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Amazon to help boost oil production amid Climate Pledge, Rivian van orders
Just a few weeks ago, Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos announced that his company would be purchasing 100,000 Rivian electric vans to deliver its packages, as well as provide more eco-friendly packaging. The decisions were made after employees demanded he take the necessary steps to reduce the carbon footprint the e-commerce giant was causing. Bezos complied, alleviating the possible strike that Amazon employees were poised to take part in.
It finally seemed like one of the world’s biggest companies was taking an environmental approach to its business model, but that may not entirely be the case. As revealed by a press release from Weatherford, one of the world’s leading oilfield service companies, Amazon was one of the main contributors to the U.S. Oil and Gas Industry’s “Production 4.0” forum at the Enterprise Software Conference in Houston, Texas. The forum’s theme was simple — it centers on the development of technology that can accelerate and improve oil production.
“Weatherford Production 4.0 products, including ForeSite Edge, ForeSite Platform, CygNet Platform and ForeSite Sense, activate field-wide intelligence to maximize production. Weatherford delivers the future of production performance through next-generation automation, IoT infrastructure and advanced optimization software to boost production, uptime and efficiency,” Manoj Nimbalkar, Weatherford’s Global VP of Production Automation and Software, said.
The irony of Amazon’s decision to join this conference is notable. The company, after all, previously committed to delivering its new, environmentally-conscious packages via electric vehicle just a few short weeks ago, and now is helping the oil industry thrive. The future of gas and oil will not only contribute to the global climate crisis, but it also contributes to the decision to not have large corporations take a more environmentally-aggressive approach to the operations of their businesses. The influence Amazon might have carried with its decision to rely less on fossil fuels to power its vehicles could have convinced other companies to follow in its footsteps.
Bezos gained the respect of many eco-friendly groups when he announced his partnership with Rivian. The CEO invested $700M into the electric automaker in February 2019, making the impression that he and his company would begin gearing up for a future that would not include operating on fossil fuels. But when the company began its “Climate Pledge” in mid-September at the National Press Club, details were vague. Bezos was nevertheless adamant about doing his part to help reach the specifics of the Paris Agreement, and even took an aggressive line by stating that he wanted to accomplish the goals 10 years early. Despite the fact that the US will pull out of the agreement on behalf of President Donald Trump later this year, Amazon, at least at the time, have the impression that it was doing its part to contribute to environmental sustainability.
But unfortunately, the old saying “actions speak louder than words” is all too true here. All while Bezos and Amazon were taking the necessary steps to reduce its carbon footprint and become a company that will help the planet, it appears that they were putting an effort to help advance oil and gas companies just the same. It appears they have taken two steps forward and three steps back with this news. After all, when Bezos was asked at the National Press Club meeting in Washington, D.C. if he would sever ties with oil companies that Amazon supports, he gave a firm “No.”
Ten-thousand Rivian vans boasting the Amazon logo are due to hit the road and begin delivering packages in 2021, and the remaining 90,000 will be ready before 2030. It also intends to utilize Earth-friendly packaging materials, apart of the “Shipment Zero” plan, by the end of 2019. But the announcement of Amazon’s participation seems to somewhat derail, or at least delay, any ideas that the company was interested in becoming a sustainable company. After promising employees that it would begin an effort to become “green”, is Amazon really sincere in its efforts to help the climate after all?
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Tesla Full Self-Driving gets sparkling review from South Korean politician
“Having already ridden in an unmanned robotaxi, the novelty wasn’t as strong for me, but it drives just as well as most people do. It already feels like a completed technology, which gives me a lot to think about.”
Tesla Full Self-Driving got its first sparkling review from South Korean politician Lee So-young, a member of the country’s National Assembly, earlier this week.
Lee is a member of the Strategy and Finance Committee in South Korea and is a proponent of sustainable technologies and their applications in both residential and commercial settings. For the first time, Lee was able to utilize Tesla’s Full Self-Driving technology as it launched in the country in late November.
Her thoughts on the suite were complimentary to the suite, stating that “it drives just as well as most people do,” and that “it already feels like a completed technology.”
드디어 오늘, 서울에서 테슬라 FSD 체험 했습니다.
JiDal Papa님의 모델S 협찬에 힘입어^^ 파파님 정말 감사합니다.
국회 -> 망원시장 -> 홍익대 -> 국회 복귀 코스였고요.
이미 무인 로보택시를 타봐서 그런지 신기함은
덜했지만, 웬만한 사람만큼 운전을 잘하네요.이미 완성된 기술이라고… pic.twitter.com/8pAidHBpRG
— 이소영 국회의원 (Soyoung Lee) (@im_soyounglee) December 17, 2025
Her translated post says:
“Finally, today I got to experience Tesla FSD in Seoul. Thanks to the Model S sponsored by JiDal Papa^^, I’m truly grateful to Papa. The route was from the National Assembly -> Mangwon Market -> Hongik University -> back to the National Assembly. Having already ridden in an unmanned robotaxi, the novelty wasn’t as strong for me, but it drives just as well as most people do. It already feels like a completed technology, which gives me a lot to think about. Once it actually spreads into widespread use, I feel like our daily lives are going to change a lot. Even I, with my license gathering dust in a drawer, don’t see much reason to learn to drive a manual anymore.”
