Electric vehicles, fuel economy standards, biofuels, and rapid rail and buses are not enough to stem the flow of oil in a warming world. After nearly two generations of hard work to reduce oil demand, oil consumption and production are marching up in lock step.
Why? The simple answer is the market works. It loathes disruption. So, oil keeps flowing. And the best competitor for one oil barrel is another oil barrel.
That’s where the Oil-Climate Index (OCI) comes in. The first-of-its-kind open source web tool compares global oils climate impacts. It pits oil against oil and company against company to find and reduce the GHG emissions hidden in individual oil supply chains. The transparency that the OCI offers illuminates significant potential for innovation. Oil companies have been long been given a free ride as responsibility has been pinned on motorists, automakers, alternative fuels, public transit and urban planners. It’s time to invoke supply-side oil innovation and the OCI identifies strategies and pitfalls for philanthropies, NGOs, investors, and policymakers to do just that.
