Plan to put lipstick on a pig
It's not a joke, though, at first glance, it looks like one.
An international oil and gas giant, Chevron, is claiming new heights of environmental awareness, by announcing it will put sails on a fleet of liquified methane transport ships.
The ships, with massive hard plastic sails, will likely soon be seen in Australian waters, as we are one of the top three liquified methane exporters.
Chevron boasts that it is working to save the environment by saving a small proportion of fuel.
But each of these ships carries more than 200,000 cubic metres of liquified methane, which, when burned, will produce more than 400 tonnes of carbon dioxide.
Friends of the Earth (FoE) Offshore Fossil Gas Campaigner Jeff Waters called the move a very sad example of late-stage capitalism.
"When first I saw this, I thought I was reading a Terry Pratchett novel," Jeff Waters said.
"Who do these polluters think they are fooling?"
"Here you have a major contributor to the climate and biodiversity crisis green washing itself by pretending partial sailing ships will make a substantial difference to their polluting," he said.
"Each of these ships is a massive floating climate bomb, and putting sails on them is really just putting lipstick on a pig."
Jeff Waters said that, if Chevron actually wanted to help the environment, they would either transform into a renewables giant, or simply close.
