Read the latest insights and analysis from the experts at Oil Change International.
Climate change and the right to breathe clean air are rapidly rising up the political agenda in the United Kingdom. The ruling Conservative Party is now attempting to weaponize these issues as part of a toxic culture war to prevent action on climate.
So it has come to this. A nation on its knees, struggling to breathe under extreme heat and choking smoke. For millions of Americans this morning if you go outside, you will be be hit by a wall of smoke or unrelenting heat.
They say that politicians often operate in a bubble, removed from the rest of us. They have a blinkered view of reality, distorted by privilege and power.
The Secretary General of the UN, António Guterres, says we “seem trapped in a world where fossil fuel producers and financiers have humanity by the throat". And Big Oil’s deadly stranglehold is having devastating consequences, from floods to heatwaves, as extreme weather grips many parts of the world.
Leading climate scientists have revealed that there is a “very strong likelihood” that one of the next five years will be the warmest on record and that the chance of at least one of the next five year’s exceeding 1.5°C is rapidly increasing.
With the war in Ukraine dragging on into its second month, there is a relentless depressing news cycle. But as war dominates, other issues slip from the news agenda.
We need to act now to reduce emissions to reduce killer heat and killer floods. And yet only 10 per cent of the $17 trillion spent by governments on post-COVID bailouts has been directed to cutting greenhouse gas emissions and restoring nature.
The godfather of climate science, Dr James Hansen and fourteen environmental groups have called on the UK Government to “resolutely reject” the proposals to drill for oil and gas in the new Cambo field, which is west of Shetland, just months before the UK hosts the crucial COP 26 climate talks.
All the way from Northern Canada to New Zealand, killer heat is having a devastating effect on people, wildlife and our natural environment. And there seems to be no respite for some of the worst affected areas.
As I write, the Western parts of the U.S. are already suffering from record heat, and forecasts for an additional heatwave in the U.S. Pacific Northwest suggest all-time heat records could be broken across the region over the weekend.
