eleven years ago, unity college, a small environmental college tucked into the woods of rural maine, became the first institute of higher education in the country to divest, scrubbing their finances clean from fossil fuels. with the help of climate activist bill mckibben and activist groups, unity college’s story started a movement. today, over 100 schools are divested or in the process of divesting from fossil fuels. from private, wealthy goliaths such as harvard and yale to the entire california public college system, fossil fuels are out the door. 

on this planet forward audio story, i talk to the former president of unity college about how divestment works and the story of how his school became the first to do it. also, he happens to be my dad.

frame 1:

our story begins in a classroom. 16-year-old wren sits in her earth science class at buffalo high school. it’s her last period. there are two more weeks until summer break and they’ve just started their last unit on climate change. mrs. weaver has assigned all of the students different topics that contribute to climate change for their end-of-term papers. wren was assigned ‘generating power: coal’ and winced as she read it.

frame 2:

when wren gets home she lets out the dog and starts researching for her paper. she already knows everything there is to know about coal, her dad is a second-generation miner. she also knows that the coal he mines is sold and burned to generate energy and that the process of burning coal contributes to global warming. he knows she doesn’t like it, every time the topic of work comes up he sees her disapproving frown but they’ve never talked about it. she can’t stand looking at the graphs and figures one more minute so she decides to go to bed early.

frame 3:

at the end of the week, mrs. weaver begins to lecture on global warming. they had already covered deforestation and conserving water but this was the topic wren dreaded most and not because of her dad’s occupation. she tried to tune out her words, “over the past 50 years us average temperature has increased more than 2*f. heatwaves and droughts have also become more frequent and intense, and the arctic ice…” wren’s attention drifts to the window, the sun is just visible at the top of the frame, she stares at it unblinking but she sees something else.

frame 4:

she was six years old when they heard the news. her dad had taken the week off to look after her while her mom visited her sister in california. he held it together in front of the officer but after he shut the door, her dad dropped to his knees in front of her and held her tight. they sat like that for over an hour but then her dad wiped off both their tears and put on her favorite movie to watch. she could hear him on the phone in the other room, her eyes were still running. the funeral was a week later, and by then she saw had heard the newscaster on tv, a massive heatwave in california, and the death toll was up to 85. apparently, wren’s aunt had been at work and her mom had just opened the door for a minute when the dog slipped between her legs and ran, she ran after it, and apparently, they found her a quarter mile away off the trail slumped against a tree, like she was sleeping. they moved into the small trailer a month later.  

frame 5:

when she got home from school that day she sees the heavy dust-covered boots outside the trailer door which means it was one of her dad’s off days. she walked in wanting to pick a fight, she told him she hates that he was a part of it all. he was confused so she went on. she brought up her mom and their voices got louder. he didn’t like to fight with her but he was upset. he had no other skills or experience, it was the only way he was able to pay the bills. he called her ungrateful and then she stomped off and slammed doors. he immediately regretted it. he knew it wasn’t not true and if he was being honest, he hated working in the mines. he hated knowing that his employer had been destroying the planet for decades and he hated knowing the heat is a result of that, the heat that killed his wife.

frame 6:

two days later and he’s been laid off, they all were, and the mine was shutting down. they were calling it the great recession, people were losing jobs and companies were going bankrupt. he was relieved but terrified, having no idea what to do next. wren knew something was wrong when she saw his boots, he was supposed to be on for three days. they talked and they decided to move, his grandparents lived in florida and he remembered making the drive every winter. wren was devastated to leave her friends but she remembered her dad’s stories of the white sand and turquoise water, she didm’t mention it but she was also happy that he was finally done with the mines.

frame 7:

the drive took them three days. as they drove, her dad talked to her about how the land has changed. there had been a bad drought again this year and they drove past entire fields of wheat dried up and dead in kansas. as they drove through towns in missouri, wren watched as people lay out sandbags in preparation for flooding that was rumored to hit in the next few weeks. on the radio “despite repeated warnings” by paul mccartney began to play. wren and her dad shared a look and shook their heads simultaneously. her dad told her it never was this bad before, that there were always natural disasters but it was different now. wren told him what she learned in earth science, that these events have steadily become more frequent and more intense. they drove in silence for a while, it felt like mourning.

frame 8:

they decided to get a trailer in a small park outside bradenton on the west coast of florida. they spent the summer working part-time jobs, every night her dad would scan different sites and send in applications, he got one interview but it never went further than that. one hot july night though their luck finally changed. he got an email from a company called sun-tec, they explained that they were a nonprofit organization and had a program that focused on transitioning those who worked in fossil fuels to start working in the renewable energy industry. they paid for his training and within the month he began his new job of installing solar panels all over the state. wren had never been more proud.

frame 9

our story ends in a classroom. it had already been a month since wren started her junior year at palmetto high school. she stood at the front of the room with a paper in her hand, the entire classroom staring back at her. the assignment had been to write about their heroes and how they have inspired them. wren wrote about her dad, she decided she was going into a career in conservation work, they were both going to make the world a better place. when she showed him the paper that night, he cried for the first time since her mom died.

my story focuses on a family that is deeply affected by climate change in the us. i wanted climate change to drive the story and be part of the setting. this is why i included a heatwave killing the mom to give the dad and daughter a past affected by climate change and motivation for the dad to leave the fossil fuel industry completely. i also used the earth science class to drive the daughter’s actions and give her the knowledge to explain their observations on their drive to florida. i decided to try to make this a very realistic story and set it in america to potentially make a voter who doesn’t believe in climate change realize that they have already seen it with their own eyes at home. i also wanted to end the story with hope and love, having them work to make the world better. these emotions are humanity’s driving force, and i wanted to use this to inspire the reader.

on friday, nov. 13, michigan gov. gretchen whitmer utilized her executive powers, in conjunction with the department of natural resources director daniel eichinger, to revoke the easement allowing a crude oil pipeline—line 5—to operate in the straits of mackinac. the decision comes after more than 15 months of investigation into possible environmental and safety risks.

enbridge, the energy company operating line 5, will have until may 2021 to shut the pipeline down. enbridge is predicted to fight the easement’s revocation in court, but, until then, will continue to seek the necessary permits to proceed with their tunnel project. the energy company is relying on the michigan public service commission (mpsc) to approve its request in an ongoing contested case.

