In Defense Of Refiners

For about a decade, Texas has considered the idea of erecting a coastal barrier to protect against the impacts of hurricanes. Texas A&M researchers concluded that a direct hit to Galveston from a massive hurricane could cause $31.8 billion worth of damage to homes and apartments from a storm surge. This estimate excludes the potential harm to commercial buildings and ports.

The study concluded that building a coastal barrier about 60 miles long from Galveston to the Bolivar Peninsula could reduce the potential damage by 80% to $6 billion. Texas subsequently requested $12 billion for the full coastal spine.

However, some enterprising soul recognized that this could also protect significant refining assets around the Houston Ship Channel, and a viral headline was born: Big oil asks government to protect its Texas facilities from climate change

As one person asked me, “How dare these refiners ask for protection from a problem they caused?” I was asked if I could defend this “outrage”, and indeed I did. Here was the defense.

First, the vast majority of what is being protected isn’t the refineries. This area is a major population center, with numerous homes and businesses. Some of those businesses happen to be refineries, but there are also wetlands, miles of coastline, and two national wildlife refuges in the immediate vicinity. And people. Lots and lots of people.

Second, refiners didn’t cause climate change. They played a role, as did everyone who helped find, extract, refine, and transport oil (as well as coal and natural gas). True, many people along the supply chain have profited as a result, but that includes the federal and state governments from oil production taxes, taxes on gasoline, property taxes, and income taxes on oil industry employees and oil company profits.

But the reason refining is a major business is because there is a huge demand for the product. Every person who ever consumed fossil fuels — and that pretty much covers all of us — is complicit in carbon dioxide emissions. We all contribute a share.