Did Big Oil Conspire to Kneecap the EV Industry? Michigan, home of America’s auto industry, could have been a thriving hub for EVs if four major oil companies and the API hadn’t conspired against it for decades, argues a new lawsuit. “one of the most successful antitrust conspiracies in US history.”
Source: mafco
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>How Oil Companies Stifled Their Competition
>Michigan’s case argues that renewable energy and transportation markets have failed to evolve “not because clean alternatives are not viable, but because defendants have suppressed the conditions for their otherwise-inevitable deployment and adoption.”
>Oil companies purchased solar and electric vehicle patents to ensure others couldn’t use them, solicited control of renewable markets and then abandoned them, and funded powerful institutions to promote false solutions, all while using trade groups to downplay the harms of fossil fuels, according to the complaint.
>The alleged conspiracy began after 1979, when Exxon’s internal research concluded that renewable energy would need to account for at least 50 percent of the energy supplied worldwide by 2010 in order to maintain planetary warming at “a relatively safe level.” Instead of competing to develop clean energy technologies, the companies coordinated to thwart them under the “CO2 and Climate Task Force,” a group established by the American Petroleum Institute, Michigan alleges.
>The task force was used to share information among the companies, which began what Michigan’s complaint calls a “capture-and-kill” strategy of buying up solar and electric vehicle patents and then allowing them to lapse.
>Exxon, for example, obtained key patents for developing public charging stations for electric vehicles — but never used them. After developing the first hybrid vehicle prototype, the oil giant abandoned its cutting-edge electric vehicle (EV) and solar technology research and ventures in the early 1980s. The other defendants similarly retreated in concert from their electric vehicle and solar innovations and used patent litigation against their rivals to “deter new market entrants” from deploying the technology.
>The companies went on to run advertising and lobbying campaigns attacking EVs and falsely promoted themselves as leading the energy transition while instead pushing for technologies they knew would continue to bolster fossil fuels, other reports suggest.
>.Michigan’s lawsuit is also the first to include a reference to an elaborate hack-for-hire ring that targeted climate activists as part of the alleged conspiracy. The hacking scheme has been linked to DCI Group, ExxonMobil’s longtime lobbying group, and is under investigation by federal prosecutors.
The scope and depth of this conspiracy go way beyond what we even suspected.
This should be interesting.
I heard a podcast a while ago where big oil had been a champion for developing renewable energy, doing key initial research and production on solar in particular. Then they gave up on it and went back to core business.
But it wasn’t framed as blocking development in any way.
How do you nail motive on a large collection of large organizations with many leaders? I’ll bet there is lots of evidence to support it with.
Who killed the electric car? They made a movie about it. You should check it out.
Who killed the electric car? They made a movie about it. You should check it out.
They gave Trump the one billion he asked for in campaign contributions before the 2024 election. Since he was elected he killed the ev mandate, loosened ICE emissions standards, eliminated the rule calling for reductions in methane gas, lifted restrictions on drilling in Alaska, and invaded Venezuela to help get that countries oils to US refineries. He also pushed for increased LNG exports, provided tax incentives, and focused on expanding fossil fuel production on federal lands.