“When the world stops using oil and gas, we’ll stop looking for it.”

Chevron’s CEO, defiant in a world where the belief is that climate change is caused by the use of fossil fuels, says that humanity needs his products to survive, and its use will increase. Mike Wirth says the world will need oil for a “long, long time,” according to an interview with The New York Times

Wirth also made points which will be unpopular in certain quarters. First among these is that renewable energy is growing much too slowly to offset the need for crude. Because of this, oil “advances human progress.” Without oil, energy would become scarce. 

Wirth’s point is supported by a short-term problem. The largest source of energy in the US is natural gas, at 38%. Crude represents 26%. Coal is still ahead of renewables. And, the future of much of the wind energy is being destroyed by the Trump Administration. The dismantling is so complete that it will set back growth, perhaps for decades.

Renewables Too Slow

One thing that Wirth is counting on with his projection is the rise of data centers, which will require so much electricity that it will take renewables decades to serve at any significant level. 

A large part of the US energy economy is based on global demand. In December, the US produced more oil than any country in the world in any month in history. OPEC+ is producing at near record levels. In short, the demand is indeed there. 

For the clean energy industry, it is hard to hear anything positive about fossil fuels–even if only for a brief period.