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It’s Not Enough to Blame ‘Climate Change’ for Disasters Like Helene and Milton
Decades of lies from big oil and gas companies created the climate emergency and are still fueling it today.
Oct 15, 2024
For years, linking climate change to the growing destructive power of hurricanes was off limits for mainstream media. Now the connection is undeniable. Massive in size, rapidly intensifying, loaded with unprecedented rainfall, and firing off fatal tornadoes, the link between a warmer world and monster hurricanes like Helene and Milton is impossible to ignore—though too much coverage still does.
But even when news stories tell us that “climate change” is causing these rapidly intensifying storms, they are only telling us half the story. Climate change is not just the fuel for these disasters, it is also the result of the decades of lies from big oil and gas companies that created the climate emergency and are still fueling it today.
Scientists from ExxonMobil and other fossil fuel majors told executives decades ago that unabated use of their products could cause “catastrophic” climate disasters. Instead of sounding the alarm, the oil and gas industry launched the most consequential campaign of lies in human history, on a scale far worse and more damaging than anything before. They funded junk science, polluted our politics, and ran massive advertising campaigns all with the goal of stopping any action that could threaten their bottom line. Our climate crisis is the result of that deception, as are the super-charged hurricanes, deadly heatwaves, and mega wildfires that we now face because Big Oil stole decades from humanity that we can never get back.
The problem with only blaming “climate change” for killer weather events is that it leaves out how exactly we got into this mess—and who is responsible.
If we talk only about “climate change” during these disasters, we forgo a critical teaching moment when millions are open to learning about an issue that typically commands almost no attention at all. As painful as they are, the moments when deadly storms have our attention are precisely the times we need to talk about the elephant in the room: the fossil fuel industry. The longer we avoid the issue, the more violent these storms will become, because the industry has not stopped lying and is doubling down on the products fueling the crisis. Now that climate change is everywhere, fossil fuel companies don’t so much deny the problem as they promote “solutions” they know are bogus, like “natural gas,” which is roughly as bad for the climate as coal, or carbon capture, which is laughable as a solution in the timeframe and scale that is needed, not to mention that to date it has been used primarily to extract even more oil.
The problem with only blaming “climate change” for killer weather events is that it leaves out how exactly we got into this mess—and who is responsible. Climate change doesn’t have lobbyists, doesn’t have executives making decisions, cannot be investigated, and cannot be held accountable in the courts. As long as climate change is seen as the cause of all extreme weather destruction, the oil industry can continue pretending to be part of the solution.
It was the oil and gas industry, not climate change, that created widespread climate denial and turned climate action into a partisan political issue. It was the oil and gas industry, not climate change, that successfully blocked ratification of the Kyoto Treaty in 1998, killed Waxman-Markey in 2009, and watered down the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act, ensuring the law would not place limits on climate pollution or in any way slow the expansion of the U.S. oil and gas industry.
This focus on a causal agent that can never be held accountable spawns a spectrum of negative consequences. It shields the true cause, the lying oil and gas majors, from any form of accountability. Instead of the oil and gas majors being forced to pay their fair share for disaster recovery, we hear calls for more FEMA funding, which is merely taxpayers footing the bill. And instead of reckoning with the fact that some of those who died would very likely still be alive were these storms not radically amplified by fossil fuel emissions made possible by companies who have lied about just about every aspect of their role in causing the problem, we act as if there can be no accountability for these deaths.
The question is not, “Did climate change make these two hurricanes more destructive?” We already know that along with climate change comes more powerful and deadly storms. The question is, who and what caused climate change? The answer to that question is right before us.
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Disrupting Punchbowl News Event, Climate Advocates Say Exxon 'Should Have No Place at the DNC'
"Instead of fossil fuel profits, Democrats must prioritize making the world a healthier, more equitable place," said DNC member RL Miller, who disrupted the event declaring "Exxon lied and people died."
Aug 21, 2024
Climate campaigners on Wednesday called out and even disrupted a Punchbowl News event on the sidelines of the Democratic National Convention in Chicago because it was sponsored by fossil fuel giant ExxonMobil.