Tesla Full Self-Driving officially landed in South Korea in late November, with the initial launch being one of Tesla’s most recent, v14.1.4.
It marked the seventh country in which Tesla was able to enable the driver assistance suite, following the United States, Puerto Rico, Canada, China, Mexico, Australia, and New Zealand.
It is important to see politicians and figures in power try new technologies, especially ones that are widely popular in other regions of the world and could potentially revolutionize how people travel globally.
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Tesla dispels reports of ‘sales suspension’ in California
“This was a “consumer protection” order about the use of the term “Autopilot” in a case where not one single customer came forward to say there’s a problem.
Sales in California will continue uninterrupted.”
Tesla has dispelled reports that it is facing a thirty-day sales suspension in California after the state’s Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) issued a penalty to the company after a judge ruled it “misled consumers about its driver-assistance technology.”
On Tuesday, Bloomberg reported that the California DMV was planning to adopt the penalty but decided to put it on ice for ninety days, giving Tesla an opportunity to “come into compliance.”
Tesla enters interesting situation with Full Self-Driving in California
Tesla responded to the report on Tuesday evening, after it came out, stating that this was a “consumer protection” order that was brought up over its use of the term “Autopilot.”
The company said “not one single customer came forward to say there’s a problem,” yet a judge and the DMV determined it was, so they want to apply the penalty if Tesla doesn’t oblige.
However, Tesla said that its sales operations in California “will continue uninterrupted.”
It confirmed this in an X post on Tuesday night:
This was a “consumer protection” order about the use of the term “Autopilot” in a case where not one single customer came forward to say there’s a problem.
Sales in California will continue uninterrupted.
— Tesla North America (@tesla_na) December 17, 2025
The report and the decision by the DMV and Judge involved sparked outrage from the Tesla community, who stated that it should do its best to get out of California.
One X post said California “didn’t deserve” what Tesla had done for it in terms of employment, engineering, and innovation.
Tesla has used Autopilot and Full Self-Driving for years, but it did add the term “(Supervised)” to the end of the FSD suite earlier this year, potentially aiming to protect itself from instances like this one.
This is the first primary dispute over the terminology of Full Self-Driving, but it has undergone some scrutiny at the federal level, as some government officials have claimed the suite has “deceptive” naming. Previous Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg was vocally critical of the use of the name “Full Self-Driving,” as well as “Autopilot.”
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New EV tax credit rule could impact many EV buyers
We confirmed with a Tesla Sales Advisor that any current orders that have the $7,500 tax credit applied to them must be completed by December 31, meaning delivery must take place by that date. However, it is unclear at this point whether someone could still claim the credit when filing their tax returns for 2025 as long as the order reflects an order date before September 30.
Tesla owners could be impacted by a new EV tax credit rule, which seems to be a new hoop to jump through for those who benefited from the “extension,” which allowed orderers to take delivery after the loss of the $7,500 discount.
After the Trump Administration initiated the phase-out of the $7,500 EV tax credit, many were happy to see the rules had been changed slightly, as deliveries could occur after the September 30 cutoff as long as orders were placed before the end of that month.
However, there appears to be a new threshold that EV buyers will have to go through, and it will impact their ability to get the credit, at least at the Point of Sale, for now.
Delivery must be completed by the end of the year, and buyers must take possession of the car by December 31, 2025, or they will lose the tax credit. The U.S. government will be closing the tax credit portal, which allows people to claim the credit at the Point of Sale.
🚨UPDATE: $7,500 Tax Credit Portal “Closes By End of Year”.
This is bad news for pending Tesla buyers (MYP) looking to lock in the $7,500 Tax Credit.
“it looks like the portal closes by end of the year so there be no way for us to guarantee the funds however, we will try our… pic.twitter.com/LnWiaXL30k
— DennisCW | wen my L (@DennisCW_) December 15, 2025
We confirmed with a Tesla Sales Advisor that any current orders that have the $7,500 tax credit applied to them must be completed by December 31, meaning delivery must take place by that date.
However, it is unclear at this point whether someone could still claim the credit when filing their tax returns for 2025 as long as the order reflects an order date before September 30.
If not, the order can still go through, but the buyer will not be able to claim the tax credit, meaning they will pay full price for the vehicle.
This puts some buyers in a strange limbo, especially if they placed an order for the Model Y Performance. Some deliveries have already taken place, and some are scheduled before the end of the month, but many others are not expecting deliveries until January.
Tesla Full Self-Driving gets sparkling review from South Korean politician
Tesla dispels reports of ‘sales suspension’ in California