but a december 9 mpsc meeting may have delayed enbridge’s desired outcome; the board decided that whitmer’s notice fundamentally changes what each party is hoping for out of the permit decision, and the case will revert to an administrative judge to redefine the case’s scope. the decision pleased environmental groups, who see it as a step backward for enbridge.

just miles east of the towering mackinac bridge lies a tiny island suspended in colonial history. mackinac island, the jewel of the midwest, is home to a permanent population of just 473, but hosts over a million visitors each summer.

the island’s culture revolves around resisting modernity. no cars are allowed; all travel must be carried out via bicycle or horse. colonial homes are maintained for tourists’ pleasure, and old-fashioned fudge shops decorate main street. however, just miles west of the lake huron paradise lies a 645-mile, 30-inch-diameter crude oil pipeline constantly at risk of a rupture.

currents running through the straits of mackinac on any given day deliver double the power of the headwaters of the mississippi river, and the lake currents change directions every three days.

imagine a piece of steel wire in the hands of an eager child. the wire is strong, flexible, and able to maintain its shape without difficulty—that is, until it gets bent one too many times. suddenly, all that is left are two fractured, sharp pieces, crumbled under the pressure of the violent contortions.

this is the prognosis of many experts for line 5. the 67-year-old pipeline—designed to last 50 years—has seen better days, and now threatens to wreak havoc on great lakes ecosystems, the public health of local communities and the economies of every state bordering lakes michigan and huron.

“a worst-case scenario is a wintertime rupture in rough seas. it would be catastrophic to those communities and to the environment, the habitats, and the wildlife in the straits. it’s just a really risky, dumb place to put a pipeline. and that’s not counting the other almost 400 water crossings that enbridge themselves say exist,” said nathan murphy, director of environment michigan.

a 2016 study by the university of michigan’s graham sustainability institute formed the foundation of many advocacy groups’ arguments to shut down line 5. the study simulated different possibilities for spills in the straits and how the spill, greatly impacted by current and wind changes, would affect lakes michigan and huron and nearby shoreline.

“line 5 is monitored 24/7 by a dedicated team. if there is a change in pressure or flow, automatic shut off valves on either side of the straits crossing will immediately shut off flow in minutes and activate trained enbridge responders. the bottom line is enbridge will take full responsibility and pay for all costs related to an incident.  further, federal law imposes an obligation on any party responsible for such an incident to pay all costs for cleanup, restoration, and remediation,” said ryan duffy, communications strategist for enbridge.

enbridge inc. has a poor track record when it comes to preventing spills and cleaning them up when they happen. their 2010 pipeline spill in the kalamazoo river has gone down in history as the largest inland oil spill to ever occur. it led to the evacuation of residents and a four-year-long cleanup process that cost enbridge $700 million—$50 million more than its insurance policy.

third-party agencies such as the national transportation safety review board and the environmental protection agency found that enbridge had failed numerous times to implement safety standards, such as confronting documented and growing cracks along the pipeline, that could have prevented the devastating spill.

a line 5 rupture could result in 1.27 million gallons of oil dumped into the lakes, which would not only devastate ecosystems in the great lakes region but also end the delicate economic viability of local communities such as mackinac island, mackinaw city, and st. ignace.

in 2018, tripadvisor ranked mackinac island number one on its “10 hottest destinations for summer” list. the island beat out renowned locations such as nantucket, massachusetts and block island, rhode island.

“mackinac island is the number one tourism destination in michigan. most people, especially in the past season, see it as a great place for outdoor recreation. as you bike around the island, you can look out into the straits and see the mackinac bridge, and just past the bridge is line 5,” said anneke myers, mackinac island city councilperson.

in 2019, mackinac island filed a petition against the michigan department of environmental quality’s decision to grant two permits to enbridge that would allow the company to extend operations of the dual crude oil and natural gas pipeline for another 10 years.

“we draw water right out of the lake. we process the water here on the island. if there was a spill, we’d have to shut that down. we would have no water supply, and we’d have to evacuate all our citizens and tourists that are here. we have an evacuation plan drawn up, in case there was a spill,” said myers.

mackinaw city ferry companies have told island leaders that a spill was to occur, the ferries would be removed from the water, leaving mackinac island residents and tourists with no transportation options to depart the island.

“we’d have no water and no transportation, which would result in the collapse of our economy,” said myers.

enbridge argues that northern michigan relies on line 5 for much of its fuel. “the region–including wisconsin, indiana, ohio, pennsylvania, ontario, and quebec–would see a shortage of 14 million gallons a day of gas, diesel and jet fuel every day (if line 5 shut down). this represents 45% of the supply,” said duffy.

the fate of the pipeline lies in the hands of major michigan government officials, namely, whitmer and attorney general dana nessel.

“whitmer campaigned on the idea of shutting down line 5. here we are, years later, and her actions have been less than we hoped for. enbridge’s contract is with the dnr, which is under whitmer’s jurisdiction, so if she finds out that enbridge is breaking any part of the contract, she can essentially give them notice that the contract is done with,” said holtz.

the line 5 controversy has been trademarked by gubernatorial inaction. former gov. rick snyder is known to have made backroom deals with enbridge to help push the construction of the new tunnel through in his lame-duck period. the whitmer administration has proved slightly more aggressive on line 5, with attorney general nessel leading the charge in the courts.

in 2019, nessel filed a lawsuit against enbridge in which she challenges the validity of the original easement, with the goal being shutting line 5 down permanently. gov. whitmer took over and requested a review of the easement, and in july of 2020, wrote a letter addressed to al monaco, ceo of enbridge, asking that he shut the line down in response to numerous reports of damage.

while government leaders have dawdled and embraced their ambivalent tendencies, line 5 continues to pump 23 million gallons of crude oil each day through the great lakes at its most precarious point, risking michigan’s access to clean water, a healthy environment and regional economic stability in large swaths of the state.

“under longstanding principles of michigan’s common law, the state, as sovereign, has an obligation to protect and preserve the waters of the great lakes and the lands beneath them for the public. the state serves, in effect, as the trustee of public rights in the great lakes for fishing, hunting, and boating for commerce or pleasure,” according to the michigan supreme court.

the state court cannot lawfully relinquish its duty to protect michigan’s natural resources, even though this move has been made by past administrations. it is up to gov. whitmer to take back control over an area that is legally her jurisdiction and shut down line 5, and finally, she has.

the notice issued by the governor’s office and the department of natural resources requires enbridge to cease operations of the pipeline by may 2021, with hopes that this period of time will allow for a peaceful and orderly transition while supporting michigan’s energy needs. whitmer has also filed a lawsuit with the ingraham county circuit court to gain legal support for this action.