"Companies like Exxon should have no place at the DNC," said Sunrise Movement communications director Stevie O'Hanlon in a statement. "Exxon has spent decades misleading the public about the climate crisis and buying off politicians. If the Democratic Party wants to be taken seriously by our generation on climate change, they need to walk the talk."
Oil Change U.S. political director Collin Rees pointed out that "no major oil and gas company is pledging to do the bare minimum to prevent climate chaos."
"Fossil fuel companies like ExxonMobil are moving in the opposite direction of the Democratic Party, whose platform is clear on the need to end public money for oil and gas production," he continued. "ExxonMobil continues to invest billions in new oil and gas, all while spreading misinformation and lobbying against meaningful climate policies. Exxon should have no platform at the DNC."
Rees joined DNC member RL Miller of California and Climate Defiance in disrupting the Wednesday event. Video shows that as Miller was escorted out by men who appeared to be security, she explained that "I am here because Exxon lied and people died."
"We call on party leaders and attendees to end the involvement of fossil fuel companies like ExxonMobil in the political process."
Congressional, journalistic, and scholarly research has exposed how ExxonMobil knew decades ago that fossil fuels would drive climate chaos but continued to cash in on their products anyway while spreading disinformation. The company is included in various climate liability lawsuits and some Democrats on Capitol Hill have recently demanded a federal probe.
Ahead of the Wednesday action, Miller, the political director of Climate Hawks Vote, highlighted the close ties between the fossil fuel industry and the Republican nominee, former President Donald Trump—who earlier this year told a room of Big Oil executives that he would roll back the Biden-Harris administration's climate policies if they invested just $1 billion into getting him elected.
"ExxonMobil and Donald Trump have already committed to each other—so why is the company sneaking around the DNC?" she asked. "We call on party leaders and attendees to end the involvement of fossil fuel companies like ExxonMobil in the political process."
Miller specifically directed pressure at the Democratic nominee, Vice President Kamala Harris—who has broad support from the climate movement—and her running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, who has also been welcomed by green groups, despite his record on the Line 3 pipeline and Indigenous-led opposition to it.
"Instead, our government must deliver clean, affordable energy that is tailored to our communities, supports workers to transition to new jobs, and helps regions that have been deliberately sacrificed to toxic pollution and climate chaos," she said. "Instead of fossil fuel profits, Democrats must prioritize making the world a healthier, more equitable place and electing Kamala Harris and Tim Walz to hold the fossil fuel industry accountable."
The Punchbowl event featured a "pop-up conversation" with Congresswoman Lizzie Fletcher (D-Texas) and Vijay Swarup, ExxonMobil's senior director climate strategy and technology. The daylong event also had an appearance by Sen. John Hickenlooper (D-Colo.) and other sponsors included Duke Energy.
In response to the news outlet sharing a photo from the event on social media, Miller said: "Yeah. That's what I disrupted and I'd do it again in a heartbeat."
"The DNC is devoted to solving the climate crisis, not propping up DINOs like Lizzie Fletcher," she added, using the shorthand for "Democrat in name only."
Climate Defiance blasted Fletcher—first elected in 2018—in a series of posts, highlighting that she has taken hundreds of thousands of dollars from the fossil fuel industry during her career.
"Lizzie co-chairs the Natural Gas Caucus, and, since that isn't enough, also belongs to the Oil and Gas Caucus as well. She literally cannot get enough of her fossil fuels," Climate Defiance said.
"Lizzie's voting record is garbo. Utter garbo," the group continued. "She voted AGAINST the bill cracking down on Big Oil's price gouging. She voted AGAINST a bill requiring companies to merely disclose their climate risk. She voted AGAINST the bill protecting the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge."
Kate Aronoff, a climate reporter at The New Republic, took aim at Punchbowl—which has previously faced criticism for allowing fossil fuel interests to buy advertising in its newsletter—with a sarcastic response to the social media post.
The event came just two days after the Democratic Party platform was finalized. Lukas Ross, deputy climate and energy director at Friends of the Earth Action, pointed out Wednesday that "the DNC platform rightly calls for the repeal of $110 billion in fossil fuel subsidies that have lined Big Oil's pockets for decades."
