This article is part of a series in which those who call Alaska home are speaking their minds about climate change.

You can make your voice heard on these issues!  Alaska’s own Senator Murkowski is the Chair of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee.  Tell her to act on climate change by signing our petition, sending a letter we’ve written, or contacting her yourself.  Her office can be reached at 202-224-6665, by mail at 709 Hart Senate Building, Washington, D.C. 20510, or through this contact form.

Sijo and fellow Fossil Free organizers lead a song at a Stanford rally.

My name is Sijo Smith and I'm in my sophomore year at Stanford University. I've lived in Alaska my whole life, and ever since I can remember I've loved everything outdoors. I've been hiking since before I can remember- my dad tells me he used to bribe me up mountains with gummy bears, and my dad took me skiing as a baby on his back. I love listening to coyotes and owls outside my house, and seeing moose and bears wander through my yard.

I didn't really know much about environmentalism, or even fossil fuels, all I knew was that everybody got really excited about the PFD every year, which had something to do with oil. As I learned more about Alaska's economy, I learned how much of it was based on oil and the pipeline. In school I was always taught about the benefits of oil for our economy, but I always wondered about the dangers for nature. Money wasn't something I cared about when I was little, so the nature argument had a lot more value for me. Throughout middle school and high school, I guess I'd say I was somewhat of a "closet environmentalist." It was really hard to be outspoken about my beliefs, given how little they were shared. (Once in my Spanish class, my teacher asked how many people believed in global warming- the only people to raise their hands were her, me, and the German foreign exchange student.) The "Taking Environmental Action" club was just a glorified name for recycling club- the administration didn't really allow anything more. When I was in 11th grade I wrote an essay based on a very nature-themed excerpt of The Way to Rainy Mountain and E.B. White's "Once More to the Lake." My teacher loved the essay, but when I expressed that I actually do believe the pro-nature stance I took in the essay, I got a lot of hippie and tree-hugger jokes. That sort of thing was fairly common. Additionally, two of my best friends have parents that work for either BP or ConocoPhillips, and I never wanted to make them feel unsafe by saying antagonistic things towards the fossil fuel industry. 

However, protecting the environment was always there in my mind. Even if I've never seen the caribou migration, the idea of people disturbing that to drill in ANWR is horrifying to me. I've been to Prudhoe Bay, and it is just not pretty. The idea that hundreds of thousands of acres of land are drilled and destroyed in the name of oil is something I find immensely disturbing. Thinking about the aftermath of the Exxon Valdez oil spill makes me want to cry. And I've seen first hand evidence of climate change- rising tree lines, the first snow fall coming a little later each year, warmer winters and summers, etc. I've worked with my neighbor, the only veterinary anatomic pathology service in Alaska, for the past few years, and in our study of wild animals we've seen the effects of rising temperatures.  I always knew that environmentalism was something I cared about a lot.

Even though I knew climate change was a really, really big issue and that we needed to do a lot to mitigate its effects, I didn't know how to do that. The fossil fuel industry was too big and I was only one person- how could I possibly make a difference? A lot of the time I just felt helpless and overwhelmed by all the obstacles. When I researched Stanford last May, trying to decide where to go to school, divestment from coal came up. I'd vaguely heard the term divestment before- mostly in terms of South Africa- but I didn't really know anything about it. I came to Stanford and learned about the divestment movement and I was surprised and started to get really excited.

To me, divestment is a way I can actually make a difference. I came to Stanford because of all the resources it has and all the opportunities it would give me, and I see divestment as a way to leverage these resources. The movement makes me feel like I can make a difference in Stanford, and I know that Stanford can make a difference in the world. Here, finally, was something tangible that I really can do, and that will make a difference. Sharing the experience with wonderful people who have become some of my favorite at Stanford just makes me that much more invested in the movement.

It's still hard sometimes, because it's hard for me to imagine Alaska without fossil fuels, and I know people who really rely on the industry to survive, and fighting directly against something is difficult for my usually non-confrontational self. However, I really believe it needs to be done. No longer is fighting climate change a "do it for the children" issue, it is my generation's issue. If we don't act, it will become everybody's issue within my lifetime.

I fight for not only children, but the people in coastal cities in danger of flooding, those suffering from the spread of diseases, people who don't have the resources to relocate, or survive heatwaves. I fight for myself, because I want to be able to live my life- but I can't if I don't have a safe world. Fossil fuel companies are actively invested in climate change, which destroys not only the lives of millions, but the future of everyone living in this world.

And not only does Fossil Free fight for divestment from fossil fuel companies, it brings an incredible mindset of environmental awareness. Through Fossil Free, we're able to expose future leaders to the importance of a sustainable future, and help people understand that they do care about the environment. That they must care about climate change, because of its ties to immigration, conflict, health... Any time I'm able to make someone understand how big of an issue this really is, that's a huge victory to me. Because ultimately, that's what this movement is about. Sharing with the world our belief that climate change is an issue, that it's something we need to fight, and that we care enough to really make a stance. I fight for divestment because it reflects my values and moral beliefs, and fighting for mother earth is the right thing to do. Right now, she needs all the help she can get. 

This article is part of a series on climate change, the effects of fossil fuels, and ways towards a sustainable future.

You can make your voice heard on these issues.  Alaska’s own Senator Murkowski is the Chair of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee.  Tell her to act on climate change by signing our petition, sending a letter we’ve written, or contacting her yourself.  Her office can be reached at 202-224-6665, by mail at 709 Hart Senate Building, Washington, D.C. 20510, or through this contact form.

