Oil Barons Own the Earth
We are burning ancient plants and animals (aka fossil fuels, not renewable) to jet around and wear fast fashion, and build highways and skyscrapers, and heat outdoor swimming pools in autumn, and shiver inside in summer, and convert lush ecosystems into sprawling and unwalkable suburbs with silly lawns, and commute alone in our cars to jobs that do
... See moreAyana Elizabeth Johnson • What If We Get It Right?: Visions of Climate Futures
"You might presume, then, that this means our broader appetite for minerals is diminishing. Not a bit of it. For it turns out oil and other fossil fuels have only ever represented a fraction of the total mass of resources we’re extracting from the earth. For every tonne of fossil fuels, we exploit 6 tonnes of other materials – mostly sand and
... See moreMalm and Carton consider and dismantle the optimism of carbon capture and geoengineering, and they pile up evidence for the extraordinary financial investment since 2020 in what they call “fossil capital.” Any meaningful energy transition would make those immense pools of capital worthless—oil that can’t be pumped, pipelines that can’t be used,... See more