Top scientists issue emergency warnings for fossil fuels

In a comment published today in a peer review journal Oxford opens to climate changetop scientists issued an emergency warning that the fossil fuel and fossil fuel industries are driving the interconnected crisis that threatens people, wildlife and a livable future.

Today’s reviews combine broad scientific evidence that the fossil fuel and fossil fuel industries not only contribute to the climate crisis, but also contribute to public health hazards, environmental injustice, biodiversity losses, and plastics and agrochemical pollution crises.

The focus of the review is that the United States is the world’s largest oil and gas producer and dominates these fossil fuel crises. It introduces solutions that have been available to phase out fossil fuel extraction and to rapidly and equitably use and transition to affordable clean, renewable energy and materials across the economy.

“Science cannot know more clearly that fossil fuels are killing us,” said Dr. Shaye Wolf, the report’s Center for Biodiversity and chief report author. Oil, gas and coal will continue to condemn us for causing more deaths, extinctions of wildlife and extreme weather disasters unless we make dirty fossil fuels pass by.

The comment highlights fossil fuels account for about human-induced carbon dioxide emissions, heating the climate, acidizing the oceans and refueling unprecedented climate disasters. Air pollution caused by fossil fuel combustion causes millions of early deaths worldwide, and thousands of premature deaths in the United States each year. The climate crisis has caused additional deaths and an increasing number of climate disasters, disease transmission, food insecurity and physical and mental health hazards of human displacement.

Based on their findings and decades of research, the authors urge the government to immediately stop the expansion of fossil fuels and phase out existing fossil fuel developments to limit the damage from the climate crisis.

“Fossil fuel pollution affects health at every stage of life, from premature birth to childhood leukemia and severe depression at an elevated risk of disease,” said David JX González, Ph.D., assistant professor of environmental health sciences at UC Berkeley School of Public Health. “We must work quickly to end fossil fuel operations near our homes, schools and hospitals and trade fossil fuel infrastructure for healthy, clean energy.”

While fossil fuels can harm everyone, the review details the dangers of fossil fuel extraction, processing and use of colors and low-income communities.

“Decades of discriminatory policies, such as the Red Line, have had devastating consequences for concentrating the development of fossil fuels in black, brown, native and poor white communities,” said Dr. Robin Saha, associate professor at the University of Montana. “For a long time, these fenced communities have been viewed as sacrifice zones by greedy, ruthless industries. The worst communities should be prioritized to clean energy investments, clearing and cleaning up dirty fossil fuel infrastructure.”

Climate change and pollution caused by fossil fuels are also accelerating the risk of extinction. If fossil fuels are not restricted, up to one-third of animals and plants may be lost forever. To protect biodiversity, the review highlights the importance of choosing renewable energy infrastructure in built environments and increases protection for ecosystems that provide important carbon storage, among many other benefits.

The review further suggests that the fossil fuel industry is increasing the production of plastics, resulting in pollution that contaminates air, water, soil, food systems, wildlife and humans.

The review recommends the adoption of ambitious goals to reduce major plastic production and attention to plastic chemicals, while incentivizing safe and sustainable plastic and non-plastic alternatives, as well as sustainable agricultural practices to limit petrochemical pollution of fossil fuels, thereby limiting pesticides and fertilizers.

The review also discusses the key obstacles to the transition from fossil fuels to clean energy: billions of dollars in disinformation campaigns in the fossil fuel industry over decades to mask the dangers of its products and prevent its policies to phase out fossil fuels.

“The fossil fuel industry has spent decades misleading our harm to our products and working to prevent meaningful climate action,” said Naomi Oreskes, a professor of science history at Harvard. “Disadvantage, our government continues to provide hundreds of millions of dollars in subsidies to this harmful industry. The past time has stopped.”

The 11 co-authors are Dr. Shaye Wolf. (Center of Biodiversity), Robert Bullard (South University of Texas), Jonathan J. Bullockell (Boston University), Nathan Tangley (Center of Biodiversity), Trisia Farrelly (Cawthron Institute), John Fleming, PhD (Center of Biodiversity), David JX González (University of California, Berkeley), Naomi Oreskes, PhD (Harvard), William Ripple (Oregon State University), Robin Saha, PhD (University of Montana, University of Missouri) and Mary D. Dr. Willis (Boston University).