Activist's hold a sign proclaiming "To Change Everything it takes Everyone" at the People's Climate March. Photo: South Bend Voice

Because climate change affects not only the planet, but also the livelihood of the people who live on it, it is an issue of justice.  The effects of climate change disproportionately impact poor communities, especially minority and isolated communities, through the likes of droughts, storms, and rising seas.  The same companies that pump carbon into our atmosphere often step on the land rights of indigenous populations, driving people from their homes so they can drill for oil.  The climate justice movement aims highlight that issues of social, political and economic inequality are inseparable from our environmental issues. When people's health, homes, and livelihoods are threatened by the practices of the fossil fuel industry, when their rights as humans to exist freely in this world are being violated, it is necessary to fight not just against climate change, but for climate justice.

We can look to Ogoniland, Nigeria for a powerfully tragic case of a people who have had to struggle against an oil corporation.  For decades, Shell has drilled destructively in the Niger Delta while skirting many international safety standards, resulting in thousands of spills with a total volume of over a million tons.  Shell also practiced extensive gas flaring, wherein the natural gas byproducts of oil wells was openly burned, sending toxic chemicals like carcinogenic Benzene into the air.  Many Ogoni people were forced from their homes so that Shell could drill into their land.  By the 90s, after much damage to their air, land, and water, these people decided to take a stand against these injustices and organized into the Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People.  Initially, the resistance was successful - Shell briefly halted its operations in Ogoniland.  Soon, however, the Nigerian military government occupied the region and arrested and hung nine leading activists on trumped up charges, despite the condemnation of the international community.  The community accused Shell of working with the government to prompt this oppression.  Documents exist to evidence this collusion, and Shell has even admitted to paying the military on two occasions.  When their human rights abuses were brought to a court years later, Shell settled a lawsuit rather than try to to contest the charges.*

Ogoni protest against Shell's practices. Photo: umich.edu

It is impossible to capture the sufferings of the Ogoni people in writing.  Theirs is a story that showcases the extents to which oil companies will go to turn a profit - that lands were poisoned and protesters murdered so the government and Shell could keep making money is gut-wrenchingly wrong.  But I do not tell this story now to shame anyone, but rather to highlight that the people’s resistance was and is not futile.  In the face of extreme oppression, these people have continued their protests into the new millennium - and their actions have proved fruitful. The Ogoni have secured payments and promises of clean up from Shell in recent years.  These are only steps towards environmental and climate justice - but important ones, brought about by the actions of the people.

It is not only the illegal activities of the fossil fuel industry that harm marginalized communities.  Their fundamental business practice (extracting hydrocarbons to be burnt for energy) directly leads to climate change that is endangering people across the globe.  Glacial melting in Tajikistan has led to floods and mudslides which have forced many residents to abandon their homes.  Extreme drought in Syria made food so scarce for the poorer members of that society that it became a factor in the violent uprising that began in 2011.  Here in Alaska, coastal native villages like Shishmaref, Kivalina and Newtok are coping with the literal loss of their land as warming temperatures melt the permafrost and raise sea levels.  Marginalized communities like these have had to bear the brunt of climate change, despite the more industrialized parts of the world being far more responsible for the carbon pollution that causes it.  This is what climate injustice looks like.

A home topples over as the shore erodes in Shishmaref.  (Photo: Gabriel Bouys/AFP/Getty Images) 

There are people standing up to these injustices throughout the world.  The Unist’ot’en clan has been actively blocking the construction of a TransCanada pipeline through their homeland for the past five years, building structures and fences to ensure this project will not go through their unceded territory.  They resist the aims of companies like Chevron in order to not only protect their own land and water, but to stop the burning of more fossil fuels which will harm the entire world.  In the Amazon rainforest, the Sarayaku people have succeeded in some of their attempts to drive off multinational oil companies trying to drill into their land.  They offer their resistance and their way of living with the land, what they call sumak kawsay, as a model for the rest of the world to avoid climate disaster.  The industrialized world is following suit in standing up to the causes of climate change and has been getting creative with its activism.  Members of Greenpeace suspended themselves from a bridge while others occupied the water in kayaks to try to prevent the passage of a ship Shell needs to drill in the arctic.  Their concerns are not only that arctic drilling could very well cause a disastrous spill, but that exploring for any more oil is incompatible with ensuring a liveable climate.  

The Unist'ot'en camp protecting their lands - the Wet'suweten territory.  Photo: unistotencamp.com

People recognize that the effects of climate change impact people unjustly and unequally, and are rising up around the world to make their voices heard.   They know that climate change is already weighing on people everywhere, and that our governments need to act now to prevent it from becoming even more disastrous.  Last year, hundreds of thousands took to the streets of New York in the largest climate action in history - the People’s Climate March.  Thousands of solidarity events were held in cities on every continent besides Antarctica.  In advance of this year’s UN climate change conference in Paris, more marches are aiming to break these records, gathering as many voices as possible to demand that world leaders take serious actions to halt climate change in its track and bring justice to those suffering disproportionately. Though our leaders’ failures to prioritize climate justice issues can be quite discouraging, the global climate justice movement is incredibly inspiring.  You too can become a part of this movement.  Find groups or protests near you (350.org has a useful map), find ways to support those on the front lines, or organize your own action.  I’ll leave you with the words of Ken Saro-Wiwa, one of the leaders of the Ogoni resistance, who wrote the following from a jail cell several months before he was executed for his role as an activist.

"Whether I live or die is immaterial. It is enough to know that there are people who commit time and energy to fight this one evil among so many others predominating worldwide. If they do not succeed today, they will succeed tomorrow. We must keep on striving to make the world a better place for all of mankind - each one contributing his bit, in his or her own way." -Ken Saro-Wiwa

*For a deeper discussion of the case of Shell in Nigeria, see this piece entitled “Pipe Dreams: Ken Saro-Wiwa, Environmental Justice, and Micro-Minority Rights”.

This article is part of a series in which those who call Alaska home are speaking their minds about climate change.

You can make your voice heard on these issues!  Alaska’s own Senator Murkowski is the Chair of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee.  Tell her to act on climate change by signing our petition, sending a letter we’ve written, or contacting her yourself.  Her office can be reached at 202-224-6665, by mail at 709 Hart Senate Building, Washington, D.C. 20510, or through this contact form.

