A recent investigation by The Guardian newspaper revealed frightening information about the extent of new fossil fuel projects being planned by major oil and gas companies. This is despite the United Nations’ most recent Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report stating that any further delay in rapidly reducing fossil fuel emissions would mean missing our last chance to keep global warming below the crucial level of 1.5 degrees Celsius and prevent total climate catastrophe.
The article focuses on these planned projects, which the journalists refer to as “carbon bombs.” They use this analogy as the projected carbon dioxide emissions from these projects alone will be enough to guarantee that humanity does not stay within the 1.5 degrees Celsius heating limit. This means that even if all other global emissions stopped tomorrow, these new projects which have yet to be built will be responsible for enough emissions to guarantee climate breakdown.
The article discusses how all of the major oil companies – Chevron, ExxonMobil, Shell – are invested in these projects, spending billions of dollars on them because they expect the flow of profits from them to be extraordinary.
As Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg has said when explaining the climate crisis we face: “Our house is on fire!” Although they know this house is on fire, fossil fuel companies are consciously choosing to pour gasoline on the fire to ensure the destruction of life on this planet.
The oil companies and capitalist system that are fueling this destruction must go. They should no longer have the right and power to decide our future. Instead, we need to fight to decide our future for ourselves, and to prevent this catastrophe.
