Fossil fuel extractors bend the world to their will - help fund the journalism that exposes them

Across the globe, oil, gas and coal companies use an ever-widening set of tactics to crush competition and opposition. With the world's most powerful man helping them at every turn, it's critical we reveal their full impactToday the Guardian launches its annual environment support campaign. To back our vital climate journalism, please click hereWhy does capital love fossil fuels? It's not hard to explain. They exist in a small number of discrete locations, where the right to exploit them can be owned and monopolised. Most can be extracted commercially only at scale, excluding small competitors. They can be stored and traded all over the world, allowing prices to be optimised across time and space. Renewable energy, by contrast, can be generated almost anywhere, by almost anyone with a small amount of money to invest.Renewables might now be cheaper than fossil fuel in the vast majority of cases, but this makes them less attractive to capital, not more. Fossil fuels are uncompetitive and highly profitable. Renewables are highly competitive and not very profitable.Join George Monbiot and special guests on 16 September for a special climate assembly to discuss the growing and dramatic political and corporate threats to the planet. Book tickets - in person or livestream Continue reading...