“after spending more than 15 months reviewing enbridge’s record over the last 67 years, it is abundantly clear that today’s action is necessary. enbridge’s historic failures and current non-compliance present too great a risk to our great lakes and the people who depend upon them,” said eichinger in the governor’s office’s press release. “our number one priority is protecting the great lakes and we will continue to work with our partners across michigan in pursuit of that objective.” 

it is unlikely that enbridge will take the notice sitting down—either way, this development mentions nothing about the looming tunnel project.

“enbridge remains confident that line 5 continues to operate safely and that there is no credible basis for terminating the 1953 easement allowing the dual line 5 pipelines to cross the straits of mackinac,” states enbridge’s press release responding to the notice.

while a long period of litigation surely awaits this case, environmental advocacy groups celebrated across the midwest as the news broke. whitmer’s bold action indicates a commitment to the health and wellness of the great lakes, a critical component of michigan’s soul, during a time when the state struggles to unify. if successful, residents of the great lakes state can drink, swim, and live peacefully knowing that the ever-lurking threat is no longer.

walking through stockholm in the early evening, it is nearly impossible to avoid the herds of bikes that come barreling down the roads, traveling in swift fleets each weeknight. rush hour in this city is in stark contrast to rush hour in other cities such as new york and los angeles, as cars drift easily down the street, obstructed by bikers and pedestrians instead of by thousands of other cars. this can be attributed to a multitude of factors, such as sweden’s effective public transportation, swedes’ preference for biking as a more active mode of transportation, or the cost-effective nature of avoiding car ownership. one common goal, however, unites swedes in their quest to avoid fossil fuel-powered vehicles: the desire to diminish carbon emissions. in fact, stockholm plans to be fossil fuel free by 2040.

this goal comes with strong motivation, as reuters reports that in 2018 humans added 33.1 billion tons of carbon into the air, 14% of which came from transportation according to the epa. carbon emissions are responsible for 64% of global climate change, the european commission reports, as they contribute to the greenhouse effect which warms the planet. this means that decreasing the amount of fossil fuels that we burn each year could have an immensely positive impact on the global climate crisis.

stockholm is on track to achieve a maximum of 2.3 tons of carbon dioxide equivalents emitted per resident in 2020, according to a strategy report prepared by the city. reports from the world bank show that in 2016 — the most recent year available — the u.s. produced 15.5 tons of carbon dioxide emissions per capita, while all of sweden was at just 4.4 tons.

my classmates and i were first introduced to stockholm’s plan to become fossil fuel free by our guide, zennid, on a walking tour around the city. he outlined how the metro system in stockholm is electric and how the public buses run on biofuels. additionally, most car owners power their vehicles with electricity or biofuels. one challenge that he identified was making this work for tourism, as large tour buses and cruise ships that bring people to stockholm are still powered by fossil fuels.

the determination of the swedes to reduce their fossil fuel emissions was tangible in the amount of people biking, walking, and taking the train around the city. i was shocked when another tour guide who showed us around a sustainable living development at the royal seaport told me that she refuses to travel in vehicles powered by fossil fuels. i was shocked by this statement, as completely avoiding fossil fuels has never been something that i could even dream of achieving. to get to the grocery store, school, or the train station from my home in rhode island, it is necessary to drive. this could still be fossil fuel-free with the use of an electric or biofuel-powered vehicle, but the lack of affordable and versatile versions of these cars on the market in the u.s. has left my family with classic gas-guzzling american cars.

so this leaves me with the question: is there a future in which americans can avoid fossil fuels as our tour guide could in stockholm?

electric cars

of course, electric and hybrid vehicles have already reached the u.s., the toyota prius and the tesla model 3 being two prominent varieties. while people can charge these cars at home, charging stations in parking spaces have become noticeably popular in sweden, and their implementation in the u.s. could convince more consumers to go electric. a challenge in implementing electric car culture in the u.s. seems to be the looks of electric cars, as most models, such as the toyota prius and the bmw i3, are smaller, less american looking cars. getting over our obsession with large pickup trucks and suvs may be a major hurdle in this transition. even i have trouble with the idea of my family having only small cars, as american road trip culture gives us the ideal of driving down country roads from state to state in a big comfortable car.

biofuel cars

i had always heard that biofuel technology was not efficient, so i was shocked when i heard about its popularity in stockholm. it turns out that biofuel is less expensive than typical fuel in sweden, as diesel costs 16.08 swedish krona per liter — or $1.83 a liter, as of publication time, which is the equivalent of about $7 per gallon. and biodiesel for a truck costs 14.24 krona ($1.62) per liter.

biodiesel, a popular form of biofuel, is made of hydrogenated vegetable oil (hvo), which according to one hvo company is compatible with all diesel engines and “does not release any new carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.” a study published by the proceedings of the national academy of sciences in the u.s. found that “biodiesel yields 93% more” energy than the energy used to manufacture the fuel. moreover, the study found that biofuel reduces greenhouse gas emissions by 41% when replacing fossil fuels. consumer reports found that using biodiesel works just as well as fossil fuels, but the lack of access to this type of fuel in the u.s. makes it unsuitable for everyday use.

ethanol is another type of biofuel, usually made from corn, that “yields 25% more energy than the energy invested in its production” and reduces greenhouse gas emissions by 12%, according to the national academy of sciences report. in the u.s., a mixture of 90% gasoline and 10% ethanol is usually used to fuel cars. the u.s. is the world’s top ethanol producer, but as national geographic reports, this fuel is controversial because of the amount of energy necessary for its manufacture.

next steps for the u.s.

overall, stockholm’s fossil fuel free ambitions were noticeable and inspirational. the government and the residents of stockholm are both taking prominent roles in reducing carbon emissions, and i left stockholm with a new understanding of sustainable transportation. i think that the first step to freeing ourselves from fossil-fuel powered transportation is to make the alternatives more accessible. if we can make these alternatives normal, hopefully their economic and environmental advantages will encourage americans to follow in the footsteps of the swedes.

this decision marks the culmination of seven years of organizing by gw students and aligns with the recommendations from the university’s environmental, social, and governance (esg) responsibility task force.

