Saturday, October 18, 2014

Burning up the planet

Oxfam describes as a “toxic triangle” the “political inertia, financial short-termism and vested fossil fuel interests,” which must be dismantled if climate change is to be controlled. Fossil fuel advocates policies threaten to raise global temperatures, leaving 400 million people in jeopardy of hunger and drought by 2060, Oxfam UK warned in its report ‘Food, Fossil Fuels and Filthy Finance’. A powerful and lucrative fossil fuel industry, spends up to €44 million a year on lobbying EU governments in pursuit of policies that bolster its profits.

Oxfam’s Chief Executive, Mark Goldring, warned the fossil fuel industry, with the help of EU governments and investors, is effectively “trapping us into a warming world.”  EU governments and profit-driven investors are empowering the industry to recklessly pursue myopic profit-centered interests at the expense of ordinary citizens. “The world’s poorest are already being hit hardest and millions more will be made hungry by climate change,” he added.

 $674 billion was spent on fossil fuel energy in 2012. The NGO’s report revealed investment in the industry was bolstered by convenient tax breaks, incentives brokered by governments and approximately $1.9 trillion in subsidies each year.  $6 trillion will be spent in further developing the industry over the next 10 years.

Fossil fuels are responsible for 80 percent of CO2 emissions – the primary contributor to rising temperatures, which threaten well-being, economies and food security. Profit comes before everything, even people and the planet.

From here 

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