Article Reflection No. 59 (7/16/2023)

Article: Big Heat and Big Oil

Reflection:

The New Yorker article “Big Heat and Big Oil” emphasizes on the burning of fossil fuels—a timely topic, with the global onslaught of torrential rain and scorching afternoons. As reported by The New York Times, precipitation in South Korea led to twenty-six deaths. Palm Springs’s temperature stands at 119 degrees Fahrenheit. It’s a scary world.

Across articles that discuss natural disasters, a commonly shared angle that newspapers feature is climate change and its impacts on the specific subject. Each of these articles are reminders of a ticking clock, and each moment that passes without effective action feels burdensome.

Journalist Bill McKibben begins his article by referring to a statement by Wael Sawal, the Europe energy company Shell’s C.E.O. Sawal, McKibben writes, stated that the company would decrease gas and oil production at least one percent per year, until 2030. However, the C.E.O. withdrew this pledge in a BBC interview, justifying his actions through inflation—producing fossil fuel was, to Sawal, necessary to maintain the “‘cost of living’” (par. 1). McKibben then proceeds into the effects of climate change, noting that the El Nino (which leads to atypical surface warming across the eastern tropical Pacific) has jumped from an average 62.45 degrees Fahrenheit (2016) to 63.01 degrees Fahrenheit (2023). The journalist continues by highlighting inaction regarding climate change as “the most irresponsible thing that humans have ever done”, and ultimately wraps his article by stating that the U.S. inaction against (and action for) climate change has made the country a potential headquarters site for Shell itself. “If the disasters we’re seeing this month aren’t enough to shake us out of that torpor,” McKibben writes, “then the chances of our persevering for another hundred and twenty-five thousand years seem remote.”

Climate change is a real, imminent issue. This year, from November 30 to December 12, COP 28 will be held. The previous conference—COP 27—resulted in “modest, incremental progress on reducing emissions”, according to the World Resources Institute. I hope this one will be better. I really, really hope. I’ve been thinking about how I can create a campaign that advocates for erasing emails—I read that doing so can reduce one’s carbon footprint. Although it’s a small step individually, I believe that it is capable of making significant, beneficial change. It all starts with awareness, right?

(Climate Central)