Other members of Alaska Youth for Environmental Action rally for climate action! Photo: AYEA

My name is Nathan Baring and I am a 15 year old who has lived in Fairbanks all my life. Even in the short time that I have been around, I have begun to see the effects of climate change on Alaska and my hometown of Fairbanks. I see them in the winter rains that are becoming a norm. I see them in the extreme lack of snow in Anchorage and communities like Shishmaref actually losing huge parts of their villages to rising water levels.  Science has been telling us for decades the same thing: Climate change is a reality and it is primarily human caused. Why is it so difficult to grasp and change our ways? We have become so dependent on fossil fuels as an energy source that we continue to desperately reach for any small excuse to deny the idea that we have anything to do with the climate at all. Society today, most notably the enormous power of oil companies, has made it virtually impossible to transition to sources besides fossil fuels for our energy needs. It’s very hard to convince some people to act toward climate change mitigation when the worst impacts are mainly affecting affecting poor, isolated communities. I have written many letters to the editor encouraging people to change just a little bit to reduce their carbon footprints. I have tried to convince people in every way I can think of that climate change might not be a notable problem now, but by the time it becomes one we won’t be able to stop it or even slow it down. The climate movement is trying to bring climate change off of a political agenda and into the communities. We are constantly in a gridlock that keeps us from moving forward, while backwards projects like the Keystone pipeline are still being introduced.

That's me doing some work in the great Alaskan outdoors.

Just sitting back and letting small, poor, coastal communities suffer so that I can continue to burn fossil fuels instead of changing my consumption patterns just isn’t justified. I wouldn’t housesit, trash the house, and then make an excuse for why I didn’t take better care of it. Yet that is a global metaphor for what we are doing to our Earth right now. This is all very doomsday and dark, which isn’t entirely all that is happening on this issue. We have hit some huge highpoints in the last year alone. Pope Francis discusses how Catholics might protect the creation, Norway divested its huge government pension fund from coal, and laws around the world have gotten tougher on carbon emissions. We need to take more steps to ensure climate change doesn’t get out of hand. Switching to alternative energy sources is just the tip of the iceberg. A carbon tax that controls the large amounts of emissions that are pumped into the atmosphere is also another viable solution. These would provide control over our carbon footprints without having us change the ways of life we have become so adapted to. Even small changes like riding a bike to work instead of driving when it’s warm out or carpooling on errands can have an effect as well. We can be creative with our solutions and it can even be fun! My home, Alaska, is one of the places that is ground zero for melting, erosion, and storms. I love the beauty and climate of the north as it is today and that is what drives me to protect it. I want to keep the climate cool so that one day I may teach my children and grandchildren to ski, preserve the polar bears, keep the glaciers that provide freshwater, and most importantly keep communities like Shishmaref from falling into the ocean. Let’s work together on solutions for the preservation and stewardship of our Earth.

This article is part of a series in which those who call Alaska home are speaking their minds about climate change.

You can make your voice heard on these issues!  Alaska’s own Senator Murkowski is the Chair of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee.  Tell her to act on climate change by signing our petition, sending a letter we’ve written, or contacting her yourself.  Her office can be reached at 202-224-6665, by mail at 709 Hart Senate Building, Washington, D.C. 20510, or through this contact form.

Kelsey Skaggs was born and raised in Juneau, and worked with SCS in 2010.  Now, she attends Harvard Law School, where she’s involved in the fossil fuel divestment campaign.  Harvard’s administration has been far from receptive to the student movement - they’ve refused to have open meetings to hear out the students’ request.  Last year, the campaign started looking into other avenues towards divestment.  Kelsey and two other students, as part of the Harvard Climate Justice Coalition, put together a lawsuit calling on Harvard to remove their investments from the fossil fuel industry.  I spoke with her about the lawsuit, and about her thoughts on climate justice.  Here’s what she had to say.

Here's Kelsey participating in a direct action on the Harvard campus

How did you get involved in the climate movement? What drew you in?

I became involved in the climate movement for two reasons. First, climate justice is social justice. The people who are hurt most by climate change are those who are already marginalized. Climate change worsens existing social inequalities, and tackling climate change is essential to addressing systemic injustice.

The other reason is that I love my home and I want to protect it. Southeast Alaska is wild and beautiful and very special to me, and very threatened by climate change.

What does climate justice mean?

Climate justice is based on the recognition that environmental destruction is related to, and perpetuates, social and economic inequality. In addition to a healthy planet, climate justice prioritizes social justice, equality, and the interests of people and communities over corporate profit.  

Can you speak more to how growing up in Alaska influenced you to want to fight climate change?

Everyone has something they love that is threatened by climate change. Some of the things that I love most in the world are the rocky coast of the West Chichagof-Yakobi Wilderness, majestic old growth in the Tongass, bright snow on the Fairweather Range, and clear streams that run with snowmelt and later with salmon. I don't want them to erode, burn, melt, or die so that a handful of people can become even wealthier. They are worth fighting for.

More generally, growing up in Alaska gave me an appreciation of the natural world and the understanding that I am a part of it. One obstacle to climate action is that humans often see themselves as separate from their environment, rather than part of it and reliant on it. Being from Alaska also contributes to my feeling that climate action is urgent. While climate change may still feel like a faraway threat to some people, Alaskans can see that it is already here.

A panorama of the Fairweather Range.  Photo: Lucas Brown

Why have you chosen to use divestment as a tactic?

Fossil fuel corporations are destroying our world because doing so benefits them financially. This is a profoundly indefensible position. Divestment is a way for individuals, through their institutions, to take a stand for what they love and declare that they will not be part of its destruction.    

That said, divestment is a short-term tactic intended to open up space for political action. Meaningful progress on climate change requires government action and international cooperation. But to get to that point, we have to weaken the power that fossil fuel companies have over our political leaders.

How did you and other students decide to file this lawsuit?

