Reddest Alert – Why Corporate Self-Regulation Just Does Not Work

Reddest Alert – Why Corporate Self-Regulation Just Does Not Work

Climate Change Containment is the Wokest of the Woke

“I will be able to destroy leftism in this country and leave woke ideology on the dustbin of history. At the end of the day, I’ve shown in Florida an ability to win huge swaths of voters that Republicans typically can’t win — while also delivering the boldest agenda anywhere in the country.”

Florida Governor and Presidential Candidate, Ron DeSantis, on Memorial Day

I won’t be around for the worst of it, assuming the damage from climate change will eventually be tamed – if that is even possible – but my son and his family will face raging coastal erosion and rising seas, searing heat, floods in some places with aridification in others, explosive tropical storms and fires that decimate vast stretches of land, migration of diseases and the question of where to put the millions, perhaps billions of displaced people as a result. But if humanity does not recognize the devastation, the sad reality is that nature does not care.

We can’t vote nature out, repeal the laws of physics or apply a balancing test between affordability and anti-woke, just “tough it out,” on the one hand… and reality on the other. Nature wins. And while anti-woke is a buzzword for “White Christian nationalism/supremacy,” ii also often relies on an evangelically interpreted Biblical pledge from God not to repeat a global disaster like the Great Flood as justification to marginalize the rapidly accelerating devastation of climate change.

We’ve seen the projections from the United Nations, even our own National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, that are anything but equivocal about the issue. Putting together climate change with other environmental realities, an international scientific group, Earth Commission, published a study in Wednesday’s journal [5/31] Nature that looks at climate, air pollution, phosphorus and nitrogen contamination of water from fertilizer overuse, groundwater supplies, fresh surface water, the unbuilt natural environment and the overall natural and human-built environment.

As reported by the June 1st Associated Press (Seth Bornenstein), “‘This is a compelling and provocative paper — scientifically sound in methodology and important for identifying the dimensions in which the planet is nearing the edge of boundaries that would launch us into irreversible states,’ Indy Burke, dean of the Yale School of the Environment, said in an email [to AP]. She wasn’t part of the study.”

The margin of safety accepted by this scientific organization has been exceeded in seven of the eight critical metrics of severe environmental risk. The planet, and every livening thing on it, are living in an existential “danger zone.” Oddly, the only risk category that has not yet reached this level is air pollution, which remains critical only in certain local areas. “‘If planet Earth just got an annual checkup, similar to a person’s physical, ‘our doctor would say that the Earth is really quite sick right now and it is sick in terms of many different areas or systems, and this sickness is also affecting the people living on Earth,’ Earth Commission co-chair Joyeeta Gupta, a professor of environment at the University of Amsterdam, said at a news conference.

“It’s not a terminal diagnosis. The planet can recover if it changes, including its use of coal, oil and natural gas and the way it treats the land and water, the scientists said… But ‘we are moving in the wrong direction on basically all of these,’ said study lead author Johan Rockstrom, director of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research in Germany.” AP

We’ve already seen how red states are attempting to limit investment funds with “ESG” alternatives (basically socially and environmentally responsible investments) from operating within their states – see my March 14th The GOP Backlash Against "Woke Capitalism" Could Kill Millions blog – and we are acutely aware of mass and social media messaging from Big Oil that they are seriously addressing the climate change issue. See above from Chevron. We also know that since the 1970s, Big Oil was absolutely aware that using fossil fuels was a major contributor to climate change, which they also knew was accelerating. They did everything in their power to suppress and discredit any contrary reports. And if you think that they are serious about addressing climate change, think again.

As Collin Eaton and Jenny Strasburg report in the June 1st Wall Street Journal: “An investor-driven climate change push at some of the world’s largest oil companies has stalled out… On Wednesday [5/31], Exxon Mobil’s … and Chevron’s shareholders struck down a raft of proposals urging the companies to cut greenhouse-gas emissions derived from fuel consumption, put out new reports on climate benchmarks and disclose certain oil-spill risks, among other initiatives.

“The votes were abysmal for climate activists. All but two of the 20 shareholder proposals for the two companies garnered less than 25% of investors’ vote, according to preliminary results, with some performing much worse than similar proposals put forward last year.

“Among the most controversial proposals were those that would have had the companies adopt targets for reducing emissions including those from third-party consumption of their products, such as when drivers burn gasoline in their cars, also known as Scope 3 emissions. Those received only 11% and 10% of the vote among Exxon and Chevron investors, respectively, compared with 27% and 33% for similar proposals last year… In recent weeks, similar climate proposals failed to win over most shareholders at annual meetings of British oil and gas giants BP and Shell in London…

“A movement against climate activism has gained political traction in the U.S., particularly among Republican voters. Entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, a candidate for the Republican presidential nomination, has made anti-ESG policies a central plank of his campaign… The pushback against ESG measures has also hit investment firms such as BlackRock, which have faced potential boycotts in Texas and other red states. Republican officials in Florida, Texas, Louisiana and South Carolina pulled more than $4 billion in pension and investment funds from BlackRock starting last year. BlackRock brought in $230 billion from U.S. clients in 2022.” Let me repeat what we all should know: an existential threat is a threat to our continued existence. Simply, life and death and the misery in getting there.

I’m Peter Dekom, and in a vote between life and accelerating misery and possible extinction, it is indeed hard to understand why so many Americans vote in support of candidates and a party where business and money trump life itself.