Like many others, Oregonians felt the impacts of extreme weather events caused by climate change
As world leaders met during the UN climate summit, COP26, to discuss the unfolding ecological collapse brought upon the planet by their own inaction and the greed of those who have long bought the rules, evidence continued to mount that the time for talk has passed.
A cursory list of extreme weather events during the conference compiled by The Washington Post paints an alarming picture of an increasingly unstable planet. Parts of the southeastern United States experienced record high water levels and severe flooding the weekend of Nov. 5. Around the same time as the flooding in the southeast, parts of China faced record snowfall. A few days later, parts of Australia received more than a foot of rain in 24 hours. These are only a few of the items that made the list.
Just last week, coastal Oregon communities faced record flooding and mudslides, which also made the list.
As a newspaper focused on inequity, Street Roots applies an additional lens to climate change in addition to the fact that our species and thousands of others are facing a time of extreme peril as the environment becomes less accommodating to survival. Like many problems the world faces, those without adequate shelter, financial resources and health care will bear a disproportionate amount of the consequences.
In the last 14 months, Oregon has experienced a number of extreme weather events and disasters caused by, or significantly contributed to, by climate change. In September 2020, it was wildfires that burned a breathtaking 1.1 million acres of forest and made the air thick with smoke and ash. In February, a snowstorm hit the region leaving hundreds of thousands without power and making streets and sidewalks impassable for days. In the summer, record heat waves blanketed the area, including one in June that killed 110 people in Oregon.
During each of the events mentioned above, people with shelter and access to things like air conditioners, air purifiers and generators were spared from the most extreme ramifications of these events. For now, people with enough money can run or hide from climate change. People living without access to those resources don’t have the same options.
Given the stakes of the situation at hand, piecemeal agreements and hollow commitments are woefully inadequate, as is focusing on individual consumer choices.
Much was made in the media about the consumer choices presented to attendees of the conference and the carbon footprint of all items in the food court. Much like recycling, electric cars, conserving electricity in the home and the numerous ways environmental responsibility has been passed to consumers, it’s missing the point of how we arrived a few miles down the wrong road from the crossroad — and how we might make our way back. Like anything else, cynical corporations found a cultural interest in something and turned it into a consumer trend.
“Wealthy governments, corporations and individuals have been the primary contributors to carbon dioxide emissions and the main beneficiaries of fossil fuel consumption,” an Oregon State University study found earlier this year.
This finding in the OSU study is nothing new to those who follow the science. While everyone making individual choices about their use of resources can be an important part of the equation, the fact remains that most individuals will never have access to the amount of resources expended by outdated industrial practices, let alone the option to conserve them.
According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), industry accounts for nearly twice the emissions (23%) as the category of “commercial and residential” (13%), which is defined as “greenhouse gas emissions from businesses and homes ... primarily from fossil fuels burned for heat, the use of certain products that contain greenhouse gases, and the handling of waste.”
So if every home and place of business in the country went carbon zero tomorrow, it would account for just over 20% of the estimated total greenhouse gas emissions reduction needed to avoid the direst consequences of climate change.
Of course, transportation accounts for the highest percentage of any category (29%), although this number includes the transportation used for industry and commerce like planes and trucks, in addition to personal vehicles. The way society is structured precludes (or excludes) many from more sustainable forms of transportation like bicycling or public transit. People with multiple jobs, kids to take care of, homework to do, etc. have nary a moment to waste in their daily lives, or may not even have access to a bus or rail line, or safe roads for bicycles, as an alternative to driving their own car.
The reasons why climate change cannot be adequately addressed by personal choices can be listed ad nauseam, much like the reasons why the time for “blah blah blah,” as Greta Thunberg so eloquently described it, has passed.
The systems in place created the problems in place, and the only way we can change the path we’re on is by significantly altering those systems. As long as world leaders acquiesce to the interests of the powerful, extreme weather events and global desperation will grow more acute.
Street Roots is an award-winning weekly publication focusing on economic, environmental and social justice issues. The newspaper is sold in Portland, Oregon, by people experiencing homelessness and/or extreme poverty as means of earning an income with dignity. Street Roots newspaper operates independently of Street Roots advocacy and is a part of the Street Roots organization. Learn more about Street Roots. Support your community newspaper by making a one-time or recurring gift today.
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