We did a lot of research, and in early 2014 we determined that we had a substantial basis for litigation. The campaign to divest Harvard’s endowment from fossil fuels has been going on since 2012. In all of that time, Harvard decision-makers have refused to engage in any meaningful consideration of divestment. In fact, they even arrested a student during a peaceful demonstration at which we were requesting nothing more than an open meeting on the issue. Faced with this intransigence, we had to explore new tactics. In the fight for climate justice, we have to use all of the tools available to us, and the law can be a powerful way to make change.

What are the legal grounds of the suit?

We make two separate legal arguments. First, according to its founding charter, Harvard has a duty to promote "the advancement and education of youth” and safeguard the physical campus. By investing in companies whose business practices cause climate change, they harm both of those interests. This is a violation of their charitable duties.

Second, we have brought a claim for injuries caused by Harvard’s intentional investment in abnormally dangerous activities. We bring this claim not as individuals, but on behalf of future generations who are severely harmed by climate change.

We seek injunctive relief rather than financial damages, meaning that we are only requesting an order from the court requiring Harvard to divest its endowment from fossil fuel corporations.

How has it been going? What are the next steps for this case?

We were granted a hearing last spring, and had the opportunity to argue our case before a judge. The courthouse was packed with divestment supporters and climate activists. Harvard tried to get the case dismissed, and the judge granted their request, so now we are appealing that decision. We hope to appear before the Supreme Judicial Court, the highest court in Massachusetts, during the upcoming academic year. We have also heard from many organizations who want to file briefs in support of our arguments, which we think will help our case.

The law has been slow to respond to climate change, and this poses a challenge for us. But the dramatic new problem of climate change requires new solutions, including legal ones. Our lawsuit is part of a broader effort to prompt the development of those solutions.

Students at Harvard escalated their actions this spring, staging a sit-in in an administrative building.  Photo: divestharvard.com

What are the long term actions that will need to be taken to address climate change?

Governments have to implement programs to quickly decrease emissions. This will involve a variety of tactics, such as regulating corporations, ending fossil fuel subsidies, funding renewable energy, strengthening public transportation and energy services, and favoring local production over the long-distance travel of goods. The question is how we can get governments to take these measures. Decreasing corporate power over government is a critical step.

We have to change our laws so we can hold fossil fuel companies responsible for the harm that they cause to people and the planet. Currently, we allow them to profit without paying for their damage. Making these companies pay will encourage the transition to energy sources that don’t cost us our future, and provide much-needed funds for adaptation.

More fundamentally, we need to change our relationship with the natural world. We prioritize economic growth over environmental security, and this has led us to disaster. Recovering from it requires a shift in cultural values, starting with the recognition that our collective well-being depends on the environment - and that both are more important than corporate profitability.

How optimistic do you feel about getting Harvard to divest?  What about with regard to the climate movement at large?

I think that Harvard will divest from fossil fuels. I hope that it does so in time to have a real impact and be a leader, rather than lagging behind.

The climate movement has gained tremendous momentum over the past year. It's true that we don't have much time - we have to act quickly to not only slow down the environmental catastrophe, but also do it in a way that is just and inclusive. I'm optimistic because more and more people are realizing that we can't just trust in our systems and our leaders to implement solutions - we have to fight for them.

This article is part of a series on climate change, the effects of fossil fuels, and ways towards a sustainable future.

You can make your voice heard on these issues.  Alaska’s own Senator Murkowski is the Chair of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee.  Tell her to act on climate change by signing our petition, sending a letter we’ve written, or contacting her yourself.  Her office can be reached at 202-224-6665, by mail at 709 Hart Senate Building, Washington, D.C. 20510, or through this contact form.

Cartoon courtesy of Ecowatch.com

Often when I talk with people who are reluctant to address climate change, they express a weariness of government intervention that will unfairly skew the system. We shouldn't impose a carbon tax to discourage fossil fuel use, they’ll say - instead we should let the free market decide what is affordable, and when renewable energy becomes cheap enough, it will naturally take over and replace oil, gas, and coal.

The problem with this logic is that the system is already skewed - in favor of fossil fuels.  The fossil fuel industry spends a lot of money lobbying, but not nearly as much as it gets back in federal and state subsidies and tax breaks.  These subsidies drive fossil fuel prices artificially low, increasing consumption and making it hard for renewables to compete in the market.  If we want to live in a future with a safe climate, it is ridiculous to be economically encouraging fossil fuel use.  Ending these subsidies is a necessary step in the natural transition to a clean energy economy.

To understand why we need to end these subsidies, it’s helpful to know why they exist in the first place.  A hundred years ago, oil was a sprouting industry that needed help to get off the ground.  It makes sense for a government to offer subsidies to new industries, especially when there is a risk of losses involved.  The federal government offered tax breaks for things like ‘intangible drilling cost’ - the risk involved in drilling without the technology we have now to analyze the underlying geology.  Somehow, this tax break has managed to persist along with many others that have accrued over the years.  Despite the fact that the fossil fuel industry is now very much off (and into) the ground (the big five oil giants earned combined profits of $93 billion - or $177,000 a minute - in 2013), it continues to receive massive subsidies from state and federal government - on the scale of tens of billions of dollars a year.  While oil lobbies try to deny that these subsidies exist, the companies they represent are able to pay taxes at mere fractions of the corporate tax rate.  The International Monetary Fund figures the problem runs much deeper than it seems.  They totalled together all the costs incurred by governments due to emissions from the fossil fuel industry - such as money spent treating patients of pollution-related illness or dealing with droughts and floods induced by climate change.  How much do they estimate the US government is subsidizing the fossil fuel industry?  $700 billion a year.

The notion that we should continue subsidizing fossil fuels to help low-income people is a backwards one; it is well-documented that such people disproportionately bear the brunt of climate change, at home and abroad.  What we need in order to protect the livelihood of all people on our planet is to transition away from fossil fuel use.