“for nearly a decade, gw students and students across the country have been demanding that our universities take moral leadership and end their support for the fossil fuel industry,” said jeremy liskar, member of the student organization sunrise gw and a student representative on the esg task force. “our victory (this week) clearly shows that student organizing has changed the consensus on this issue. gw’s commitment will help move the ball for other institutions to take similar action.”

the task force, established earlier in 2020, included students, faculty, trustees, and alumni. together they recommended seven commitments to be incorporated into gw’s existing sustainability plan. in addition to divesting from all public and private companies that focus on fossil fuel extraction, they also recommend that the university commits to halting any new direct or indirect investments to businesses that reap the majority of their revenue from fossil fuel, including coal, oil, and natural gas.

“the covid-19 crisis has served to highlight the enormous impact humans have on the environment and the need for equitable access to healthy natural resources,” the task force wrote in a statement released monday. “the reduced burning of fossil fuels over the last few months has, in a short time, had a dramatically positive impact on the quality of the air we breathe and our waterways. simultaneously, the pressures of the pandemic alongside existing environmental, health, and economic disparities have laid bare the need for more inclusive and equitable structures in our institutions and society as a whole.”

gw joins 37 other u.s. educational institutions that have committed to or achieved full divestment, according to fossil free, including planet forward 2022年世界杯亚洲预选赛结果 schools middlebury college, suny-esf and the university of hawaii. other d.c. area schools are also part of the movement, as georgetown university made a pledge to divest completely within 10 years in february and american university announced the completion of their full divestment in april. university of maryland, located just outside of d.c., agreed to a full divestment plan in 2016.

this announcement comes at the culmination of an academic year saturated with advocacy by gw students demanding the university divest its roughly $1.78 billion endowment from businesses that profit from fossil fuel. currently, less than 3% of the endowment — or around $50 million — comes from fossil fuel investment, according to estimates. however, meghan chapple, director of gw’s office of sustainability, says divestment is more significant than that number may suggest.

“it’s important because it’s part of a larger movement and it sends a message about climate change … there is significant consensus that climate change is the big, pressing issue of our time,” chapple said.

the “larger movement” to urge institutions of higher education to commit to fossil fuel divestment began when unity college became the first to do so in 2012. the same year, the fossil free campaign — a branch of 350.org — was founded on student-led action to demand divestment. fossil free gw was formed in 2013.

in november 2019, fossil free gw announced they were transitioning to sunrise gw, to become a campus hub for the sunrise movement. as a chapter of the national youth-led group, sunrise gw organized art builds, protests, and petitions on campus urging the university to divest over the course of the 2019-2020 academic year.

this april, a referendum to divest the university’s holding from fossil fuel was included in gw’s student association election. it received approval from 85.66% of voters.

“i would like to acknowledge our student leaders who have — as representatives of their generation, of the generation that will inhabit the planet over the next 50 to 100 years, the generation that is going to be the future of this planet — i’d like to acknowledge them for all the work they have done to raise awareness of the importance of climate change to the leadership of the university,” chapple said.

two current undergraduate students, liskar and jillian weber, who has been involved in gw sustainability initiatives, were members of the 14-person task force.

“i think the student community can be confident that they were well represented in the voices that jillian and jeremy brought to the table,” chapple said.

liskar said sunrise gw is “ecstatic” about the divestment announcement.

since releasing their recommendations for the university sustainability plan in late may, the esg task force held two digital town halls, allowing students, staff, faculty, and alumni to provide feedback, and additionally received more than 100 submissions of “overwhelmingly positive” feedback via the task force website.

divestment strategies have been used in the past to invoke societal change, perhaps most notably in opposition to south african apartheid. in the mid-1980s, campuses around the world divested from companies doing business in south africa, ultimately helping to weaken the apartheid government.

chapple also drew attention to the university’s pledge to become carbon neutral by offsetting two centuries worth of greenhouse gas emissions dating back to the university’s charter in 1821. while gw had previously aimed to achieve carbon neutrality by 2040, the university this week committed to an accelerated plan, aiming to reach neutrality by 2030. gw also signed on to plans to go beyond carbon neutrality in honor of the university’s bicentennial next year, a pledge chapple finds equally significant to that of divestment.

other additions to the university’s updated sustainability plan include goals to eliminate single-use plastic on campus, increase the amount of greenspace for biodiversity, conserve stormwater, and convert campus transportation to zero-emissions vehicles.

they thank us and we slip back into the crowd of protestors chanting in the shadow of the madison gas and electric plant. that photo op won’t be the last time i overthink a seemingly easy decision on this hot afternoon, because today is the global climate strike and i’m not attending it — i’m covering it.

as i march with the crowd from mg&e to the steps of the state capitol, it’s hard not to get swept up in the rousing speeches and impassioned chants, but i try to remember the journalistic guidelines i have been taught. 

when i first started at the badger herald, one of the university of wisconsin’s student newspapers, i was quickly taught the basics of unbiased journalism — speak to a representative from both sides, report only verifiable facts and do not post anything political to your social media. many of these “journalism ethics” were then expanded upon and further instilled into me through my classes at uw. 

at the strike, i stood next to my friends who waved large crayola-lettered signs and chanted passionately. as i weaved through the sweaty crowd, i tried to establish my own journalistic guidelines on the fly — i could accept pamphlets but i couldn’t hold a sign, my friends could post pictures i was in but i couldn’t post one myself, i could clap but i couldn’t cheer. 

looking back, i was definitely overthinking things, but my self-imposed limitations do a raise a question many environmental journalists are constantly facing — what is our role in the fight against climate change?

it may seem obvious that as with other global debates, our job is to inform the public and report the facts. but with climate change, these “facts” are often more complicated than they appear. 

climate change first really came into the public sphere in 1988 when dr. james hansen of the national aeronautics and space administration testified in front of a congressional committee and said he was “99 percent certain” that the warming trend of the previous few years was not because of natural variation, but was caused by a buildup of carbon dioxide and other artificial gases in the atmosphere as a result of the burning of fossil fuels. 

this story made the front page of the new york times under the headline, “global warming has begun, expert tells senate.” this article cited several scientists and mathematical models, all indicating that immediate action was needed. the piece included only one sentence acknowledging that some scientists believe the recent warmer temperatures are due to natural fluctuations. 

over 30 years later, the public’s perception of climate change has become increasingly divergent from the scientific discourse. 

ninety-seven percent of climate experts have concluded that human-caused climate change is a reality, according to the american association for the advancement of science. but as of 2019, 35% of americans think that global warming is generally exaggerated, up from 31% in 1997, according to a gallup poll.this same poll found that as of 2018, only 42% of americans would consider themselves an environmentalist, down from 76% in 1989.

i have seen how important this public perception of climate change can be in directing policy. one of my aforementioned crayola sign-toting roommates is marina minic, a uw junior studying chemistry and environmental studies and an executive board member for campus leaders for energy action now. 

clean is a student organization working through strikes and petitions to get uw to power the campus exclusively with renewable energy by 2050 and to derive all electrical power from renewable resources by 2030. i have covered several protests organized by clean and have joined them during their weekly petitioning around campus, their version of greta thunberg’s fridays for future. 

minic said that most students she interacts with support clean energy; they are just unaware that it is such a major issue at uw.  she said that whenever she tells students that only 1.61% of uw’s energy consumption comes from clean and renewable sources, they are disappointed and happy to sign clean’s petition. 

a major way clean informs students and gains visibility is through media coverage, minic told me. 

