Bonus, now shell et all get to BOAST about how they are too fighting climate change, really, never mind how they are directing research away from how they are causing it
It seems like the whole point of this institute is to produce reports for the oil industry that say "Everything is fine, keep doing what you're doing." Why spend $5 million on that when $500 would get you the same results
𝗦𝗼𝗽𝗵𝗶𝗲 𝗗𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘂𝘅: [𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘢 𝘥𝘦𝘧𝘦𝘯𝘴𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘰𝘳] My company's focused on meeting Senators, but, um, I'm thinking Congressmen.
𝗖𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗹𝗲𝘀 𝗗𝘂𝗳𝗼𝗿𝘁: You know the great thing about Congressmen? 50, 100 grand, well spent, will get one elected. But then, once they're in, the incumbency rate is over 95%! So you can get on an average 18, 20 years use out of one of them. In these uncertain times, buying a United States Congressman is one of the best investments a corporation can make!
𝗔𝗹𝗲𝗰 𝗛𝗮𝗿𝗱𝗶𝘀𝗼𝗻: [𝘭𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘯 𝘰𝘯 𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘷𝘦𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦] Oh, I just threw up in my mouth a little bit. I'm a professional criminal, and I find that disturbing.
LSU has a highly regarded environmental engineering program whose top graduates are virtually guaranteed lucrative starting positions at the likes of Exxon.
I once spoke to an EE grad who told me there are three career paths to take: The lucrative but soul-destroying corporate path, whereby your job will consist of proving, with facts and figures, that those fumes aren't really so bad; the totally virtuous but starvation-wage path of nonprofit advocacy, where you can be an expert consultant and witness in lawsuits that likely aren't going anywhere due to corrupt courts; or the mostly good and decently paid path of government service, whereby you try to apply regulations that protect people as best you can.
After a few years of that last path, this guy got out and is now running a very good restaurant.
I see, I see, the tech is too new, that's why your faculty are not prepared to engage with it, it's not yet mature enough for innovation in the energy sector, I see.
Ah, the academic freedom of pure, unfettered research, without prior restraint nor outside interference (other than from the IRB)! As long as what you want to research aligns perfectly with what wealthy interests want to fund.
This should be labeled reverse naming rights. Instead of large corporations paying money to name sports facilities after their businesses, large corporation are paying money for LSU's imprimatur.
"LSU faculty has not been similarly engaged with renewable energy companies, because oil and gas companies have the resources to tackle the climate crisis now – and are not reliant on future technology, Thompson said. “Renewable energy is much more abstract,” he said. “So, I think that’s the difference. It’s not that we don’t care as much.”
Don't know who this Thompson guy is but he's obviously full of shit.
Real missed opportunity in the opening paragraph. Could have been:
"It’s a happy symbiosis between producers of toxic sludge and the oil companies they protect."
Randy Newman had it right:
"College men from LSU
went in dumb, come out dumb, too"
Fox, hen house, all that.
Bonus, now shell et all get to BOAST about how they are too fighting climate change, really, never mind how they are directing research away from how they are causing it
$25 million could grow a lot of trees and dig a lot of wells. Instead it's going on fancy dinners and photo ops. Fuck that.
Don't look up🙁
"It’s a happy symbiosis between producers of toxic sludge and politicians who love to talk about all the great jobs they bring to the states."
I think that you mean; It’s a happy symbiosis between producers of toxic sludge and oil companies...
It seems like the whole point of this institute is to produce reports for the oil industry that say "Everything is fine, keep doing what you're doing." Why spend $5 million on that when $500 would get you the same results
Because the whole lege wants their $500 each?
> An investment of $5 million, over five years, will get your company a vote on the institute’s advisory board ...
Obligatory "Leverage", in *the second goddamned episode*:
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1293988/quotes/?item=qt0955673&ref_=ext_shr_lnk
𝗦𝗼𝗽𝗵𝗶𝗲 𝗗𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘂𝘅: [𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘢 𝘥𝘦𝘧𝘦𝘯𝘴𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘰𝘳] My company's focused on meeting Senators, but, um, I'm thinking Congressmen.
𝗖𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗹𝗲𝘀 𝗗𝘂𝗳𝗼𝗿𝘁: You know the great thing about Congressmen? 50, 100 grand, well spent, will get one elected. But then, once they're in, the incumbency rate is over 95%! So you can get on an average 18, 20 years use out of one of them. In these uncertain times, buying a United States Congressman is one of the best investments a corporation can make!
𝗔𝗹𝗲𝗰 𝗛𝗮𝗿𝗱𝗶𝘀𝗼𝗻: [𝘭𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘯 𝘰𝘯 𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘷𝘦𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦] Oh, I just threw up in my mouth a little bit. I'm a professional criminal, and I find that disturbing.
The fact that god saw fit to put New Orleans in Louisiana tells me god is a vindictive evil bastard.
LSU has a highly regarded environmental engineering program whose top graduates are virtually guaranteed lucrative starting positions at the likes of Exxon.
I once spoke to an EE grad who told me there are three career paths to take: The lucrative but soul-destroying corporate path, whereby your job will consist of proving, with facts and figures, that those fumes aren't really so bad; the totally virtuous but starvation-wage path of nonprofit advocacy, where you can be an expert consultant and witness in lawsuits that likely aren't going anywhere due to corrupt courts; or the mostly good and decently paid path of government service, whereby you try to apply regulations that protect people as best you can.
After a few years of that last path, this guy got out and is now running a very good restaurant.
I see, I see, the tech is too new, that's why your faculty are not prepared to engage with it, it's not yet mature enough for innovation in the energy sector, I see.
Ah, the academic freedom of pure, unfettered research, without prior restraint nor outside interference (other than from the IRB)! As long as what you want to research aligns perfectly with what wealthy interests want to fund.
This should be labeled reverse naming rights. Instead of large corporations paying money to name sports facilities after their businesses, large corporation are paying money for LSU's imprimatur.
uhhh, right.........in LSU's defense, it was a really big check!
Maybe a big check in the Publishers Clearing House sense, but $25M isn't even all that much money.
"They drove a dump truck full of money up to my house. I'm not made of stone!" - Krusty the Klown
As an alien in an episode of The Outer Limits once observed, "there is nothing so malleable as morality."
"Texas Bureau of Economic Geology" aka T-BEG.
How To Find Oil 101.
"LSU faculty has not been similarly engaged with renewable energy companies, because oil and gas companies have the resources to tackle the climate crisis now – and are not reliant on future technology, Thompson said. “Renewable energy is much more abstract,” he said. “So, I think that’s the difference. It’s not that we don’t care as much.”
Don't know who this Thompson guy is but he's obviously full of shit.