Holding the Climate to Ransom

What does Saudi Arabia propose, in the light of current efforts to reduce our dependency on oil? If wealthy countries reduce their oil consumption to combat global warming, they should pay compensation to oil producers: 

The oil-rich kingdom has pushed this position for years in earlier climate-treaty negotiations. While it has not succeeded, its efforts have sometimes delayed or disrupted discussions. The kingdom is once again gearing up to take a hard line on the issue at international negotiations scheduled for Copenhagen in December....

This Saudi position has emerged periodically as a source of dispute since the earliest global climate talks, in Rio de Janeiro in 1992. It is surfacing again as Saudi Arabia tries to build a coalition of producers to extract concessions in Copenhagen.

Petroleum exporters have long used delaying tactics during climate talks. They view any attempt to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by developed countries as a menace to their economies...

Environmental advocates denounced the idea, saying the Saudi stance hampered progress to assist poor nations that are already suffering from the effect of climate change, and that genuinely need financial assistance.

“It is like the tobacco industry asking for compensation for lost revenues as a part of a settlement to address the health risks of smoking,” said Jake Schmidt, the international climate policy director at the Natural Resources Defense Council. “The worst of this racket is that they have held up progress on supporting adaptation funding for the most vulnerable for years because of this demand.”

What kind of penury would the Saudis face?

A recent study by the International Energy Agency, which advises industrialized nations, found that the cumulative revenue of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries would drop by 16 percent from 2008 to 2030 if the world agreed to slash emissions, as opposed to the projection if there were no treaty.

But with oil projected to average $100 a barrel, the energy agency estimated that OPEC members would still earn $23 trillion over that period.

Comments

[Dom]

There are two things I want to see in my lifetime: The fall of NK and a battery-operated car. The last just to wipe off the smug look on those opec nations.

[DaninVan]

Think bigger, Dom.
http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg20427291.800-fusion-is-a-gamble-worth-taking.html?DCMP=OTC-rss&nsref=editorials
We'll see small fusion reactors in our lifetime. (If they get the lead out...)
The other point is that if consumption drops SO WILL THE PRICE per barrel! Yes, $100+/bbl oil is the future BUT that doesn't take into account supply and demand. Not unlike wooden wagon wheels.