Is a green recovery within the oil and gas industry a contradiction in terms? Can these fossil fuel firms meaningfully decarbonize their businesses, while creating new jobs in a struggling economy and volatile energy market? We discuss with a panel of experts, including oil and gas giant BP, in this episode of Political Climate.

The oil and gas industry was hit hard by COVID-19, but business was already rocky ahead of the pandemic. Oil and gas companies were under mounting societal pressure to transition away from fossil fuel production and toward clean energy technologies.

Now, as countries seek to stabilize their economies and investors look for environmentally friendly growth opportunities, it’s an open question as to what role oil and gas companies will play in building new, low-carbon lines of business. 

This discussion was originally recorded in late July for a live event hosted by the Atlantic Council and the Center for Houston’s Future, featuring the following speakers:

• Cindy Yeilding, senior vice president at BP America
• Gavin Dillingham, clean energy policy program director at Houston Advanced Research Center
• Alex Dewar, senior director at the Boston Consulting Group’s Center for Energy Impact
• RJ Johnston, managing director for energy, climate, and resources at the Eurasia group

Recommended reading:

• Atlantic Council: Public sector investment opportunities for a green stimulus in oil and gas
• GTM: BP Aims to Build 50GW of Renewables by 2030, Cut Fossil Fuel Output by 40%
• CNBC: BP reports second-quarter loss after major write downs, halves dividend
• Political Climate: What the Oil Price War Means for Cleantech

Political Climate is produced in partnership with the USC Schwarzenegger Institute. Listen and subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, Google Play or wherever you get podcasts!

This episode is brought to you with support from Lyft. Lyft is leading the transition to zero emissions vehicles with a commitment to achieve 100% electric vehicles on the Lyft platform by 2030. Learn more at lyftimpact.com/electric.