North America

In North America, IEEFA’s research analyzes the ways that the fossil fuel industry is losing its financial rationale as a sound investment. For investors seeking a steady, stable investment, fossil fuels are increasingly an unreliable option, and sustainability tools like divestment can protect against climate risk. A more sustainable economy is steadily growing—the U.S. Energy Information Administration has projected that renewables will displace fossil fuels in the electric power sector over the long term.  

In response to poor market performance, the fossil fuel industry has looked toward the petrochemical industry and proposed new technologies, such as carbon capture, as lifelines. Currently, a weak economic outlook indicates that the petrochemical industry is in secular decline, while carbon capture and storage is an expensive and unproven technology that distracts from global decarbonization efforts while allowing the oil and gas industry to conduct business as usual.

Areas of coverage:  United States (with additional coverage on Puerto Rico, Texas, and Louisiana), Canada, Mexico