“If you’re in a hole, stop digging” from The Sky’s Limit — Why the Paris Climate Goals Require a Managed Decline of Fossil Fuel Production [1]

The above quoted 2016 paper, courtesy Oil Change International, then goes on to say, “ENOUGH ALREADY. The Paris Agreement aims to help the world avoid the worst effects of climate change and respond to its already substantial impacts. The basic climate science involved is simple: cumulative carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions over time are the key determinant of how much global warming occurs.a This gives us a finite carbon budget of how much may be emitted in total without surpassing dangerous temperature limits.

We consider carbon budgets that would give a likely (66%) chance of limiting global warming below the 2°C limit beyond which severe dangers occur, or a medium (50%) chance of achieving the 1.5°C goal. Fossil fuel reserves – the known below-ground stocks of extractable fossil fuels – significantly exceed these budgets. For the 2°C or 1.5°C limits, respectively 68% or 85% of reserves must remain in the ground..”

The Keystone XL Pipeline: In 2015, U.S. President Barack Obama rejected the proposed Keystone XL oil sands pipeline saying, some fossil fuels should be left in the ground. This was followed by President Joe Biden denying a key permit to the promoter TC Energy on his first day in office in January 2021. By June 2021, TC Energy had officially abandoned the project after more than 10 years of protests, legal battles and reversals of policy by different presidential administrations.