The Climate Crisis

The Climate Crisis Why individual change won’t save us from the coming catastrophe he last decade, more specifically the last few years, have been dominated by debates and protests over climate change. According to the Carbon Majors, continuing to produce green-house gasses at the current rate will increase the global average temperature by 4C, causing massive ecological collapse and famine across the world. Many people have turned towards ways of reducing their own carbon footprint. These efforts to affect change on an individual level, while noble, are ultimately pointless. CO2 emissions from a Ford Fusion early in the morning. The average car will produce about 6 tons of carbon dioxide a year. Photo Credit: Charles Boehme

In recent years, electric cars have gained popularity, hailed by their manufacturers as an environmentally clean alternative to fossil fuel powered cars. The process of mining materials for electric car batteries, along with the increase in emissions during production and their reliance on electricity generated from fossil fuels causes them to only slightly decrease carbon emissions compared to a standard car. Not just cars, but increasing dependence on public transportation, will most likely do little to reduce global emissions. Increased construction and usage of public transit will require more energy. Energy, that again, is taken from sources that rely on the burning of fossil fuels. By no means does this mean public transportation is a waste of time, but that just public transit is not enough. In the realm of diets, vegetarianism and veganism may also seem like an environmentally friendly alternative to the standard animal based diet of most Americans. Many Americans seem to believe this, based on a Harris poll from 2015 vegetarianism has increased from about 1% in 1971 to 3.8% in 2015. The benefits of vegetarianism may be overblown though, a 2010 study by the World Wildlife Fund found that production of tofu expends roughly the same amount of greenhouse gasses as cattle. Another study by Progress in Industrial Ecology found that ceasing the production of all animal products would only see a 7% drop in greenhouse gasses. Big, but not enough to turn things around. “You can be vegetarian or vegan, but I don’t know if that necessarily helps as much as just governments coming together to stop it,” Daria Nastasia (12) said. The question, then, is how is climate change combated, and is there a source the problem can be attacked from? The answer, in the simplest of terms, is the fossil fuel industry. Information gathered from a Carbon Tracker Study conducted in 2015 states 71% of global greenhouse gas are contributed by just 100 energy companies around the world. Some of the top polluters include Aramco at 4.5%, National Iranian Oil Co at 2.28% and Exxon Mobil Corp at 1.98%. These companies make up the largest exporters of coal and oil in the world. They have also gone relatively unregulated for the majority of their history. “The 1%, big corporations, and the agriculture industry,” Lily Franck (11) said was responsible for climate change. The failure to properly regulate large fossil fuel companies while investing little into clean sources of energy is the main reason we are caught in the current predicament. Fracking, one of the most environmentally harmful forms of fossil fuel extraction is only illegal in New York, Vermont, Massachusetts and Maryland. On top of that, coal and natural gas burning plants create 65% of the U.S.’ power and make up to 76% of greenhouse gases, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. Cleaner sources of energy, like nuclear and hydroelectric, only make up 19.7% and 6.5% of the power grid, respectively. Currently, the only major piece of legislation in the U.S. that would significantly decrease fossil fuel output is the Green New Deal, a loose collection of laws and agencies that would seek to eliminate fossil fuel dependence and create jobs for out of work energy laborers. The Green New Deal would seek to replace fossil fuel plants with cleaner alternatives such as solar, hydroelectric and nuclear. At the moment, though, it seems unlikely to pass, with many representatives from both sides receiving large campaign donations from energy companies. “I think that it’s definitely going to take more reform, but it has to start with baby steps and everybody realizing that there is an issue. Then, we can band together to take strides that will actually make a difference like the green new deal and stuff like that,” Franck said. Eliminating all fossil fuel burning plants from the United States would eliminate 11.27% of the world’s total greenhouse gas emissions. Historically, the U.S. has also served as a leader of trends around the world. An unshackling of fossil fuels and energy in the U.S. would most likely lead to many of America’s allies adopting similar policies. Cutting fossil fuels from U.S. energy production would also cause significant harm to global fuel companies, weakening their stranglehold on the global economy and allowing other countries to more easily transition to clean forms of energy. CHARLES BOEHME Staff Writer

9Opinion 3.23.20 T

Illustrating

LHS Art students were asked to take pictures of the high school and transform them into interesting, eye-catching illustrations and backgrounds.

Lindbergh

These images are the results of their work.