Compare these massive subsidies to those for renewable energy - a fledgling industry that could certainly use the help - and there’s no wonder why we burn so much oil.  Renewable subsidies are not only smaller, but are impermanent - creating an uncertainty that hampers investment.  Yet the U.S. government continues to give fossil fuels permanent subsidies - even for exploration.  It’s absurd that these companies continue their explorations when it’s quite clear that burning even a fifth of the already identified fossil fuel reserves would result in climate catastrophe.  But to ask the people to foot part of the bill for that?  Unfathomable.  Yet the federal government does it, and so does the state of Alaska.  These and other subsidies are meant to encourage oil production in Alaska to bring in revenue for the state. Last fiscal year, however, Alaska gave these companies about $100 million more in production credits than it received in product taxes.  This deficit is expected to be even worse for this year as oil prices remain low.  These subsidies are doing more than encouraging emissions - they are troubling economies and leading to oil dependence.

So why do these subsidies still exist?  That can partially be explained by the political power that the industry exerts through lobbying.  Not all of these subsidies, however, go directly to big oil.  For example, the federal Low Income Heating Energy Assistance Program helps low income families pay for the fuel to heat their homes.  Some argue that we shouldn’t cut subsidies like these because it would put an undue burden on these families.  This presupposes a false dichotomy - between helping people pay for fossil fuels, or letting them pay for their own fossil fuels.  Another option is helping these families heat their homes using clean energy.  Bernie Sanders, U.S. senator and presidential candidate, introduced legislation this month that would give low income families access to solar energy by installing solar panels on the roofs of public housing, community buildings, and private homes.  The notion that we should continue subsidizing fossil fuels to help low-income people is a backwards one; it is well-documented that such people disproportionately bear the brunt of climate change, at home and abroad.  What we need in order to protect the livelihood of all people on our planet is to transition away from fossil fuel use.

Ending subsidies to the fossil fuel industry is a good step down this road.  By artificially driving down the price of oil, coal, and gas, these subsidies encourage their consumption.  Both the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund have been advocating for ending subsidies across the globe, the IMF claiming that such action would reduce carbon emissions by 20%.  An economist at the International Energy Agency said that ending subsidies could bring the world half way to avoiding climate disaster.  The UAE is already ending their fossil fuel subsidies.  Other countries are starting to follow suit as well.  In order to do our part for the environment and the wonderful, seven billion people who live in it, the U.S. must end these subsidies as well.  Should we go further and instate a carbon tax?  It seems to me that these companies should not be asked to pay taxes only for production, but also for the huge expenses their pollution incurs on the government through health care and disaster relief.  But if our governments cannot agree on that, they at least need to end fossil fuel subsidies to give clean energy a fair shot in the market.  Tilting the scales in favor of a type of energy that is destroying the planet we live on is, to be quite clear, morally bankrupt.

This article is part of a series in which those who call Alaska home are speaking their minds about climate change.

You can make your voice heard on these issues!  Alaska’s own Senator Murkowski is the Chair of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee.  Tell her to act on climate change by signing our petition, sending a letter we’ve written, or contacting her yourself.  Her office can be reached at 202-224-6665, by mail at 709 Hart Senate Building, Washington, D.C. 20510, or through this contact form.

Here I am asking my school administrator: What side are you on?

My name is Kengo Nagaoka and I’m a second-year at the University of Denver. I was born and raised in Fairbanks, Alaska and still feel as though this place will be home for me for the rest of my life. I started getting involved with environmentalism as a freshman in high school working with the school’s recycling crew. By senior year, my friend Tristan and I had started an Environmental Club at school and were deeply engaged in Fairbanks’ air quality issue and the debate surrounding air quality regulations. I’ve always felt a love for my hometown and its community and hope to keep helping make it more sustainable and healthy to its citizens.

Here's me a few years back with a fresh catch

I entered as a freshman at the University of Denver with the acknowledgement that climate change is a direct effect of our actions and an overarching cause of many of the struggles we face today. I sought out the student group DivestDU so I could make the best of my stance as a college student to enact change in my community. As I became more and more involved with DivestDU’s outreach and organizing efforts, it became clear to me that the fossil fuel divestment movement that is sweeping campuses, businesses, and institutions around the world is unique and effective. Whether we like it or not, in this day and age money speaks, even if it is symbolic. Moving large amounts of money away from destructive industries says something about what people want in a way that resonates with business leaders, politicians, and others who may not be reached by less tangible actions. We live in an era where we cannot waste time on simple sustainability efforts; we need drastic change in the larger systems that govern how our economy works to be able to combat climate change effectively. By working for change in how my university views and uses its endowment, I believe I am making the best of the ability I have right now.

At this climate action, I held a sign declaring: More oil is not the answer

As a member of a growing network of climate justice activists in the divestment movement, I’ve been inspired by the pure energy and enthusiasm that I’ve seen in people around me. There’s a huge sense of responsibility in working in this movement: we’re creating a better future for ourselves, our children, and future generations. Knowing that I have these people behind by back, I’ve become more confident in talking to people about what we’re doing. The publicity and attention that is given to colleges and institutions when they commit to divesting from fossil fuels is half the battle, and is fueled by the work of enthusiastic individuals. The fossil fuel divestment movement is one where I feel valued and accountable for what I do.

Divestment becomes a complicated issue when I look back at my hometown and state of Alaska. Built up from the ground on oil money and yet already suffering from the effects of climate change, Alaska is a place where most people are not willing to face the fact that what’s sustaining our economy right now is also what’s bound to have irreparable consequences to the planet we live on. It makes me sad to think that proposing fossil fuel divestment for the University of Alaska system would be preposterous at this time, while cutting ties with oil is what is needed to ensure that Alaska does not fall in the coming decades with the fossil fuel industry. Alaska Governor Bill Walker hosted a convention in June 2015 to discuss possible economic policies that may increase non-oil revenues in Alaska. While this convention marked a starting point, there is much work to be done to shift the dialogue in my state from “how can we overcome this bump on the road,” that is, oil prices, to “how can we start working toward a long-term goal of oil independence.” I live in a state where oil soaks every aspect of economics, politics, and even social culture. I want a future in which this is not the case.

