Tensions between phaseout advocates and oil titans on display in Houston

Inside the room: "They're differentiated by their general commitments to invest in clean resources beyond carbon management, with companies like Equinor having very high targets and others sort of lagging," Podesta told reporters Tuesday.

• But he did give the sector props for working on its own methane emissions.

State of play: Oil titans all say they're committed to climate but dispute the viability of rapid transition from fossil fuels.

• They point to persistently strong and growing demand, and hurdles to scaling some alternatives like hydrogen and offshore wind.
• But critics — a muted presence here at best — say the fossil fuels industry is passively responding to market realities and thwarting faster progress, even as the window to meet Paris Agreement goals narrows fast.

Catch up quick: The sharpest comments this week came from Saudi Aramco CEO Amin Nasser.

• "We should abandon the fantasy of phasing out oil and gas and instead invest in them adequately, reflecting realistic demand assumptions," he said Monday.

Zoom in: Reuters and the NYT have nice looks at this dynamic.

The bottom line: While COP29 brought a delicate consensus on the concept of moving away from fossil fuels, defining what that should look like is another matter.