ConocoPhillips Agrees to $10 Million Global Warming Offset

In a first-of-its-kind deal, ConocoPhillips will become the first U.S. oil company to offset greenhouse gas emissions from a refinery expansion in California, according to the San Francisco Chronicle. The $10 million deal with Attorney General Jerry Brown will help restore wetlands in and around San Francisco Bay and plant trees throughout California.

The deal will contribute toward California's goal of reducing carbon dioxide emissions 25% by 2020. That landmark California goal -- and the law that backs it up -- made this deal possible. Other states can look at California as a model for finding strategies that reduce or offset emissions even while the economy grows.

Other companies -- in California, at least -- will be looking at this deal's precedents too. The AG will be sitting down with another Big Oil giant, Chevron Corp., to discuss it's greenhouse gas pollution, soon.

COMMENTS ()