Freeze the thawing permafrost to drill more oil
Living on a heating planet always comes with some ironies. For one thing, the people who are most to blame for global warming (the rich and powerful) are also shielded from its worst effects. Meanwhile, airlines push fossil-fuel burning tourist flights to see Antarctica’s melting ice, and cruise companies hype energy-intensive trips to see polar bears in the Arctic before they’re gone.
The latest plan by ConocoPhillips may top them all. The Houston-based energy giant plans to produce 590 million barrels of oil from a massive drilling project in Alaska’s National Petroleum Reserve. But climate change is melting the ground in the reserve so fast that the company may be forced to use chilling devices to keep the ground beneath roads and drilling pads frozen.
Yes, you read that right: An oil company is prepared to freeze melting permafrost in order to keep extracting oil. And it just so happens that ConocoPhillips is ranked 21st among the 100 companies responsible for most of humanity’s carbon emissions over the past several decades. [Read more]
The world knows we are experiencing a climate crisis. The efforts to save the world by lowering emissions is a failure as long as more money is pumped into fossil fuel development, rather than restoring an environmental balance. Those with money, fuelling the fires, feel the need to create as much wealth as possible. It will protect them from the coming world disasters. They will be able to buy food and water as more resources are depleted. They will be able to afford homes with air-conditions that protect them from the extreme heatwaves.
There's a lot of us, who won't be so lucky.