This article is part of a series on climate change, the effects of fossil fuels, and ways towards a sustainable future.

You can make your voice heard on these issues.  Alaska’s own Senator Murkowski is the Chair of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee.  Tell her to act on climate change by signing our petition, sending a letter we’ve written, or contacting her yourself.  Her office can be reached at 202-224-6665, by mail at 709 Hart Senate Building, Washington, D.C. 20510, or through this contact form.

Students march for divestment at Middlebury College in Vermont.  Photograph: Paul Gerard

In a world where we vote with our dollars, an investment in fossil fuels is a vote for the decimation of our planet.  Investing in oil companies means supporting their efforts to find new places to drill, to extract more oil from the ground, and to ultimately endanger life on Earth.  By holding these investments, individuals, universities, and governments remain complicit in these contributions to climate change.  Ending these investments – known as divesting – can send a powerful message to both the companies and the public at large.  Divestment is a powerful strategy to combat climate change, and it is quickly rising in popularity.  By ditching their investments in the fossil fuel industry, individuals and institutions are sternly saying that their money will not be used to support practices that pollute our environment and put human lives at risk.

If just one fifth of the world’s identified oil reserves are extracted and burnt, the globe will warm past the 2°C that scientists from around the world have agreed is the borderline of climate catastrophe.

A shift away from a fossil-fueled economy is necessary in order to avoid climate disaster.  Already, the greenhouse effect is changing weather patterns across the globe.  Alaska is seeing record-hot winters, melting glacial ice, and fires across the interior.  If just one fifth of the world’s identified oil reserves are extracted and burnt, the globe will warm past the 2°C that scientists from around the world have agreed is the borderline of climate catastrophe.  Yet major corporations, with stunning negligence, continue to spend billions every year exploring for more oil, venturing into pristine and vulnerable territory like the seas of the Arctic.  And our governments - the Alaskan and the federal - continue to heavily subsidize this industry, driving fossil fuel prices artificially low and making it hard for renewables to compete.  If we don’t begin cutting ties to fossil fuels soon, humans and nature alike will suffer from the effects of carbon pollution.  Cities will flood, crop production will falter, and ecosystems will be thrown into chaos. Oil companies are aware of these consequences, yet continue to spend their money not only on drilling and exploration, but also on lobbying to prevent the implementation of sustainable solutions.  These companies stand firm in their commitment to profit from the degradation of the world we live in.

Photograph: Wisconsin Radio network

Divestment is a way to draw the line in the sand and stand on the side that aims to address climate change head-on.  Admittedly, the economic impact of divestment is small.  Selling some stock in a multibillion dollar company won’t exactly burn a hole in any pockets.  The real power of divestment lies in shifting the conversations around climate change.  It makes a public, political message - that an institution and its constituents refuse to be complicit in the practices of the fossil fuel industry.  Major divestments make headlines, and these headlines help to sway public opinion.  As more and more major universities pull their money out of the fossil fuel industry, more pressure will be placed on politicians to address climate change.  The people know that we need to act now and stand up to oil giants to save our planet.  The divestment movement is a way to leverage political power in getting our governments to respond.

Investment, too, can leverage power towards building a sustainable world.  Just as political statements can be made with divestment, they can also be made with reinvestment.  As institutions withdraw their money from the fossil fuel industry, they should be putting it into greener markets.  An investment in renewable energy or sustainable technology sends the message that these industries deserve support – that we all should be investing in a future with a livable climate.  Such investments can also make a sizeable impact in helping these companies get off the ground, as sustainable technology often comes from smaller, newer companies that need investments to implement their solutions.  

The banner, hanging above the Charles River, reads "Divest from Climate Crisis".  Photograph: Laura Beans

Divestment is a way to tell fossil fuel companies that their practices are unacceptable, that the world’s resources need to go not towards finding more oil, but to developing clean alternatives.  It is not the be-all, end-all solution.  Divesting from oil companies will not solve climate change, but it is a step in the right direction, and the downright moral thing to do.  Climate change is already taking its toll on the planet and on human lives.  Extreme ocean acidification in the Bering Strait threatens the ecosystems of the surrounding seas, and in turn the livelihood of the people of Alaska.  Typhoon Haiyan struck the Philippines with increased vigor due to the changing climate and took many lives because of it.  Massive droughts linked to the warming climate lead to hundreds of thousands of deaths in the developing world each year.  As sea levels rise, we are losing whole communities and the histories they have built with the land.  It is immoral to invest in the companies that perpetuate this kind of loss.  By divesting, we end our financial backing of environmental destruction and declare our support for a cleaner, brighter tomorrow.

This article is part of a series in which those who call Alaska home are speaking their minds about climate change.

You can make your voice heard on these issues!  Alaska’s own Senator Murkowski is the Chair of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee.  Tell her to act on climate change by signing our petition, sending a letter we’ve written, or contacting her yourself.  Her office can be reached at 202-224-6665, by mail at 709 Hart Senate Building, Washington, D.C. 20510, or through this contact form.

My name is Tristan Glowa, and I am proudly from Fairbanks, Alaska. I now attend school in New Haven, CT, where I am a member of the Yale College Class of 2018 and organize with the fossil fuel divestment campaign, Fossil Free Yale.

I got my start in community activism through involvement with sustainability initiatives early in high school. Exceptional science education in Fairbanks public schools left me concerned about the issues my generation would be facing, from non-renewable resource depletion to environmental degradation and more than anything, the massive challenge of human-caused climate disruption.

The science solidly insists that, in order for the planet to maintain a stable temperature, the vast majority of the world’s fossil fuel reserves must stay underground.

