Bill McKibben writes in the Washington Post that trying to engage the fossil fuel industry is a “fool’s errand”.
He points to recent comments by Rex Tillerson, citing them as proof that is it makes no sense talking to the enemy.
In contrast, my Phaseout Profit Theory is pointing out that having caps on oil sales is in the interest of oil companies.
If true, the rational thing for Exxon would be to fire Tillerson and join Bill McKibben’s 350.org campaign.
That in turn would strongly speed up enacting climate legislation.
To have that happen, two conditions need to be true.
For one, Phaseout Profit Theory needs to be correct in the first place. I may be wrong, but I still have to hear a convincing argument against it.
And in the second place, someone needs to explain this to the fossil fuel companies. That means engaging them.
It may be a fool’s errand, but the potential payoff is rather huge.
