Ukraine war throws lifeline to Big Oil

By Trey Thoelcke Published Mar 10, 10:42AM EST

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Ukraine war throws lifeline to Big Oil — © mmmavocado / Flickr

By Bill Sternberg, Callaway Climate Insights

(Bill Sternberg is a veteran Washington journalist and former editorial page editor of USA Today.)

WASHINGTON, D.C. (Callaway Climate Insights) — Russia’s brutal war on Ukraine has scrambled the climate debate here in ways that were nearly unthinkable just months ago.

Last year, the fossil fuel industry was on the defensive. On his first day in office, President Joe Biden killed the Keystone Pipeline project to carry oil from western Canada to U.S. refineries. Later in 2021, the House of Representatives passed a bill that would have raised more than $100 billion in revenue from fossil fuel interests, restricted drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, increased royalty fees for drilling on federal land, and imposed an escalating charge on methane emissions. The Securities and Exchange Commission began drafting rules to force corporations to disclose carbon emissions and climate risks. Activist investors portrayed the major energy companies as dinosaurs and pressed them to move more quickly toward decarbonization.

What a difference an invasion makes. In the wake of Russia’s attack, Big Oil is making a big comeback. Abiding by the adage that “a crisis is a terrible thing to waste,” industry executives and their congressional allies are using the war to press for pipeline approvals, more drilling rights and greater exports of natural gas. . . .

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About the Author Trey Thoelcke →

Trey has been an editor and author at 24/7 Wall St. for more than a decade, where he has published thousands of articles analyzing corporate earnings, dividend stocks, short interest, insider buying, private equity, and market trends. His comprehensive coverage spans the full spectrum of financial markets, from blue-chip stalwarts to emerging growth companies.

Beyond 24/7 Wall St., Trey has created and edited financial content for Benzinga and AOL's BloggingStocks, contributing additional hundreds of articles to the investment community. He previously oversaw the 24/7 Climate Insights site, managing editorial operations and content strategy, and currently oversees and creates content for My Investing News.

Trey's editorial expertise extends across multiple publishing environments. He served as production editor at Dearborn Financial Publishing and development editor at Kaplan, where he helped shape financial education materials. Earlier in his career, he worked as a writer-producer at SVE. His freelance editing portfolio includes work for prestigious clients such as Sage Publications, Rand McNally, the Institute for Supply Management, the American Library Association, Eggplant Literary Productions, and Spiegel.

Outside of financial journalism, Trey writes fiction and has been an active member of the writing community for years, overseeing a long-running critique group and moderating workshop sessions at regional conventions. He lives with his family in an old house in the Midwest.