“if the chancellor wakes up the next morning and she sees every local paper has written about something, obviously you can’t ignore it at that point,” minic said. “it’s also a good way to raise awareness to other students to get involved in the movement because i think most people do care about this issue and maybe just didn’t know about it.”

this media attention has always been key for the environmental movement. however, in the years since hansen first testified before the senate, how the media covers climate change has shifted. 

a study published in 2003 by the global environmental change journal featured a content analysis of articles published by the wall street journal, the new york times, the washington post and the los angeles times from 1988 to 2002. the study found that the majority, 52.6%, of articles presented both the view that climate change is being caused by humans and the view that it is due to natural fluctuations, in a balanced way. the study also found that from 1988 to 2002, the articles’ focus on the need for immediate climate action decreased. 

this study is dated, but more recent studies show similar trends. the day after the intergovernmental panel on climate change released its report announcing that global warming is likely to reach 1.5°c between 2030 and 2052 if current trends continue, media matters for america analyzed the home pages of the top 50 newspapers in the country. they found that only 22 covered the report. 

this lack of coverage and the tendency to prioritize balance over accuracy may be connected to the politicization of climate change. a recent report published by the science communication journal conducted a content analysis of all climate change-related articles published by major newspapers in the u.s between 1985 and 2017. the report found that representations of climate change have become more politicized. 

the content analysis showed that political actors have been increasingly used as sources in recent years, while the use of scientists as sources has been decreasing. it also found that the mention of “democrats” and “republicans” in climate change-related articles have increased. 

the perceived politicization of climate change has influenced actions being taken to address it. when 350 madison, a climate action organization, petitioned the uw foundation to divest from fossil fuel industries, the foundation wrote a letter saying it did not want to do anything that would make the university be seen as a political actor, rather than an academic and research institution. 

this argument is not unique to uw. ari bortman, a university of pennsylvania junior and a campus organizer with fossil free penn, told me that when fossil free pushed for divestment at upenn, the administration said it did not want to make a political statement. that refusal, bortman said, is a political statement in itself. 

“at this point, their vehement resistance to make any kind of statement on the industry really belies their leanings,” bortman said. “we know that the fossil fuel industry destroys people’s lives, destroys people’s homes for profit… exxon admits to spending billions of dollars to spread false science to misinform people, that’s not debatable. to not say that these things are bad is a political statement.”

bortman’s reference to exxon mobile’s misinformation campaigns actually touches on part of why climate change has become so politicized. a recent report, “america misled,” analyzed internal corporate documents from the fossil fuel industry showing it knew about the reality of human-caused climate change for decades and actively funded denial and disinformation campaigns.  

one document from 1998 outlines the american petroleum institute’s global climate science communications plan. this plan includes a bullet point list titled, “victory will be achieved when.”

“media “understands” (recognizes) uncertainties in climate science,” one bullet point read.  “media coverage reflects balance on climate science and recognition of the validity of viewpoints that challenge conventional wisdom.”

corporations’ efforts to influence media messages about climate change have persisted throughout the years. one day in february, after covering clean’s divestment die-in where protestors chanted and laid down at the top of bascom hill as a part of the national fossil fuel divestment day, i came home to find marina fuming in the kitchen. 

i had been covering the protest for the badger herald, but the other school newspaper, the daily cardinal, had been given a pamphlet from the uw alumni foundation emphasizing that technically it is the foundation that is invested in fossil fuels, not the university. 

the resulting daily cardinal article said that students were protesting uw’s “alleged” investment in fossil fuels. 

the word “alleged” was eventually removed after the daily cardinal met with clean. in the meeting, clean’s executive board explained that because all $124,785,961 the foundation has invested in oil and gas is donated to uw, the university is still profiting off fossil fuel investments. 

seeing the importance media coverage plays in this issue, and the concerted effort those who profit from the fossil fuel industry have continued to put into influencing the media, makes me wonder — as a journalist, is it truly biased to take a stance on climate change? furthermore, as a student with a platform, do i have a responsibility to share that stance?

i think back to the global climate strike; standing on my tip toes with my arms outstretched trying to record the speakers, i remember how moved i was by what they said. 

one speaker, uw freshman crystal zhao, reflected on her experience moving from china to massachusetts at 14 and witnessing how climate change has affected different parts of the world. her speech moved me because she discussed the importance of everyone having a role in the climate movement. 

“i’m here today because i care about the future generation and selfishly, i am here today because i care about the reputation of our generation,” zhao said. “i don’t want us to be remembered as the generation that failed to act when we still had a chance to save our home.”

her speech brings me back to my original question: as a journalist, what is my role in the climate movement? this may be a question i continue to grapple with throughout my career. but i do know one thing — after zhao spoke, i cheered as loud as i could. 

as a dena’ina athabascan, ruth stood on the ashes of centuries worth of decisions made for, not by, her people: the visitors who had pockmarked her tribe’s ground and polluted their waters; the visitors who had come and gone on their boats and airplanes; the visitors who had, she soon noticed, never really left. melting permafrost. vanishing caribou herds. oil rigs sprouting faster than the beets and broccoli. the impact of decisions was palpable—all she had to do was take a look around.

ruth grew up in anchorage, the de facto capital of alaska, nestled 180 miles into the cook inlet (tikahtnu in dena’ina), a small body of water shaped like a knobby finger stemming from the susitna, matanuska, and kenai rivers and spilling off into the gulf of alaska. 

the cook inlet basin is alaska’s oldest gas and oil basin. during its heyday in the ‘70s, production topped 230,000 barrels per day, but by the early ‘90s, operations had all but sputtered out, and by 1996, chevron corp. and marathon oil, the two big players in the region, ceased all activity. a year later, ruth was born to two indigenous rights lawyers. one could say she had it lucky.

