By Gary Abernathy
Desperate to stay relevant, climate activists now claim they can trace individual heat waves to specific oil companies—just as Washington steps away from their agenda.
This article was originally published at The Empowerment Alliance and is re-published here with permission.
In the wake of a federal government no longer serving as its obedient lapdog, the desperate lengths to which the climate cult goes to maintain its standing are increasingly imaginative.
Case in point: CNN recently reported that “for the first time, scientists have quantified the causal links between worsening heat waves and global warming pollution from individual fossil fuel and cement companies, pushing the boundaries of extreme weather event research in multiple surprising ways.”
In other words, the climate crusaders—apparently believing that it’s necessary to ratchet up the alarm factor in order to retain relevance—are now claiming the ability to pinpoint exact companies and actions that are allegedly leading to “worsening heat waves”—an interesting finding in the midst of one of the coolest Augusts and Septembers in much of the U.S. in recent years.
The study “encompasses 213 heat waves around the world from 2000 to 2023.” The conclusion? Wait for it—heatwaves “became much more likely and severe during that period, largely due to the burning of fossil fuels.” Shocking.
Accusations that fossil fuels are causing global warming, or cooling, or any weather pattern varying from what is claimed to be “normal,” are nothing new, of course. What’s new is that the study, published in the journal Nature, now claims to identify the specific culprits.
“Of the extreme heat events the researchers focused on, as many as a quarter of them would have been ‘virtually impossible’ without the climate pollution from any of the 14 biggest ‘carbon majors’—the largest fossil fuel and cement producers responsible for the lion’s share of the world’s carbon pollution,” according to the report. The alleged “carbon majors” include industry giants ExxonMobil and Chevron, of course, along with nations such as the former Soviet Union.
“The study also found these companies are responsible for 50% of the increase in heat wave intensity since before humans started adding so much planet-warming carbon and methane pollution to the atmosphere,” according to CNN’s story.
Now we get to the kicker, the apparent practical application of such a specific report: “The conclusions may have far-reaching ramifications, including aiding those who seek in court to make oil and gas companies pay for climate change-related harm, a task that has proven extremely difficult in the U.S.”
Indeed, the radical climate movement has increasingly attempted to win court judgments against companies that provide our most affordable and reliable fuels. These “scientific studies” could provide left-leaning judges with a new justification to side with climate change zealots. One study co-author acknowledged that the conclusions provide another weapon in the legal arsenal.