"Dinosaurs like ExxonMobil are scared of losing their precious tax loopholes under a Harris administration," he said, nodding to revelations from a Greenpeace reporter posing as a corporate recruiter while speaking with an Exxon leader in 2021. "Any fossil fuel company looking to peddle influence in Chicago should be shown the door."
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President Harris Is the Perfect Person to Prosecute the Case Against Big Oil
From a new perch in the Oval Office, Harris could throw the full weight of the White House behind holding the fossil fuel industry accountable for its climate lies.
Jul 22, 2024
Kamala Harris enters into the presidential race with a strong record on climate. As U.S. President Joe Biden’s vice president, she helped preside over the largest climate legislation in history, acted as the country’s highest ranking official at the United Nations climate talks, and toured the country promoting clean energy and speaking out about the need to protect environmental justice. As a senator and presidential candidate, Harris said she’d repeal the filibuster to pass a Green New Deal, opposed the Dakota Access Pipeline, and teamed up with New York Rep. Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez on a “climate equity” bill.
But perhaps the most exciting thing that Harris brings to the climate fight is this: She’s the perfect person to prosecute the case against Big Oil.
As we now know, the fossil fuel industry knew conclusively by the 1970s that the continued use of their product would cause catastrophic climate damages. Just last week, journalists uncovered a 1977 article from Marathon Oil that predicted “mass starvation” due to climate disruptions. But instead of warning the public, the industry went on to spread disinformation about the crisis and lobby against climate action (during the Trump Administration, Marathon was at the forefront of an industry attempt to gut automobile emissions standards).
With nearly all Americans now feeling the impacts of the climate crisis, the push to make polluters pay for the damage they’ve done has never been stronger.
It was the crime of the century—and one that we’ve just begun to prosecute. Right now, 10 state attorneys general have filed lawsuits against Big Oil. A couple dozen cities, counties, and tribal governments have joined them. But the federal government has been notably absent. The Department of Justice failed to take up the case (despite the repeated requests by leading members of Congress), and there’s a prevailing sense that Attorney General Merrick Garland has little interest in pursuing the matter.
All that could change under President Harris. A lifetime ago, when Harris ran in the 2019 Democratic primary for president, CNN asked her at a climate town hall if she’d support a lawsuit against ExxonMobil for lying about the climate crisis. “I have sued ExxonMobil,” she said to applause. As it turned out, that wasn’t quite right. As California’s attorney general, Harris had supported a multistate investigation into what Exxon knew about the climate crisis, but her office never formally filed suit.
Harris had pursued other major polluters, however. In 2016, she played a key role in securing a $15 billion payout from VW over their emissions cheating scandal. As AG, she also went after ConocoPhillips (the company behind the Willow Project in Alaska) for air quality violations at their gas stations and prosecuted a pipeline company for a 2015 spill in Santa Barbara. Before that, as San Francisco district attorney, she set up the city’s first environmental justice division.
From a new perch in the Oval Office, Harris could throw the full weight of the White House behind the prosecution of Big Oil’s climate lies. That could include everything from further empowering the Federal Trade Commission to go after the industry’s price gouging to appointing a new attorney general (perhaps one that’s already suing Big Oil) to lead a new lawsuit on behalf of the Department of Justice.
Harris would certainly have the support of the American people. According to a February poll, 78% of voters agree that oil companies who misled the public about climate change should be held accountable. That includes 91% of Democrats and 85% of Black voters. A DOJ case also has strong support from Democratic elected officials. At the conclusion of their years’ long investigation into Big Oil’s climate deception, the main ask from Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) and his Democratic colleagues on the Senate Budget Committee was for the DOJ to launch their own investigation. With nearly all Americans now feeling the impacts of the climate crisis, the push to make polluters pay for the damage they’ve done has never been stronger.
This Tuesday, leading Democrats will be hosting a press conference and rally on Capitol Hill to announce a new Make Polluters Pay Agenda that brings together their best proposals for how to hold fossil fuel companies accountable for their price gouging, lies, and climate damages. With President Harris in the White House, that agenda could finally become a reality.
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