Big Oil, Political Power and Climate Change

By Ainsley Wilkinson

The presentation by Professor Michael R. Edelstein called “The Ugly, The Bad, The Good,” outlined exactly those aspects of the current climate crisis and its situation within politics, and the possibilities for the future. Some of the information presented by Mr. Edelstein at Ramapo College’s online climate conference was extremely disheartening and seemed to set the stage for doom, whereas other bits highlighted a glimmer of hope.

One thing became clear: as of now, most laws and systems in place will lead us to the imminent destruction of our environment, but the Good lies in what is possible for the near future with enough mutual effort. The Bad, as Mr. Edelstein told it, is basically what the current situation is. He explained how “big oil” has had a major influence on both political parties for over a century, and each president has, in some way, helped to restore/preserve big oil. This fact baffled me but once I remembered the money aspect of it, it all made sense. Money is really the most powerful factor in politics, as absurd as that is.

The presentation said that Exxon Mobile is the 16th wealthiest corporation in the world. Exxon has known about the effects of climate change, including their personal contribution to it, for over 40 years. They actively fund climate denial, distorting climate facts, hiring climate change deniers, and attacking scientists. This really gave me the impression that their power, stemmed in their money, is astronomical and almost impossible to permeate. The presentation continued to explain how these companies through money which should have no place in politics find their way in.

The Supreme Court’s 2010 ruling in the “Citizens United” case enabled corporations to spend unlimited amounts of money on candidates and elections. The wealthier the corporate donor, the more power they receive in actual lawmaking. This fact hit me hard. We grow up believing that laws and political decisions are made solely by highly educated individuals with only the best interests of the people in mind, and this completely contradicts that. Companies who are willing to run the environment, our world, to the ground in order to make a profit are not the people who should have any say in politics. Coupled with active climate change denial in the White House, it is no wonder why none of the people who actually have the power to enact legislative change are willing to do so; they’re only concerned about how big their next check is going to be.

The Good stands for what is yet to be done, but can be done. Mr. Edelstein explained how we are reaching a tipping point. The fossil fuel industry has a tight grip on the US and we have a large dependency on them. On one side of this tipping point is a complete structural shift of energy sources, on the track to sustainability. The other side is the road we’ve been on and could continue on, straight towards complete environmental destruction.

The upcoming presidential election plays a pivotal role in this tipping point. Each candidate has made climate change one of their central issues, as the public and scientific concern cannot be ignored anymore. Joe Biden has presented a strong climate plan, saying “I understand the urgency and together we can get this done.” On the other hand, Donald Trump has simply proclaimed, “I am the number one Environmental President since Teddy Roosevelt.” To me, addressing the issue of climate change in a speech is one thing, but truly recognizing its existence and generating change is entirely different.

It made me realize that, although completely wrong, it takes politicians’ sacrifice in order to go against some of their biggest donors and enact genuine change. The issue then lies in who would be willing to do so, and I find it hard to believe that the sacrifice of million-dollar checks is one that Trump would ever be willing to make. Nevertheless, the Good still exists and it exists in the knowledge of the people. The presentation said that 73% of those polled said that climate change is happening, 68% of which expressed concern. There is so much potential good: shifting to renewables is possible, and enough solar energy hits the earth in one hour to power the human demand for a year!

Mr. Edelstein described climate change as becoming the “issue de jour,” which I think is very fitting. This presentation empowered me, and pointed out that the power that the people hold in this issue is the public pressure and intimidation we can instill in politicians, constantly reminding them that we haven’t forgotten our world is at the brink of disaster and that they are to blame.