Shame on me. I’m despicable. For 45 years I have worked in the oil and gas industry. The dirty, money-hungry, evil oil and gas industry. I’m destroying the planet. How can I live with myself?

Some people might give me a pass since I was born into it—grandparents on both sides, third generation. They might say I didn’t know any better because 45 years ago nobody knew any better. Who knew that these horrible fossil fuels would eventually burn a hole in our atmosphere?

But you know what? I do know better. I know that global GHG emissions have been steadily increasing. In the last 20 years alone, global CO2 equivalent emissions are up by more than thirty percent. We’ve gone from approximately 28 billion metric tons per year in 2003 to 38 billion metric tons per year in 2023. The number one culprit? Burning fossil fuels (more properly called hydrocarbons).

Yet, I continue to work in this despicable industry.

One of the loudest rallying cries in first-world nations is to switch from gasoline and diesel-powered vehicles to electric vehicles. We have examples of government brilliance like California’s EV mandate, whereby the sale of gasoline-powered passenger vehicles in the state must be phased out by 2035. If everyone in the state switched to EVs, then it would increase electricity demand by three times more than California’s grid can handle. Genius.

But here I am, despicable and stupid—still driving my gasoline-powered vehicle supported by efficient and affordable infrastructure.

But even so, vehicles are not the number one source of emissions from burning fossil fuels. That honor falls to electricity generation, specifically coal-fired power plants which account for approximately 25% of global emissions. And that’s why we should simply stop and switch to solar panels and wind turbines!

It’s a lovely first-world solution and rumor has it we privileged Americans are the most despicable polluters on the planet. Presto.

But alas, the data says otherwise. Total U.S. CO2e emissions for 2023 came in at 4.8 billion metric tons. In the pollution Olympics, China beats us hands down and takes the gold with 12.6 billion metric tons. As a matter of fact, in 2007 our CO2 emissions began a dramatic decline. Meanwhile, China’s have steadily gone up and are climbing at an alarming rate.

Here’s where it gets really interesting. What’s driving China’s emissions increase? Why, coal-fired power plants of course. China aggressively adds more power to their grid to support new manufacturing facilities. And yet, our country, the most industrialized in the world, has been driving down our emissions. If you think it’s because of all those solar and wind farms then think again.

Over the last twenty-odd years, the U.S. switched many coal-fired power generation to natural gas. In fact, the largest decarbonization event in the world was the fracking revolution in the United States in the early 2000s. This brought online tremendous amounts of power and lowered the cost of natural gas such that it could displace coal. As a result, even unabated, we saw a significant reduction in emissions in the United States.

All thanks to the despicable oil and gas industry.

That’s not to say our wonderfully green, renewable solar and wind farms haven’t had an impact. It just might not be the impact you’re expecting.

The single largest driver for new manufacturing facilities in China is the demand for solar panels and wind turbines. China is the dominant global producer of these components, and currently has several coal-fired power plants under construction which will represent a greater than 30% increase in gigawatt output. So China will happily use the cheapest source of energy to produce the most affordable “green” components. They have no qualms about supplying the first-world elitist hypocritical demand for “green” power equipment. And they laugh all the way to the bank.

As for me? I will keep driving down the road in my gasoline-fueled car, and cool my house with electricity from natural gas powered sources, and go to work every day in the evil petroleum industry. Because, unlike the masses piling on the anti-fossil fuel bandwagon, I will continue to think through end-to-end value chains, regional economics, and global implications of our energy options.

Despicable me.

Delfina Govia is a forty-five year industry veteran and the founder of Scale Master HQ, a consulting firm focused on helping executives navigate the complexities of a growing business.