“growing up i think i had the safety of innocence in that i saw our state blooming and thriving,” ruth said, now 22. “i knew what fresh wild salmon tasted like, what fresh moose meat tasted like. you know, we had access to our subsistence foods and our lifestyles.”

but every now and then, ruth would catch glimpses of industrialization. in 2009, cook region inlet, inc., started the construction of 11 wind turbines on fire island, a small uninhabited island near the head of cook inlet. in 2012, the turbines began feeding into the anchorage electrical grid. still, these projects could hardly deserve the name “industrialization” and anchorage—a city that in 2000 measured 250,000 people and to this day barely cuts 300,000—was a far cry from your typical metropolis.

and yet, the city has long been hailed alaska’s “biggest native village,” home to alaskan native communities from across the state, including yup’iks, inupiats, alaskan athabascans, tlingit-haidas, aleuts, and tsimshians. 

“we joked that either all of us are cousins or all of us have like 100 mutual facebook friends,” said ruth, who grew up immersed in this indigenous diversity, an experience that would later inform her advocacy work on behalf of these populations.

“i was gifted knowledge and wisdom and gifted relationships with people from all across the state,” she said. “and the stories they chose to give me are ones that i have to carry with care in my advocacy work while maintaining, you know, specificity and making sure that i’m not speaking stories that aren’t mine to tell.”

that’s not to say nothing was rotten in the state of anchorage. in the early 2000s, u.s.-indigenous relations in anchorage were souring. a month before ruth’s fourth birthday, three teenagers from eagle river, an anchorage suburb, drove downtown armed with paintball guns and ammunition and wounded several pedestrians. in a recording of their 15-mile drive, the teenagers were heard calling the pedestrians “eskimo(s).” the alaska house of representatives shortly declared the incident a hate crime.

as a multiracial child, ruth’s ancestry was always a sticking point. her mother is a dena’ina athabascan born in seward, a port city on the kenai peninsula about a 100 miles south of anchorage. ruth’s father, on the other hand, is a russian ashkenazi jew, born and raised in new york city.

“he did 23andme and he is like 99.8% russian jewish,” ruth said, “and then the other 1.2% is eastern european. so he was the first person ever in his entire lineage to marry out of the faith.”

you can imagine how this might have been difficult for ruth. before anchorage was an american city, it belonged to the russians. in the late 18th century, the lebedev-lastochkin company erected forts at kasilof and kenai and coerced the dena’ina athabascan people into the russian fur trade. ruth’s father was, of course, not part of this history, arriving much later in the ‘70s. a mountain climbing enthusiast, the alaska range lured the man north, but it was the work that kept him there. he was already a partner at sonosky, chambers, sachse, miller & monkman, an indigenous rights firm, and he opened up an office in anchorage. 

“i cannot imagine a life more devoted to the service other than the one that my dad chose,” ruth said.

bystander no longer

as a child, ruth became a regular participant in her parents’ practice, toted along to various tribal communities in alaska—the tlingit, eyak, yup’ik, cup’ik, and iñupiat—and in chile, nepal, and jordan. as she got older and started to understand what was going on, questions arose: “why is this happening? who’s causing this and why are those causing it not being a part of the solution?”

ruth credits kivalina as the first community she engaged with critically. kivalina is a thin barrier reef island between the chukchi sea and the kivalina lagoon in northwest alaska, only accessible via cargo plane. the island is home to the iñupiat village, a small group of around 400 subsistence hunters.

as early as the 1990s, changes started to occur in the landscape. hunting season, normally in may, was beginning two weeks earlier than before, which meant the ice was also thinning earlier. but the iñupiat only noticed the change years later when this became a habitual occurrence. sea ice was now consistently forming later in the year and melting at an alarming rate in the spring and summer. whaling camps became unsafe and the small island, dependent on the permafrost to keep the land from sliding into the ocean, was now at the mercy of the autumnal storms.

in 1992, the village voted to relocate but hit a wall of expenses, so in 2008 they sued 24 of the world’s biggest fossil fuel companies. these companies, they claimed, were a “public nuisance” that inflicted “unreasonable harm” on villagers through their greenhouse gas emissions. damages were designed to subsidize relocation, but the supreme court dismissed the case on the basis that their claim came under the clean air act, not federal tort law. the iñupiat, faced with the decision of filing a new claim in state court, dropped the case. 

ruth grew frustrated with the law. she couldn’t fathom how fossil fuel companies could get away with parsimony at the expense of her people or how the federal government could be so slow to exact justice. she was tired of playing the bystander.

in 2012, at the tender age of 15, ruth dove headfirst into advocacy work, joining a tribal 2022年世界杯亚洲预选赛结果 called united tribes of bristol bay (utbb). she was stationed in dillingham (also known as curyung), a small city in southwest alaska where utbb was organizing against pebble mine, an open-pit copper and gold mine proposed by pebble limited partnership.

holed up in an old storage unit, ruth talked to local fisherman about what they stood to lose if the project moved forward. dillingham sits on nushagak bay, an inlet of bristol bay, the world’s largest wild sockeye salmon fishery. a mine, even a mile wide, a mile long, and 200 meters deep, she explained, could destroy nearly 3,500 acres of wetlands and 81 miles of salmon streams, meaning thousands of american jobs lost and the death of subsistence hunting, sport-fishing, and tourism. 

the utbb’s efforts have stymied the permitting process, but it remains unclear whether their activism will terminate the project or merely delay the inevitable, a plodding, stop-start trail of paperwork entering its ninth year with no end in sight.

at the recommendation of alannah hurley, executive director of the united tribes of bristol bay, ruth was inspired to try out advocacy work from the inside. the following summer, at the age of 16, she entered the belly of the beast, joining the office of sen. mark begich. (“a senator i supported,” ruth said; begich had served as mayor of anchorage from 2004 to 2009.) working under andrea sanders, sen. begich’s legislative assistant for the senate indian affairs committee, ruth drafted the findings section of the traditional foods and nourishment act of 2013, making her not only one of the youngest interns on capitol hill, but possibly the youngest lawmaker that year. 

every now and then, ruth will be reminded of that law, the impacts of which are felt even today. 

