Under Climate Activist Pressure, Credit Suisse Defunds Oil, Gas Industry by 41%

climate protest
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Credit Suisse, in the last two years, has slashed funding provided to the oil, gas, and coal industries by 41 percent over the last two years due to global warming activism.

Despite President Joe Biden stating this week that “it is not true” Democrat policies are reducing the supply of fossil fuels, Biden’s energy policies of debanking the fossil fuel industry have reduced American energy through significantly increasing the price financing.

Biden has also cut the availability of federal lands to energy production. The overall impact is a reduction in the feasibility of fracking and drilling.

“What additional permits do they need? The leases are there. The permits are there. I don’t think they need an embroidered invitation to drill,” White House press secretary Jen Psaki claimed Wednesday about the feasibility of oil drilling on 9,000 private oil leases, omitting the increased price of project financing.

Data from Bloomberg suggested financing fossil fuel projects now costs ten percentage points more than it did before Biden’s presidency. This has occurred because the Biden administration has successfully pressured financial institutions to reduce the international and domestic, public and private financing of American energy production on private lands.

Credit Suisse is the latest example of debanking the fossil fuel industry. Since 2019, the bank has reduced lending to the industry and plans to cut future financing of the industry by half between 2020 and 2030. Reuters reported:

Switzerland’s second-biggest bank reduced its exposure to emissions it financed in the oil, gas and coal sector by 41% between 2020 and 2021, preliminary estimates in its sustainability report showed on Thursday, when it had some $2.6 billion in loans outstanding to such clients.

The report marks the first time the bank detailed its exposure to financing emissions from the fossil fuel sector, which it estimated at 21.9 tonnes of CO2 equivalent for 2021.

But investors and climate activists have repeatedly asked the bank to do more, with investors managing $2.4 trillion calling on Credit Suisse this week to take tougher climate action, including cutting its exposure to fossil fuel assets.

Regardless of Biden’s claims, woke Biden-led policies have damaged oil production. American oil production is down drastically from 2019, the year before the pandemic. Oil production in 2022 is 12 million barrels or 8 percent less than in 2019.

Meanwhile, gas and diesel prices reached record highs Friday, impacting inflation and reducing the net wages of the American worker.

Follow Wendell Husebø on Twitter and Gettr @WendellHusebø

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