Though these issues seemed incredibly pressing, I felt isolated in my concern– until I got involved with my school’s student-run recycling program. I saw that the precedent for creating sustainable institutions had come from those who had taken initiative and organized their communities for change. With the help of role-models and peers at Alaska Youth for Environmental Action, I decided I also needed to take on this mantle. As high school students, my friends and I organized youth for action in our democratic process on recycling and sustainability, air quality solutions, and for protecting our state’s salmon resources.

The looming topic of climate change never went away, however, and the lack of conversation in Alaska felt stifling. Despite the increasingly visible impacts of climate change in our Arctic state, especially disrupting many Alaska Native ways of life, we were failing to openly discuss the culprit: the greenhouse gas emissions from fossil fuel energy, enabled by the oil industry at the heart of our state’s economy.

The reluctance to have a conversation makes sense; oil profits have undeniably raised Alaskans’ standard of living, as well as provided the education and opportunities that folks like myself have benefitted from. Nevertheless, the science solidly insists that, in order for the planet to maintain a stable temperature, the vast majority of the world’s fossil fuel reserves must stay underground. Arctic ocean oil extraction, for instance, was identified by a prominent Nature study as incompatible with a 2°C temperature rise that has been agreed upon as the largest permissible warming by the UN.

This is me speaking at a divestment rally at my school.

I knew, going into Yale, that fossil fuel divestment would be my priority. The business model of these companies, so closely tied to my state’s economy, must be called into question. Though I have been dependent on fossil fuel products and money for my entire life, this industry has purposefully blocked climate action, preventing legislation to spur a transformation to a low-carbon energy system and seeding a media system of climate denial. This is to say nothing of the environmental and social devastation caused by companies every step along the way, from extraction to transportation to burning.

It is clear that the fossil fuel industry cannot sit as the core economic driver for Alaska anymore– this much is apparent from the fiscal havoc our state currently faces from volatile oil prices, but with a serious analysis of the climate crisis, our situation is much more urgent than we are acknowledging.

But I am not involved in fossil fuel divestment simply say no to the fossil fuel economy that has been the backbone of economic development in our state. Young people, especially, are rising in the climate justice movement worldwide to demand a new economy. To meaningfully address climate change, Alaska needs new answers to how we can build a thriving economy in a sustainable way. The path forward calls for an era of creativity and civic engagement to find ways to meet our needs. This is what I am committed to helping to build.

This article is part of a series on climate change, the effects of fossil fuels, and ways towards a sustainable future.

You can make your voice heard on these issues.  Alaska’s own Senator Murkowski is the Chair of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee.  Tell her to act on climate change by signing our petition, sending a letter we’ve written, or contacting her yourself.  Her office can be reached at 202-224-6665, by mail at 709 Hart Senate Building, Washington, D.C. 20510, or through this contact form.

Despite the massive oil spill in 1989, Exxon has remained on good terms with the Alaskan government, and continues to drill on the North Slope. Photo: John Gap III/AP

Alaska is already feeling the heat of climate change.  Temperatures are rising here at twice the rate of the rest of the country.  Hotter summers have kindled more and more wildfires burning throughout the state, melting permafrost and further accelerating warming.  These rising temperatures are also melting glaciers, contributing to sea level rise that imperils coastal communities.  The Alaskan way of life is threatened by these changes - record-low snow falls saw the 2015 Iditarod rerouted twice, and native villages have had to change their fishing practices in response to ice break up.  As ocean acidification gets worse, fisheries across the state are sure to bear the brunt of the burden.  Yet the state government continues to share a bed, which they make nice and comfy, with the oil corporations driving this environmental degradation.  Alaska has a dangerous dependency on oil money - over 90% of the state’s income comes from the oil and gas industry.  To preserve the natural beauty and resources of this great state, Alaska will have to address this dependency.  First, it must take on the power that big oil wields in its political system.

The politicians who rode comfortably in VECO’s pockets used their political power to give tax breaks to the oil industry at large.

The pinnacle of oil corruption in Alaskan politics came in the early 2000s, when an FBI investigation brought ‘The Corrupt Bastards Club’ into the public’s attention.  This club was made up of Alaskan lawmakers who routinely accepted bribes from the VECO Corporation, an oilfield services company that was acting as a sort of lobby on behalf of the oil industry.  VECO executives were caught on camera shelling out bills in exchange for votes.  The politicians who rode comfortably in VECO’s pockets used their political power to give tax breaks to the oil industry at large.  Of the many involved, twelve were indicted on various charges of corruption, bribery, and failure to disclose gifts.  Some of these saw prison time while others wiggled their way out of reprimand.  Two of those who were alleged to be involved in the Corrupt Bastards Club, but were never indicted, still serve in the Alaska legislature today.  Those two are Mike Hawker and Mike Chenault, who both continue to cater to the desires of the oil industry.

Hold on - they made each other hats? Can we think for a moment about how ridiculous this is?  These corrupt politicians were so proud of their shady dealings that they had to get their own hip headwear printed up.  Couldn't they at least be ashamed of selling out their constituents for oil money?

These two are not the only ones serving big oil in Alaskan politics.  Two state Senators are employed by ConocoPhillips, one of the multinational oil giants drilling on the North Slope.  Peter Micciche, who chairs the committee dealing with the Trans-Alaska Pipeline System, gets paid six figures by Conoco.  Kevin Meyer is also on the oil giant’s payroll, and chairs the Senate Finance Committee.  Both of these men had a hand in the hearings around senate bill 21, which offered tax cuts to oil companies, and both figured that their employer could use the tax relief.  These tax breaks came despite the oodles of profit Conoco was already making from Alaskan resources.  To their credit, when the vote came to the floor, both tried to recuse themselves for conflicts of interest, but objections by other senators who supported the bill forced them into voting (In the Alaska Legislature, if any one senator objects to an attempt to recuse oneself from voting, the senator must vote on the bill at hand).  The pair cast deciding votes in the 11-9 outcome, sending the bill on through the House, to eventually end up on the desk of Governor Parnell, a former Conoco lobbyist.  Parnell, too, decided that big oil could use a break.

