Your dirty rat: fossil fuels cause global warming
Website design By BotEap.comThe temperature is a bit warm.
Website design By BotEap.comThe forecast for this day in early August 2012 was 111 degrees in Fresno / Clovis, California. where I live. That is relatively common in this region, where 40 or more days above 100 is common for the summer. But it appears that more of the United States will receive similar treatment.
Website design By BotEap.comThe National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s National Climate Data Center says July was the hottest month in recorded history.
Website design By BotEap.comIn fact, their state of the weather report says that January through July were the first seven warmest months of any year on record for the contiguous United States. The national temperature of 56.4 degrees was 4.3 degrees above the long-term average, and only the Pacific Northwest, which was close to average, bucked the trend.
Website design By BotEap.comAnd of course Alaska is a little cooler. My friend Steve likes to post facts about his careers in Anchorage’s scenic Kincaid Park. The last one was 55 degrees. Suffocating.
Website design By BotEap.comOverheating the atmosphere
Website design By BotEap.comThis temperature topic is more than just food for indirect discussions about the weather. The ramifications are enormous, and most scientists predict dire consequences if the trend is not reversed.
Website design By BotEap.comAuthor and climate activist Bill McKibben explains the scenario in stark terms. In an article for Rolling Stone, which has one of the best investigative reporting in the country, he highlights three numbers to watch.
Website design By BotEap.comThe first is 2 degrees Celsius, which refers to the window the world has before succumbing to the significant effects of climate change. The second is 563 gigatons of carbon dioxide, which refers to the amount of global warming pollutants that can be released before we hit that two-degree threshold.
Website design By BotEap.comCarbon dioxide, public enemy
Website design By BotEap.comMcKibben’s third number, and perhaps the most significant, is 2,795 gigatons of carbon dioxide. That is the amount of carbon stored in all known oil and coal reserves. If those reserves are exploited and fossil fuels burned, we are well on our way to universal environmental destruction.
Website design By BotEap.comThe cost would be astronomical, the devastation incomparable.
Website design By BotEap.comThe way to deal with this seems obvious. Or relatively. Fossil fuels are the most expensive fuel on the planet. But society would rather give the next generation a kick.
Website design By BotEap.comWho is the bad guy?
Website design By BotEap.comBoosting fossil fuels
Website design By BotEap.comMcKibben says it’s obvious that the bad guys are the oil and coal executives.
Website design By BotEap.com“Climate change operates on a geological scale and in a time frame, but it is not an impersonal force of nature; the more carefully you do the math, the more thoroughly you realize that, deep down, it is a moral question; we have met the enemy and they are Shell, “he says.
Website design By BotEap.comUnfortunately, the oil companies occupy the enviable position of having more money than their critics. While BP reported a loss of $ 2.2 billion during the second quarter of 2012, it is still doing well. That compares with a net profit of $ 5.7 billion for the same period last year.
Website design By BotEap.comThe Associated Press reports BP’s revenue for the quarter declined 9 percent and the company set aside another $ 847 million for the Gulf of Mexico oil rig disaster and cleanup, “bringing the total provision to just over $ 38 billion “.
Website design By BotEap.comMoney is the game
Website design By BotEap.comIt is not a problem. BP can afford it. In fact, he has created an ad campaign that portrays the company in such charitable terms that its past fades into remote memory. Says Hamilton Nolan of gawker.com: “Do you remember how the relentless pursuit of profit at the expense of security caused the Gulf of Mexico to flood with oil a while ago? No. I don’t remember. Right? Hmm. What? yes I remember it is the amazing olympic spirit of BP! “
Website design By BotEap.comIn terms of earnings, Royal Dutch Shell and Exxon Mobil outperformed: Shell posted second-quarter earnings of $ 5.7 billion, down 13 percent from the same period last year, and Exxon posted $ 8.4 billion. million, 22 percent less, according to New York. Times. Reporter Clifford Krauss quotes Exxon CEO Rex Tillerson as saying, “Despite global economic uncertainty, we continue to invest throughout the business cycle, taking a long-term view of resource development.”
Website design By BotEap.comTalking like that drives McKibben crazy. “There is no more reckless man on the planet,” says de Tillerson. He adds that Tillerson told Wall Street analysts that he plans to spend $ 37 billion a year on exploration through 2016.
Website design By BotEap.comDisaster warning
Website design By BotEap.comThe problem is that the oil companies have the future of the planet in their hands and, as long as they continue to make lots of money, they will not stop extracting, refining and burning as much of their fossil fuel reserves as possible. McKibben says the only way to deal with this is to tax carbon, making alternative energy cheaper.
Website design By BotEap.comOf course, alternative energy is already struggling to make its way to fossil fuel parity. But it could use a boost.
Website design By BotEap.comMeanwhile, McKibben says the best recourse is moral outrage for those who would like to stop this disorderly push toward global warming. Enemy number one is not Jimmy Cagney, nor Snidely Whiplash (both personal favorites). It is a group of wealthy executives who are ruining the world for a few dollars more.