Letters to the Editor: Why the fossil fuel industry isn’t operating in good faith

To the editor: In her July 29 letter, Catherine Reheis-Boyd, president of the Western States Petroleum Assn., says that The Times’ editorial board “too often weaponizes energy realities while demonizing” the oil and gas industry.

She also asserts that the costs of a “rushed transition” will devastate young people’s economic future. She asks The Times to show how the fossil fuel companies are operating in good faith.

Good faith would be acknowledging the real devastation caused by the extraction of fossil fuels and the need for a rapid and just transition to clean energy. It would be working in partnership with those communities most impacted by the damage, and it would be taking some responsibility for helping the transition happen rather than throwing up obstacles.

I’m sure Reheis-Boyd is a good person. But she is ignoring her obligation as a leader in a behemoth industry that is devastating everyone’s future.

Kathleen Wheeler, Ventura

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To the editor: Reheis-Boyd’s letter about the petroleum industry operating in good faith is classic gaslighting. The fossil fuel industry pushes blame on individuals and then has the gall to say that its gouging ways are good for the lower classes.

I’ll believe the industry is operating in good faith when it increases its climate commitments without continually walking them back.

Breene Murphy, Laguna Beach