“just last week, i was talking to andrea about bringing traditional subsistence foods into our public schools and that was only made possible because of this law that i contributed to,” ruth said. “it made a world of difference.”

ruth’s experiences on capitol hill have made her keenly familiar with the world of red tape and organizing bodies and you’ll rarely, if ever, hear her eulogize the system. when discussing tribal council meetings and alaska federation of natives (afn) conventions—“like the un”—she’ll eventually bring up robert’s rules of order. (“i think it’s really silly.”) “evil,” “capitalist,” and “colonial” usually go in the same sentence and don’t even get her started on the alaska native claims settlement act of 1971 (ancsa), the law that effectively established alaska native corporations.

‘lip service’

when ruth attended the inaugural u.n. youth climate summit last september, she was surprised to find herself in high spirits and hopeful. for many in attendance (including greta thunberg), the summit was a panoply of firsts—their first time in new york city; their first visit to the u.n. headquarters; the first time young people were being recognized on this scale. but for ruth, a seasoned student leader and burgeoning native rights advocate, this was already her third time inside the u.n. building. that year.

for all intents and purposes, the summit was a full-day program of panels, presentations, and photo-ops designed to galvanize young activists, innovators, entrepreneurs, and change-makers into climate action. u.n. secretary-general antónio guterres was in attendance, as well as heads of state, big business executives, and olympians (who got their own afternoon panel). the conference featured events such as a segment called “youth take the mic!” led by nonprofit founder yusuf omar and youtube influencer penny tovar, two peppy millennials with inexplicable 11 o’clock energy that appealed to the youthful crowd. (their voices nearly busted my speakers over the livestream via which many digital denizens, like me, tuned in around the globe.)

the conference ran smoothly for the most part, but was not without its hiccups. it’s pollyannaish to put impassioned, teenaged environmental activists in a room with middle-aged, white men entrusted with billion-dollar (carbon-intensive) corporations and not expect some friction. a particularly memorable episode was during the q&a portion of the “youth take the mic!” session, designed as a diplomatic forum for the young attendees to interact with the who’s who of the private and public sectors. the room went riotous when a girl who looked no older than 15 seized the mic from omar and, with eyes darting nervously around the room, pilloried microsoft chief environmental officer lucas joppa for his business dealings with oil companies. 

“let’s keep it civil,” omar said after taking back the floor.

setting aside these sporadic lapses in organization, the summit appeared—at least virtually—to achieve its goal, providing “a platform for young climate action leaders to showcase their solutions at the united nations and to meaningfully engage with decision-makers on the defining issue of our time.” according to the u.n., the summit was “was action-oriented, intergenerational, and inclusive, with equal representation of young leaders from all walks of life.”

ruth called foul.

“i found that the u.n. youth summit was seriously lacking in productive action,” she said. “i believe that there was a lot of lip service paid. from a youth perspective, i think that it was almost a convening to let off steam because what are global leaders going to walk away with from this? that youth care about the environment?”

for the youth climate movement, including greta thunberg’s fridays for future and jamie margolin’s zero hour, whose work is predicated on the attention of world leaders, the summit was a huge step forward. in fact, the whole week of sept. 20, was a huge step forward. the september 2019 climate strikes, which have since come to be known as the global week for future, consisted of several protests across the world demanding action from the highest levels of government. they generated inertia that was instrumental to the success of the youth climate summit. but ruth wasn’t so sure the summit was an effective climax of the movement’s efforts.

“if our protests did not make that clear (that we care),” she said, “if our entire movement did not make that clear, this conference did not particularly feel like it added more perspective.”

there were larger issues, too, to be found in the “equal representation” that the u.n. press releases have extolled.

ruth could not find many faces that looked like hers at the conference. it seems that economic struggles, especially acute amongst alaska’s native communities, can compound issues, affecting indigenous representation in spaces where indigenous representation matters most.

“if actual inclusion and acceptance was a priority for the u.n., then i would have expected to see many more youths who have been feeling the front lines of these climate change issues for years, not only the youths articulate enough to speak at a conference, but also the youth who have been chaining themselves to pipelines,” she said. “(the ones) who are protesting now in mauna kea. and the youth who may not be able to pay their way to a summit like this, for whom it may not be acceptable to miss school.”

in the dena’ina language, the traditional form of greeting is the phrase naghe nduninyu, which literally translates to “you came to us.” over the course of her life, ruth has spoken these words countless times and yet, their truth is becoming more and more uncertain.

although the summit opened with an indigenous prayer, the conference seemed to ruth to ignore the indigenous presence in the debate. the rest of the day was devoid of any mention of the people in closest relation to the earth, prioritizing lessons like “instagram on purpose” and the “viral video masterclass.” it was as if, ruth articulated, the summit was trying to blot out an irrefutable fact:

“we are still here. despite the efforts of genocide, despite massive pandemic, that wiped out our populations, we are still here. and we are still advocating for the sustainable and life-giving practices that we have learned from living in relationships with the environment for so long.”

marching forward

in december, ruth and two fellow native rights activists started an online platform for indigenous voices called always indigenous media. the organization, as the title suggests, aims to elevate the voices of indigenous people in the digital sphere, making that most egalitarian of communication modalities, the internet, service their needs. their content can be found on the defend the sacred alaska’s facebook page, a nonprofit group fighting for state-wide indigenous visibility.

ruth’s activism since the summit has taken her to the cop25 meeting in spain, where she marched alongside half a million other activists to the tune of “canada’s warrior woman” by martina pierre. currently, she’s back in anchorage, putting together a task force of high school-aged youth from across the state as part of the alaska youth for environmental action. on black friday, they staged a climate strike to bring awareness to the violence of the thanksgiving story and, as ruth puts it, to “encourage people to resist the consumerism and capitalism of black friday.” 

last may, ruth graduated with an undergraduate degree in development studies from brown university. her thesis, on the changing definition of indigeneity, explored how u.s. policies like ancsa have twisted native identity into something no longer recognizable. in an addendum, ruth included a letter attributed “for my grandmother, to my grandchild.” 

