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Do We have an Individual Responsibility to Fight Climate Change?
How Big Oil has shifted the blame for years, and it has distorted our views on climate action
While individuals can certainly make a difference by consuming less energy, it is unrealistic to expect ordinary citizens to save the planet by having less children and taking shorter showers. It is far more practical for policymakers and large corporations to address the issue head on, and stop allowing the same weight of responsibility to fall on individuals as it does on Big Corp.
The truth is: 100 companies are responsible for 71 percent of all greenhouse gases released into the atmosphere since 1998, and the top eight largest consumers constitute one-third of all carbon emissions. For decades, many of these companies have actively spread misinformation or suppressed the damaging effects of climate change.
Just a few years ago, executives of Exxon Mobil acknowledged they have known the devastating effects of climate change for decades, all while keeping this information privately amongst their company secrets. They aren’t the only ones, though. In 2005, British Petroleum (BP) infamously popularized the concept of carbon footprint, the idea that individuals should be held accountable and look for ways to incorporate more sustainable and eco-friendly habits in their lives. Only five years…
