Photo by Drew Hays on Unsplash

The carbon footprint is a concept promoted by the oil industry to evade responsibility for cooking the Earth. It’s past time that we see through this and simply stop them from taking fossil fuels out of the ground. Either WE do this, or we doom our own children.

Yes, it’s really that simple. We won’t be saved by politicians, by businessmen, by intellectuals, by anybody riding in on a white horse. WE need to do it.

The good thing is we can. The bad thing is it won’t happen unless we do.

When someone tells me what I can do personally to lower your carbon footprint, I simply tell them the truth:

“I have never owned a car. My home doesn’t have central air. I walk nearly everywhere. It doesn’t matter. This problems will not be stopped by individuals reducing their use of fossil fuels. It will happen only when fossil fuel energy is replaced by clean energy. People everywhere use the energy that’s available to them. Period.”

A single industry is destroying the climate and has been for decades. They’ve known exactly what they are doing all along. Even as the planet burns, they continue to maximize profits at the expense of every living thing on the planet. Including the children of the executives. They can’t help themselves. WE must stop them.

People don’t choose fossil fuels. If there were no cars using gasoline, only electric cars, they’d be plugging in at charging stations everywhere. If fossil fuel companies didn’t sell their products to homeowners to power their homes, people would use whatever was available to them. They’d use solar, they’d use nuclear, they’d use tidal power. They’d use whatever was available to them.

You know this. The fossil fuel profiteers know this. Politicians know this. Businessmen know this.

We ALL know this.

Because politicians and businessmen have always failed, because media and pundits get it wrong, and especially because the fossil fuel industry will continue to abuse the planet until we are all dead, WE MUST STOP THEM.

There are many ways to go about this. Yes, you feel powerless and you are paralyzed by anxiety and despair. Get over it. We are all in the same boat. But we CAN do this. Big changes like this always come from ordinary people when they realize THEY HAVE THE NUMBERS and THEY HAVE THE POWER.

In Sri Lanka last week, ordinary people ousted their failed leader without firing a shot. This is simply the most recent example. It happens all the time.

We know what’s needed. We know that failed leaders and any rules that block climate action must be removed right away. We know that this planet belongs to the young people who will inherit it, and that rightfully young climate activists must be put in charge. We know that climate scientist and engineers know best how to stop climate collapse and that a planet-wide emergency program is needed to end climate abuse. We know this program must be huge in scope and fully supported.

We know that we are almost out of time.

There are various approaches to taking control and rescuing the Earth. I personally favor trying everything because we don’t know what will work. That said, my favorite — an approach that empowers every sane person who cares to help — is described in A Climate Declaration.

Please read it, download it and — if you approve — live it.

Thank you.