Excellent Chevron Interview on BBC

The BBC’s Mike Williams interviews Chevron vice-chairman Peter Robertson on peak oil and the future of the oil industry. The vice chairman gets put on the spot in a major way by the British interviewer who mercilessly drills him on climate change, greenwashing, the inevitability of the end of oil as well as what the public “really wants”.

Robertson defends the company by standing by claims that oil is nowhere near running out and that Chevron will basically continue doing exactly what it has been doing all along – extracting oil and selling it to consumers who demand it, and nothing else. If, in fact, consumers were demanding alternative energy, Robertson says that Chevron would happily provide it.

Williams pushes his buttons pretty hard saying that the popularity of Chevron’s own “Will You Join Us” website proves that consumers are demanding alternatives and that the relatively small amount of investment that Chevron is making in renewables proves they are just pulling a PR stunt.

Robertson makes some reasonable rebukes, and comes across as a reasonably honest sounding guy, but still comes across as leading a rather boring, uninspired company that really isn’t doing much but towing the status quo. That said, the weakness in the interview is that Williams never really addresses the issue of “is it really Chevron’s responsibility anyway”. He also fails to challenge Chevron on weather they really believe that petrol emissions are messing up the planet and whether anything needs to be done.

Triple Pundit