Causes.com
| 5.30.23
Big Oil Owes $209 Billion for Climate Reparations Annually
Do you think fossil fuel companies should owe billions in climate reparations?
What's the story?
- A study from One Earth found that fossil fuel companies worldwide owe a minimum of $209 billion in climate reparations to compensate the communities affected by their operations.
- BP, Shell, ExxonMobil, Total, and Chevron were among the 21 largest polluters, accountable for an estimated $5.4 trillion in climate-related disasters such as droughts, wildfires, sea level rise, and melting glaciers between 2025 and 2050.
- The study attributes one-third of future climate costs to the global fossil fuel industry.
- Margaretha Wewerinke-Singh, associate professor of sustainability law at the University of Amsterdam, told The Guardian:
"This evidence and the underlying methodology could provide policymakers and negotiators with a concrete framework for allocating responsibility for climate-related costs to the world's biggest historical polluters."
Who should pay?
- The "polluter pays principle" (PPP) is an economic concept that says whoever creates adverse environmental effects should be responsible for covering the expenses associated with those harms.
- An evidence-based "polluter pays" price tag is seen as a crucial move towards climate justice for communities and countries that have contributed less but are disproportionately affected by climate change.
- Harjeet Singh, head of global political strategy at Climate Action Network International, said of the report:
"As increasingly devastating storms, floods and sea level rise bring misery to millions of people every day, questions around reparations have come to the fore. This new report puts the numbers on the table – polluters can no longer hide from their crimes against humanity and nature."
- At last year's UN COP27 summit, governments agreed to create a "loss and damage" financing fund which aims to partially compensate vulnerable nations for the economic and non-economic damages caused by extreme weather events.
Should carbon corporations compensate victims of the climate crisis?
-Laura Woods
(Photo credit: Unsplash)
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Since we have evidence that they've known about the dangers of climate change for years and lied and deceived us while collecting massive tax subsidies, they deserve to pay.
I no longer have any tolerance for corporate neglect and malfeasance, especially when large corporations pay very few taxes.
Make then pay.
Need a maybe because it depends how it's done.
Big oil needs to be held accountable but it needs to be based regulations and infractions of the regulations.
The new EPA regulation is a good example of setting targets like a 25% reduction in emissions but not specify how e.g. carbon removal technology, switching to green sources, etc and leaving that to company scientists and engineers to figure out.
NO we have the cleanest emissions of any country
Big corps get away from accountability
Big oil Big pharma all of them
make a few hundred billion - set aside 5-10 billion for token slap on the wrist, legal fees, lobbyists, legislators and move on to the next game
shame on congress
shame on judiciary & scotus
big oil should pay nothing. china is the biggest poltluter of the atmospherer charge them a larger tax to import their shit products into our country. the debt ceiling being raised shouldnt happen until washington can get some business sense. we r taxed enough and washington just keeps giving money out. its time to take care of our country not the world.
To prove they're serious they should all stop using any type of fossil fuel. Put your money where your mouth is,so to speak.
Big Oil has knowingly damaged our environment for decades, and to add insult to injury, American Tax Payers have been subsidizing these same companies for decades. It is not only "right" that they pay reparations; it is also necessary that their windfall subsidies be brought to a screeching halt.
Big oil only cares for profit and doesn't give a whatever for the environment or the people on this planet. We are noticing many changes that have taken place due to the warming climate. None are positive.
I think any impetus for getting fossil fuel companies to look toward renewable energy would be a good thing. They don't have to make less money; they just have to pivot.
I keep pointing to things like Joe Manchin's own consituents telling him, "We want to move away from coal and get trained on these new jobs that will pay us more for longer," he's like, "Nope. I make money from coal, so screw your futures."
https://www.wvnews.com/news/wvnews/why-coal-miners-are-pushing-manchin-to-pass-a-climate-bill/article_49bbe026-7ad1-11ec-bce5-671acd6da1e3.html
This is a maybe. China is a huge problem and somehow the narrative is still mostly about being woke. I believe money should come from them but to the communities? It's callus to say but in the long term if the money were to go to STEM in relation to energy and environmental maintenance this would reduce the US footprint with new technologies and techniques and push our economy forward to be more competitive with China. With that much money annually you could create jobs with water filtration plants, desalination etc #Centrist
Oil companies knew about the harm decades ago but hid this from the public all while bribing elected officials to do their bidding. They need to be held accountable for their actions. The harm they have done s their responsibility.
Jail! Jail! Look, these gangsters bought our politicians to hide this crisis and the corporate media buried the news and give me a break. I want them to no longer be American. I want them out. I want them jailed or whatever punishment we the people vote on, for who I consider traitors. You may call them psychotics, grifters, or conmen, or traitors like me because they are vile criminals who lost everything! I want justice! Justice! Put up or resign
Fossil fuels owe alot for their lies!
Fossil fuels are chemical weapons.
So why on earth does the GOP keep on insisting to subsidize them on top of this debt owed to Americans?
Yes. Fossil Fuel Corporations and their insatiable greed have ruined large swathes of our world. If they don't stop or aren't forced to stop they will kill Mother Earth and Homo sapiens sapiens will go extinct.
They would only pass it on in higher energy prices. And I'm already paying 33% more for gas than the day before the 2020 election.
The gov can tell you, the corps are irresponsible but the gov taxes these oil producers products from the initial stage to the retail point along the way and that means you pay for the excess fees and taxes....When the gov screws up they still make you pay and hold no one responsible......why does the gov get it both ways???
If we truly wanted to protect the human race and the country we should send our military after the oil billionaires if they try to pay up a single day late.
They have suppressed knowledge of their damaging production and processes. They should pay!
This is a tough one but I see this as an "fossil fuel tax" which the producers of fossil fuels would pay! I do not think it is unreasonable for these companies to pay for the damages they are causing to the environment. And when you look at the profits these companies make ofn fossil fuels, this is a small amount. In the long run, it is the consumer of fossil fuels that will pay this tax!! It all flows downhill!!