 Committee. Many of those present at Trump's fundraising events last April and May already had long-term funding relationships with the Republicans. Continental Resources and Energy Transfer are in the top 20 funders of Maga, according to OpenSecrets. According to one analysis, big oil spent $445m throughout the last election cycle to influence Donald Trump and Congress – including pouring $96m into Trump's re-election campaign and affiliated political action committees. Doug Burgum and Harold Hamm were back at Mar-a-Lago to celebrate Trump's November election victory. Shortly after Trump declared an energy emergency on his first day back in the White House in January, Mike Sommers, head of the API, said: 'American energy was on the ballot and American energy won.' The API spent just over $13m in campaign donations and lobbying during the 2024 election cycle, according to OpenSecrets. Speaking at Davos just days after Trump's inauguration, EQT's Rice said: 'Our lives are going to get easier. Donald Trump is a very welcome change.' The following month, during an Energy Transfer investor call, co-chief executive officer Thomas E Long, said: 'My goodness, how wonderful is life after this election. When we have a president and an administration that love this country, that fully recognizes how blessed we are … and we have a businessman that built his career on trading, doing deals, negotiating, employing, creating numerous jobs throughout all the businesses that he's been associated with. 'What an incredible excitement we have around this administration and what it's going to do to mitigate just overwhelming regulation on all these assets, to streamline regulations.' So far, dozens of environmental regulations have been slashed, either by executive order or EPA rollbacks, including the end to Biden's 2024 pause on LNG exports and new rules for cleaner exhausts from tailpipes – industry requests shared by Hamm with the New York Times last May. This includes plans to roll back 31 key environmental rules – on everything from clean air to clean water and climate change – announced on a single day in March by Trump's EPA administrator, Lee Zeldin, who has been accused of endangering the lives of millions of Americans. Trump's funders and backers are especially going to benefit from Trump's policies to restrict regulations in the AI sector as part of an attempt to outpace China to become the global leader. The US is currently home to just more than half the mega data centers in the world. And with Goldman Sachs suggesting $1tn will be spent on AI data centers in the next few years, a lot is up for grabs. Artificial intelligence and the data centers used to feed the computing power will require huge amounts of energy, with the US government projecting that data-center demand will triple the domestic electricity demand within the next three years. A recent paper by Harvard Law School notes that utilities are now prioritising supplying data centers at the expense of American consumers, who face price rises. Days after the election, it was reported that oil giants ExxonMobil and Chevron were jumping into the race to power AI data centers. Yet the fracking industry, including Energy Transfer and EQT, appear to consider themselves best placed to benefit from Trump's pro-AI-and-data-center growth strategy. When Trump announced last November that Burgum would be the new secretary of the interior and chair of the newly formed National Energy Dominance Council, he said Burgum's work would be key to winning 'the battle for AI superiority, which is key to national security and our nation's prosperity'. At his confirmation hearing, Burgum repeated the same message, claiming that without more fossil fuels, 'we're going to lose the AI arms race to China'. 'In his first term, President Trump unleashed American energy while reducing carbon emissions to historic lows, proving that we can both restore American greatness and advance environmental stewardship. President Trump is committed to replacing unclean foreign energy with the liquid gold under our feet while ridding our environment of dangerous toxins,' said Taylor Rogers, a White House spokesperson. EQT, Energy Transfer, Continental Resources and the API were contacted for comment but did not respond. 'The most absurd part of this whole saga is that everyone who looks at it without a vested interest concludes that if we have to build data centers fast, it makes far, far more sense – economic and environmental – to use renewable energy,' said environmentalist Bill McKibben, founder of the non-profits and Third Act. 'But just as they shamelessly used the war in Ukraine, the gas industry is now using this moment to try and lock in their climate-killing business. And they've purchased enough friends in high places to make it a real possibility.' Andy Rowell is a UK-based investigative reporter and contributing editor to Oil Change International