Such tax breaks and credits, rather than creating a flourishing economy, have brought Alaska to the point where it is paying oil companies more than it is taxing them.  Projections for the current fiscal year guess that Alaska will shell out hundreds of millions more in tax credits to big oil than it will receive from tax revenue.  If that’s not a broken system, I don’t know what is.  This state needs to keep in mind that it is every bit as rich in renewable resources as it is in petroleum.  Alaska can lead the country towards sustainability.  This will require a government that puts the interests of the people well ahead of those of the oil companies.  Already, Alaska is taking important steps in this direction, aiming to be run on 50% renewable energy by 2025 and putting programs in place that facilitate this transition.  Equally important is the public taking a stand to say it refuses to have its political institutions corrupted by the oil industry.

This article is part of a series on climate change, the effects of fossil fuels, and ways towards a sustainable future.

You can make your voice heard on these issues.  Alaska’s own Senator Murkowski is the Chair of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee.  Tell her to act on climate change by signing our petition, sending a letter we’ve written, or contacting her yourself.  Her office can be reached at 202-224-6665, by mail at 709 Hart Senate Building, Washington, D.C. 20510, or through this contact form.

Oil companies are wreaking havoc on the environment.  Cutting corners in dealing with waste has polluted environments from America to the Amazon.  Oil spills have ruined ecosystems on seas and shores.  And the fundamental aim of these companies – to extract oil from the ground to burn for energy – is leading to climate change and its slew of disastrous consequences.  Surely, the responsibility of a government to serve its people includes protecting the planet they inhabit.  So why have governments done so little to address climate change?  Why do they continue to support and subsidize the destructive fossil fuel industry?  Well, that has something to do with the power of the companies involved in that industry.  These companies are able to use the utterly ridiculous amounts of money they control to manipulate politicians – so that they can make more money, profiting off the Earth’s pains.  They use their power to attack credible science, bribe foreign governments, and tinker with the legal system so they can continue to pollute the world.

The oil and gas industry spent $141 million on lobbying in 2014.  Surely a sizeable sum, but nothing compared to what it nets for these companies.  When President Obama set out to cut $4 billion in federal tax breaks to these companies, he didn’t stand a chance with a congress deep in the pocket of oil lobbies like the American Petroleum Institute.  Some of these massive subsidies date back to a century ago, when these companies were getting off the ground.  It might seem logical that if we’re to keep such subsidies around, we would help out renewable energy companies that now need that same starting boost.  But the fossil fuel industry sees renewables as a threat to business.  Among others with oil interests, the Koch Brothers poured money into lobbying against tax breaks for wind energy.  Because of the wealth that oil companies and their allies wield, they’re able to get directly into the ears of those who make policy.  This has led to seemingly paradoxical exemptions in restrictions on pollution.  Oil companies, whose waste decimates ecosystems, aren’t subject to many environmental regulations.  They are allowed to pump toxins into the air and water due to personalized loopholes in the Clean Water and Clean Air Acts.  These are the privileges that money can buy

.

This infographic from priceofoil.org reveals how efficiently big oil is able to use their lobbying dollars for government kickbacks

Big oil’s money is also being put to use in attempts to manipulate the science behind climate change.  Legal funds supported by oil money have dug through records to try to defame reputable climate scientists, incurring lawsuits for their use of slander.  These funds serve as fronts for oil corporations to make tax-deductible, anonymous donations towards skewing science.  Donors Trust, another of these organizations, paid hundreds of thousands of dollars to Dr. Willie Soon, a researcher who denies man-made climate change.  Dr. Soon, who often neglects to cite where his money comes from, contrary to publishing standards, claims that changes in the sun’s energy are responsible for global warming.  Many scientists agree that his methods and data are wildly out of date, yet he is cited time and again by climate-denying senators.  Big Oil buys not only politicians, but also scientists, in their efforts to remain on the throne of the energy kingdom.

Big oil is using their political clout to not only allow themselves the freedom to pollute, but also to prevent renewable solutions from being implemented.

By this point, it likely surprises no one to hear that these companies get involved in some corruption.  Transparency International made this fact perfectly clear by conglomerating global surveys and handing the crown of most corrupt industry to oil and gas.  They proved to be the best and most regular bribers of governments.  Some of these bribes went to Muammar el-Qaddafi, when he demanded that oil companies, in exchange for continued access to Libyan oil fields, help him settle his debts with the families of people his military had murdered.  In 2011, the Securities and Exchange Commission tried to crack down on corporate bribes to foreign governments.  The American Petroleum Institute wasn’t having it, however.  They used their massive lobbying power to ensure they wouldn’t have to disclose whatever bribes that oil companies were making.  These bribes allow them to decimate environments – from Ecuador to the Niger Delta, big oil has skirted regulations and shown no regard for the ecosystems they operate in.  Occasionally, in America and abroad, these companies are penalized with fines.  But another advantage of being filthy rich is that they can take these fines as operating costs – they are usually a lot less expensive than actually cleaning up their acts.

 Activists in Nigeria call upon Shell to clean up a massive oil spill.  Photo: Amnesty International

Big oil is using their political clout to not only allow themselves the freedom to pollute, but also to prevent renewable solutions from being implemented.  Even if these companies followed regulation and ethical business practices, they would be destroying our climate.  But their power is such that they have no need to do either of these things.  The corruption and environmental degradation that goes hand in hand with these companies' operations should trigger anyone’s moral radar.  In order to protect the planet we inhabit, we cannot continue to allow the fossil fuel industry to unjustly control so much political power.  We must stand up together to tell our elected officials to stop listening to the selfish desires of these companies and instead take action to address climate change.