This Killer Heat Is Brought to You by Big Oil: It’s Time for Fossil Fuel Giants to Pay Up

 

As extreme heat bakes Europe and North America, the fossil fuel industry’s decades of deception are coming home to roost. Make no mistake: These deadly record-shattering temperatures were directly caused by the climate crisis, itself the result of unchecked burning of oil, gas and coal. And for decades, big polluters deliberately hid the consequences.

Internal documents prove that oil giants like Exxon and Shell understood the climate impacts of their products as far back as the 1970s. But rather than warn the public, they orchestrated a massive disinformation campaign to bury the truth and block action.

Those efforts continue today, with the fossil fuel industry spending billions on greenwashing advertisements touting their commitment to renewables, while in reality, they’re all walking away from their climate commitments. These rogue companies made billions peddling products they knew would cook the planet.

All while forcing the rest of us to bear the escalating costs—from wildfires and heat stroke to crop failures and swollen utility bills. While Darren Woods, CEO of ExxonMobil, sits in his air conditioned office, plotting how the company can drill for more oil and beatback climate regulations, delivery workers, farmers, the elderly, and other vulnerable populations are literally risking their lives in the midst of this extreme heat.

No industry raked in larger profits this century than Big Oil. Yet no entity on Earth bears greater responsibility for the extreme heat threatening lives today. Fossil fuel corporations could have reinvented themselves decades ago to lead the renewable revolution. Instead their greed led them to double down on pollution—while brazenly advertising themselves as climate champions.

Last year, the fossil fuel industry raked in $220 billion in profits, thanks to the war in Ukraine that they helped cause by partnering with Russian President Vladimir Putin to expand the oil and gas production fueling Russia’s war machine. But instead of investing those profits in renewables, oil companies rewarded their CEOs and wealthy shareholders with more bonuses and dividends.

The game is up. Climate accountability demands these corporate arsonists pay firefighting costs associated with the heatwaves they deliberately ignited.

Price gouging at the pumps has boosted Big Oil’s profits to obscene heights. Those windfalls must be taxed aggressively to help cover damages in marginalized communities ravaged by climate impacts. Heat-vulnerable populations need assistance now for medical bills, home weatherization, energy subsidies, and other lifesaving support. And we need to be pumping even more money into efforts to rapidly scale the clean energy systems that can free us from fossil fuels.

Fossil fuel payments will not fully repay the unfolding toll of displaced families, ecological unraveling, and lost lives. But financial damages owed by these climate outlaws can fund adaptation, relief efforts, and an accelerated transition to clean energy.

Make no mistake, the fossil fuel empire wants to keep collecting profits while the rest of humanity pays for their mess. But we cannot allow business as usual to continue. Climate justice demands polluters pay for the hellish heat they knew their products would create.

Jamie Henn is the director of Fossil Free Media and a co-founder of 350.org.