A Welcomed Farewell: Solar Crony Leaves Shell (false virtue on display)

“One wonders if Shell, trying to greenwash best it can, is happy to see the climate outliers within its ranks leave. The company should at least inform employees about the moral case for fossil fuels, past, present, and future, as explained by Alex Epstein to his world audience.”

Richard Plant, self-described “sustainability champion … born at 326.42 ppm,” was obviously working at the wrong company–an oil and gas company, Shell. Shell was not the problem–it has rightly pulled back from the bad economics of wind and solar. Tried and failed, just as happened at Exxon. And at BP, no longer “beyond petroleum.”

Plant describes himself as “an experienced procurement professional … [with] over two decades of experience in global supply chain and category management roles, most of which I’ve spent at Shell.” Good enough. But then he describes having:

a passion for sustainability and energy transition…. I’ve also been active in advancing sustainability goals and supplier relationship management on a global scale. Outside of work, I’m involved in a local solar energy community project … and I’m always looking for ways to align procurement with broader organisational goals, especially around sustainability and social value.

Well, are solar panels economical or sustainable, particularly in the UK? What is the “social value” of uneconomic energies that increase prices, reduce reliability, and industrialize the living space?

Resignation Post

Plant’s swan-song post follows:

Calm seas and fair winds… Farewell to Shell!
After 23 years I’ve left Shell following a long deliberation involving reflecting on my values and the current direction of the oil and gas industry.

Navigating politics is a little bit like sailing; one minute you have favourable tides and tailwinds, but then the tide turns and the wind changes direction, and before you know it you’re hitting choppy waters. The horizon shifts, and only those who learn to read the tide – not just ride it – will find their way. Large corporations shouldn’t rely on favourable political winds to steer and support them in the long term. They need to chart their own course and hold tight.

Right! Free market consumerism, not political capitalism! But Plant has things reversed.

Similarly, shareholders can be fickle, persuaded by sociopolitical changes which, although favourable for the O&G industry currently, can quickly change direction if fiduciary, legal or economic pressures force them to. International Oil Companies (IOCs) need longer-term robust strategies that look beyond shorter-term profit driven objectives, beyond the tenure of current CEO’s. Strategies that take accountability of their massive footprints on this planet.

And IOCs have tried and failed with wind and solar since the 1970s, the history of which Plant does not appear to know–or want to know.

IOCs are energy transition leaders, whether they accept it or not. Their decisions on climate policy, CCS, carbon pricing, and renewables shape our future. They have a moral and ethical duty to act responsibly— for shareholders and for the planet.

Really? Since when was the futile, wasteful anti-CO2 crusade moral? Just the opposite. U.S. DOE Secretary Chris Wight has directly challenged and refuted this view of the UK elite and the Deep Ecology Climate Industrial Complex more generally.

Plant is in denial’ as his following points indicate.

So why do the biggest IOCs still bet almost entirely on O&G? I’ve wrestled with this as an employee. Yes, hydrocarbons meet urgent energy needs, especially in emerging markets—but are not the only viable option. The future demands will be met primarily by renewables, and if IOCs won’t lead, others will.

Fallacious. There is not inevitability for wind and solar and other politically correct renewables. Just the opposite.

The wider LNG narrative also troubles me. Many IOCs hinge net-zero claims on LNG displacing coal- yet transparent, auditable supply chains are rarely visible. Will this truly hold up?

This note is a reminder to O&G employees: you have a duty to steer your companies toward sustainable solutions. Don’t just collect a paycheck without asking questions, challenging, and pushing for ethical decisions that won’t jeopardise future generations.

Do your research. Be factual. Be fair. And above all, be courageous—even when your voice is unpopular. One day, you’ll want to look your family in the eye and say, “I acted with integrity.” Too many realise too late the importance of aligning career and values.

It is the skeptics who are doing just this–and now winning about more of 30 years of debate! Let the best energies win. Let CO2 enrichment green the Planet. Let energy freedom ring.

The sanctimonious Richard Plant ends:

I’ve always held a healthy scepticism and ‘reality check’ of working in oil and gas. It’s all to easy to become seduced by the opportunities it presents. Over my 23 years I’ve seen too many colleagues give too much of themselves to their company (often at a cost). It’s a loyalty that may not be reciprocated. I have tried never to become so seduced as to lose the most important parts of myself.

I wish the best of luck to my colleagues who remain on the inside, and hope you find your own way to make a positive impact.

One wonders if Shell, trying to greenwash best it can, is happy to see the climate outliers within its ranks leave. The company should at least inform employees about the moral case for fossil fuels, past, present, and future, as explained by Alex Epstein to his global audience.

With his free time, Richard Plant is invited to read and study the books and positions that contradict his own. The failure of the “energy transition” should encourage a rethink. False appeals to morality are at odds with reality, in this case energy reality.

Comments: Pro

Arjan (“Left Shell to facilitate systems change required to accelerate energy transition“) Keizer commented:

I am convinced that many will reflect in 5-10-20 years and regret what they haven’t done, and have done. Winning the praise from shareholders today is probably less valuable than winning the recognition from your dearest in 20 years… and I’m afraid that many don’t realize that today.

A skunk at the party, hard climate activist Lewis Jenkins, wrote:

On the one hand. This is a considered and thoughtful post. The net zero claims and hydrocarbon criticisms are valid. On the other hand. You spent 23 years taking money from one of the world’s worst polluters in the full knowledge that they were exactly that. IOCs bet on Oil and Gas for the same reason you bet on Shell. Money.

It’s good that your values have come into it now. That you encourage people to not just collect a paycheck that jeopardises future generations. But if you’d have done this yourself 23 years ago it would have had more impact than a LinkedIn post.

Unfortunately now is too late. This feels less like setting sail on a yacht. More like running aground in an oil tanker.

Shell still has some cleaning out to do. Plant defended himself with this comment:

There are many good people inside the company who are trying to make a posititve difference. Oil and gas will be around for a long time whether we like it or not, and it’s better to have voices of change and challenge from within, than it being run by people who don’t care and just drink the kool-aid without ever speaking up. In the end I’d had enough though, and it wasn’t good for my wellbeing. I’ve never subscribed to ‘virtue signaling’, and in fact have a real aversion to that, so I hope my post didn’t come across as such.

Jenkins jumped back in:

Oil and gas will be around as long as those ‘good people’ agree to keep working to keep it around.
The ‘change from within’ argument didn’t work for big tobacco. It didn’t work for social media. It isn’t working in big oil. Why? “It is difficult to get a man to understand something, when his salary depends on his not understanding it.”

But none of us are perfect. All of us use fossil fuels. The subsidies and cronyism are the main problems.
And not your problems any more! So sorry, if I sound a bit cynical. I hope wherever you end up next is positive. Well done for coming out of your Shell with candour. Welcome to the Light Side of the force.
Onward and upward!

Fossil fuels as tobacco? James Hansen, the father of the alarm, gets the last word:

Let’s be clear: the frequent comparison of the fossil fuel and tobacco industries is nonsense. Fossil fuels are a valuable energy source that has done yeomen service for humankind.

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Source: https://www.masterresource.org/shell/farewell-energy-crony-shell/