There’s no valid defense against the conclusion that fossil fuel energy systems expanding emissions of greenhouse gases is criminal… well, except the current law

I say there’s need for as much noise as possible about climate change, and, yes, best to be well-informed, of course. Here’s something that is increasing clear: Big Oil has turned the government of the United States into their bum boy, reversing climate progress and attempting to put in place programs that will have them sell fossil fuels for many decades to come, both to domestic gas power utilities and to as many foreign markets as can be gained.

This isn’t “just business.” This isn’t “free market.” This is a future that is antithetical to reducing carbon emissions at the very time that reducing carbon emissions is exactly what needs doing to keep climate change from getting worse and worse. This is a future being pursued through corruption that exceeds the worst previous instances of corruption in the history of the United States.

I’m not sure that polite restraint and cautious, faultless understanding of every aspect of climate change is all that useful, considering the battle ahead. There certainly seems to be a rise in calls for moderation, for calm, for getting everything right, for pinpoint accuracy on every bit of climate science and future projections, and the recent Bill Gates piece is just one example. Of course, predicting the future, especially for complex systems, is not a matter of pinpoint accuracy. But while we can’t know exactly what the global average temperature rise will be exactly when, we know global warming is a fact.

Somehow, though, there are those in the climate change arena who point to others’ distress about climate change and see such behavior as unseemly, apparently. Let’s all remain polite, shall we? How about a cup of tea, and please don’t raise your voice or point fingers.

Here’s the response to the persistent dictate that discussions about climate change should be decorous: Bullshit.

Climate change is a political issue, but it is also a moral issue: We must turn up the temperature on those forces that would burn the world up. We must make this immorality illegal.

The “politeness” sentiment is illustrated in the COP30 aftermath and in the previous COPs and other national and international meetings about climate change and in the coverage of the topic by mainstream (read “corporate”) media. Somehow, after more than enough evidence to the contrary, we still think fossil fuel interests must have a role in decisions about transitioning away from fossil fuels, or that Saudi Arabia or other petrostates have any right to skew consensus about addressing climate change. Here’s something we should all agree on: Al Gore’s view that the fossil fuel industry is the enemy of climate progress. To think otherwise is to concede the battle.

It is crucial that people be alarmed about climate change and that climate change is a core political issue.

While we may not know exactly what lies ahead, we know certainly that climate change is a big problem. We know that humans have been altering their environment at the geophysical level in the use of fossil fuels and that’s not good for a whole lot of species, including us. So, bicker if you wish about the definition of a point-something degree or the state of research that shows how much climate change will hurt the world’s GDP by 2050, but keep in mind that we already stand on a planet-wide emergency footing. Keep in mind that President Big Oil Stooge is making things worse in the United States, reversing a lot of carbon emission reduction efforts. Keep in mind that the U.S. is the second biggest carbon emitter in the world, with China having taken the gold only recently and threatening to give it back to us.

The good news is that it does look like the transition to clean energy is going to happen. Renewables and batteries have economy of scale and technological advantages and affordability fundamentals that fossil fuel lacks. The Electrotech Revolution is unstoppable.

Unfortunately, The Electrotech Revolution is being slowed down, at least here in the U.S., which, imperialistic thinking or not, means a slow down for the rest of the world, too. The real issue isn’t if The Electrotech Revolution happens, but rather will it happen fast enough. Even without Trump pressing his thumb on the scale to benefit fossil fuels, there are plenty of other headwinds. Build, baby, build should be the constant order of the day, at least if we’re talking clean tech and grid technologies and digital power management systems and not natural gas generation plants.

Yet too many in the climate movement minimize what we are up against, which is Big Oil, and its annual worldwide $5trillion dollar market. Come on, wake up and smell the petrochemicals: fossil fuels have been cavalierly dumping shit into everyone’s air, literally, and have been doing this since Day One, 200 hundred or so years ago, even while selling this shit to an ever-growing population that’s now surpassed 8 billion people. It’s not like I’m trying to argue that significant human advancement, including the 8 billion-plus people, couldn’t have happened without fossil fuels. Sure, okay. So stipulated. Thank you for your service, but retire already, and here’s your gold watch.

Fossil fuels are no longer the cheapest and faster way to bring power to people. Renewables are now cheaper and faster to put in place, with greater implementation flexibility, including micro grids not requiring the huge infrastructure buildout for transmission, and these are all good characteristics and a great comfort given the humans’ world-wide need for energy and the societal benefits that ensue from energy wealth.

Now that we have the tools and technologies of solar, wind, batteries (and some other still emerging technologies), we must confront the huge, entrenched interests of fossil fuel. This includes not just Big Oil but those who, for near-term rewards, support Big Oil’s ongoing nefarious climate change deny and delay tactics and market distortion strategies. Whether driven by delusional conviction or operating cynically for self-benefit, the fossil fuel corporations and petrostates and their supporters should be objects of close attention and reprobation. We must combat Big Oil’s corruption that extracts unfair advantages for market gain. We must demand legislation that identifies as criminal the corrupting activities of Big Oil and their minions, corruption aimed to keep Big Oil profiting from what is now a clearly inferior and more dangerous energy production system.

Climate change is a political issue, but it is also a moral issue: We must turn up the temperature on those forces that would burn the world up. We must make this immorality illegal.

The fact that clean energy has an established history of and the certain capacity for being more affordable and safer energy should make it easier to push for laws that directly block Big Oil’s corrupting practices. Let’s vote for political candidates who push for safer, cleaner, more affordable energy and for legislation to make political and market corruption illegal again.

It’s a win/win.