“someone told me that our blood remembers,” she writes, “it remembers being spilled out, it remembers drowning in the air, it remembers each drop that was taken from the body it cared for, left as dry as drought. that the land couldn’t turn away as they turned against her. that we were forced to watch, as they started taking, harming, scratching, clawing at her. pickaxing up the soft down of her legs, opening her arteries with oil rigs, pulling out her golden and copper teeth.” 

all ruth can hope is that her descendants, generations down the line, will read those words and remember who wrote them.

read more in my story, linked below:

washington––democrats and republicans had opposing views on the value of coal to the u.s. economy thursday, with democrats calling for more environmental controls and republicans stressing how essential coal is to the energy infrastructure.

democrats at the house subcommittee on energy and mineral resources hearing worried that companies that mine on federal land are not paying their fair share, and that the environmental and social consequences of coal are not being properly considered.

republicans spoke about the success of the program in job creation and how indispensable coal is to the energy infrastructure of america.

the federal coal program is a bureau of land management program that allows private companies to mine coal on federal land. the companies bid for the rights to use the land and pay the government a fee for the land and the coal extracted and a royalty on the coal that is sold. the program is predominantly found in western states like wyoming and was integral in the powering of america throughout the 20th century.

now, critics say the program needs to be modernized and reformed to reflect the true cost of relying on this part of the fossil fuel industry.

subcommittee chair rep. alan lowenthal, d-calif., said the program “ignores the effects of coal on our climate and the future of americans who are losing their livelihoods as coal disappears. these are two things that i’m most focused on.”

but arizona rep. paul gosar, the top republican on the committee, stressed the importance of coal to the u.s. economy. “coal mining is essential to american energy security, providing an affordable, reliable source of baseload power to families across the country,” gosar said. “coal mining also employs over 53,000 people, including regions of the country experiencing economic hardships, like appalachia.”

the differences in focus laid out in gosar and lowenthal’s opening statements were present throughout the hearing. for the few democrats who were present during the hearing, like rep. jared huffman, d-calif., questions environmental and social problems related to mining and the industry. most of those questions were directed at jim stock, an economics professor at harvard and a member of former president barack obama’s council of economic advisors.

“in recent research, i and co-authors estimate that 92% of the decline in coal from 2008 to 2016 is due to the decline in natural gas prices,” stock said. he added that mine closings and consolidation “demonstrate that market forces are driving the decline of coal, despite the many pro-coal actions taken by (president donald trump’s) administration.”

for republicans, the focus was on questioning hal quinn, president and ceo of the national mining association. quinn echoed gosar and other republican’s views that coal is a job creator and a significant part of the country’s energy future. he called the federal coal program a “national and economic success story” and disagreed with the 2016 obama-era decision to place a moratorium on the program.

while the differences across the aisle were clear, lowenthal articulated the shared goal of wanting to learn more and properly address the coal program moving forward. “we could do this in the same haphazard way that we’ve managed the federal coal program over the past few decades,” he said. “or we can consider phasing out the federal coal program in a reasonable, thoughtful way that protects workers, guarantees mine cleanup, and addresses climate change.”

false facts are highly injurious to the progress of science, for they often endure long; but false views, if supported by some evidence, do little harm, for everyone takes a salutary pleasure in proving their falseness; and when this is done, one path towards error is closed and the road to truth is often at the same time opened.”

—charles darwin

for this article, i interviewed two state university of new york school of environmental science and forestry professors about the exxon valdez spill, and the current issues and regulations that have been put in place because of this historical disaster. they also stated their opinions on the excess of fossil fuels american society is do dependent on in present day, even after people saw how much damage the extraction and shipment of oil can cause.

first for a little backstory into the oil spill problem: the exxon valdez oil spill in alaska’s prince william sound was the worst american oil disaster up to that point in history in 1989. many mistakes were made and outrage by the american people was evident, such as the captain of the oil-carrying vessel handing control of the ship to his first mate who had no idea how to operate it. by learning about more recent oil spills and environmental disasters, people have learned more about the science behind how fossil fuels and the machinery taking it out of the ground and transporting it, affect the environment and surrounding economy. education on these issues and why they happen in the first place is the first step into prevention.

the size and damage of the spill was trumped more than two decades later by the bp spill in the gulf coast. many of you who read this blog were not born when the exxon valdez spill happened, but it was an important and depressing stepping stone to create better environmental safety regulations to protect american wildlife.

the interviewees for this post are jill weiss, and sharon moran, both professors from the environmental studies department of suny-esf, and they have both dealt with this oil spill both in and outside of the classroom, which is why i thought they would be good people to interview. they both had very different backgrounds surrounding the issue of oil spills, but they both believe that we have the power today to prevent and regulate the problem.

laws such as the oil pollution act (opa) of 1990 streamlined and strengthened epa’s ability to prevent and respond to catastrophic oil spills. a trust fund financed by a tax on oil is available to clean up spills when the responsible party is incapable or unwilling to do so. the opa requires oil storage facilities and vessels to submit to the federal government plans detailing how they will respond to large discharges. epa has published regulations for aboveground storage facilities. the opa also requires the development of area contingency plans to prepare and plan for oil spill response on a regional scale.

regarding the interviews, the first person i interviewed was weiss. she explained that she was a student in an art college when she first heard about the disaster and has used her experience to talk about oil spills in her lectures and how to prevent them with today’s technology. she also mentioned larger oil spills such as the bp oil spill that occurred almost a decade ago and told me that the cleanup was still ongoing. from her lectures and interview, she told me that public outreach was stronger than she expected, even before the internet existed. currently she teaches a class about nepa, the national environmental policy act, and the guidelines our federal government abides by to keep the environment from sustaining irreparable damage. she strongly believes the people of today have the power to control the amount of spillage, but “since america is so dependent on fossil fuels, many people are timid about changes to the way they go about their daily lives and the amount of oil they use.”

moran teaches classes mainly about environmental policy and american government, including her view on harsher penalties for the people that are the primarily responsible for oil spills, and stricter regulations on the oil barges. she also talked about how much our society depends on fossil fuels, and if we are this dependent, “nothing will change.” she talks about how oil spills can cause permanent damage to an aquatic ecosystem if the regulations and polices regarding the transportation and exportation of oil are not followed. “the science that researches and writes up damage reports is vital in getting the public involved and in getting the party responsible to pay for their missteps. we have the technology today to clean up oil spills and influence the people around us with the factual research, but first, communication is needed to bring different stakeholders together and find out why these oil spills keep happening even with the more advanced technology of today.”

people like you, who read articles like this, can change the world, and spread the word to others on how much damage oil spills can really do, beyond what we hear from the mainstream media. the discovery of fossil fuels helped with the advancement of our society but has also become a hindrance for our future and present environment and life in general.