Current:Home > FinanceHow 90 Big Companies Helped Fuel Climate Change: Study Breaks It Down-LoTradeCoin
How 90 Big Companies Helped Fuel Climate Change: Study Breaks It Down
View Date:2024-12-23 19:58:54
Can millimeters of sea level rise or increments of warming on the globe’s thermometer be attributed to specific energy companies? A new study attempts to do that, and says that more than a quarter of sea level rise and about half the warming from 1880 to 2010 can be traced back to just 90 corporations.
The study comes as energy companies confront lawsuits and shareholder resolutions seeking to account for their contributions to climate change.
The new paper, published last week in the journal Climatic Change, builds on earlier research finding that nearly two-thirds of historical greenhouse gas emissions came from the products and operations of just 90 companies—mostly fossil fuel producers, plus a few cement companies.
The researchers from the Union of Concerned Scientists and two universities took the reasoning another step and calculated how much of the actual change in the climate can be tied to those extra emissions.
Using models, they calculated that the greenhouse gas emissions of these 90 companies accounted for around 42 to 50 percent of the global temperature increase and about 26 to 32 percent of global sea level rise over the course of industrial history, from 1880 to 2010. Since 1980, a time when global warming was first getting wide attention, their emissions have accounted for around 28 to 35 percent of rising temperatures and around 11 to 14 percent of rising seas.
While some of the companies are huge—Chevron, Saudi Aramco, ExxonMobil, Gazprom—even the biggest of them weren’t blamed for more than about 1 or 2 percent of the rising tides or temperatures.
The next step, one of the authors suggested, would be to calculate the damages from those changes—and decide if the companies should help pay for them.
“We know climate impacts are worsening and they’re becoming more costly. The question is who’s responsible and who should pay the costs,” said Brenda Ekwurzel, the lead author of the paper and director of climate science at the Union of Concerned Scientists. “In the United States, taxpayers are footing the bill entirely. So maybe with numbers like this you can put in the mix the producers.”
In July, three local governments in California sued a group of oil and gas companies, arguing that executives knew for decades that the “greenhouse gas pollution from their fossil fuel products had a significant impact on the Earth’s climate and sea levels.”
The state attorneys general of New York and Massachusetts, meanwhile, are investigating whether Exxon misled investors about its risks from climate change.
Exxon and Chevron did not respond to requests for comment for this article. The American Petroleum Institute declined to comment.
Ekwurzel said the paper is only a first step for trying to sort out who is responsible for what as the costs of climate change grow. “We can calculate these numbers, and we don’t expect them to directly equal responsibility,” she said. “That’s really for juries, policymakers, civil society conversation going forward.”
Generally, state efforts to cap greenhouse gas emissions, such as California’s cap-and-trade system, hold companies accountable only for their direct emissions. But just because it’s fossil fuel consumers like power plants and drivers who ultimately burn the coal, oil and gas that emit greenhouse gases, that doesn’t let the producers off the hook, she added.
“A common complaint is, what about utilities, what about car-driving,” Ekwurzel said. “The thing is, is it the activities or is it how we’ve chosen to power those activities? We know there are other ways to move through space or to turn on the lights that don’t rely as much on fossil fuels.”
veryGood! (7)
Related
- Horoscopes Today, November 11, 2024
- Israel's war with Hamas leaves Gaza hospitals short on supplies, full of dead and wounded civilians
- Federal agents search home of fundraiser for New York City Mayor Eric Adams
- US to send $425 million in aid to Ukraine, US officials say
- What Republicans are saying about Matt Gaetz’s nomination for attorney general
- Trump eyes radical immigration shift if elected in 2024, promising mass deportations and ideological screenings
- Jessica Simpson Has the Perfect Response to Madison LeCroy's Newlyweds Halloween Costume
- Key Swiss rail tunnel damaged by derailment won’t fully reopen until next September
- Inside Dream Kardashian's Sporty 8th Birthday Party
- $7.1 million awarded to Pennsylvania woman burned in cooking spray explosion
Ranking
- Why Amanda Seyfried Traded Living in Hollywood for Life on a Farm in Upstate New York
- How the South is trying to win the EV race
- Gerry Turner explains his wild lion tattoo before 'Golden Bachelor' heads to hometowns
- 3 former New Mexico State basketball violated school sexual harassment policies, according to report
- Quincy Jones' Cause of Death Revealed
- Jimmy Buffett swings from fun to reflective on last album, 'Equal Strain on All Parts'
- Bruce Bochy is only manager in MLB history to win title with team he beat in World Series
- China supported sanctions on North Korea’s nuclear program. It’s also behind their failure
Recommendation
-
Mike Tyson vs. Jake Paul VIP fight package costs a whopping $2M. Here's who bought it.
-
Crews begin removing debris amid ongoing search for worker trapped after Kentucky mine collapse
-
Northern Michigan man pleads guilty to charges in death of 2 women
-
As culture wars plague local elections, LGBTQ+ candidates flock to the ballot
-
'I know how to do math': New Red Lobster CEO says endless shrimp deal is not coming back
-
'Paradigm' shift: Are Commanders headed for rebuild after trading defensive stars?
-
Corey Seager, Marcus Semien showed why they're the 'backbone' of Rangers' World Series win
-
Why Olivia Rodrigo and Actor Louis Partridge Are Sparking Romance Rumors