Dec. 16, 2020
Time to address climate change
In the early 2000s, British Petroleum unveiled a propaganda campaign to deflect responsibility from itself as the true source of fossil fuel emissions. The question they asked was, “What is your carbon footprint?” implying that we, the public, could significantly reduce carbon emissions by making lifestyle changes. Meanwhile, the company produced close to 4 million barrels of oil a day and continued acquiring new oil and gas reserves.
While we can try to make responsible choices, our options are often limited, and only make a small impact. So, the question should be what can BP do about its carbon footprint? Oil and gas companies get enormous subsidies while profiting from spewing heat-trapping carbon emissions into our atmosphere. How can we address this?
We can support legislation that lowers emissions on a massive scale by putting fees on carbon pollution at the source — the fuel and oil companies. Numerous studies have shown that legislation like the Energy Innovation and Carbon Dividend Act will create energy options, clean our air and promote a thriving economy.
Now that we have a president who is making climate change a top priority, we must support bills that help him address this existential threat.
