To the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA):
Fossil fuel companies are getting richer. And every year, we brace ourselves for record-breaking devastation unlike anything we've ever seen. That is just wrong.
Yet for some reason, every time a town is leveled, a community is displaced, or lives are lost, we attribute the devastation to a random name: Hurricane Katrina. Hurricane Sandy. Hurricane Andrew. To name a few.
Let's make one thing very clear: It is no accident that climate disasters are getting worse every year. The devastation they cause is a direct result of burning coal, oil and gas, and mining, fracking, and pipelines that are destroying our planet and our communities.
In fact, there is a proven connection between climate change and these disastrous events:
- Heatwaves in South Asia are 30 times more likely because of climate change
- Heavy rains that caused catastrophic flooding — killing more than 400 people — in South Africa in mid-April were made twice as likely to occur by climate change.
- Nearly 15 million homes across America were ravaged by natural disasters, from wildfires and hurricanes to blizzards and tornadoes in 2021. 1 in 10 homes in the US were affected by climate change disasters in 2021.
So why not name these catastrophic events after the companies getting rich off of them — and make sure the world knows who’s to blame?
Here are a few companies to get us started: ExxonMobil, Chevron, BP America, Shell Oil, and Total. It's time that we finally give them the credit they deserve for destroying our planet.
Please rename climate disasters after the fossil fuel companies that are causing them.