Top Climatologist Wants Oil Company CEOs on Trial for Crimes Against Humanity
June 30, 2008 · Print This Article
Climate scientist James E. Hansen called for putting oil companies on trial for crimes against humanity last Monday on Capitol Hill. Hansen stated that the heads of oil companies, who knowingly delayed action on greenhouse gas emissions, are guilty of crimes against humanity and nature and should be prosecuted thusly.
From Hansen’s speech, via Dot Earth:
CEOs of fossil energy companies know what they are doing and are aware of long-term consequences of continued business as usual. In my opinion, these CEOs should be tried for high crimes against humanity and nature.
Conviction of ExxonMobil and Peabody Coal CEOs will be no consolation, if we pass on a runaway climate to our children. Humanity would be impoverished by ravages of continually shifting shorelines and intensification of regional climate extremes. Loss of countless species would leave a more desolate planet.
If politicians remain at loggerheads, citizens must lead. We must demand a moratorium on new coal-fired power plants. We must block fossil fuel interests who aim to squeeze every last drop of oil from public lands, off-shore, and wilderness areas. Those last drops are no solution. They yield continued exorbitant profits for a short-sighted self-serving industry, but no alleviation of our addiction or long-term energy source.
Hell yeah! We’ll sign that petition. A commenter calling himself ‘blindjester’ on a related story at The Huffington Post Green sums it up nicely: “If you cause the injury of a few people, you get sued. You cause the death of someone, you go to jail. If you’re wealthy enough and powerful enough to contribute to disease and death worldwide, you get to live in a mansion.”
Link [Dot Earth] + [The Huffington Post]
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[...] Y hoy leo que James Hansen, el científico de la NASA encargado del estudio de la climatología, ha dicho en una entrevista en la radio algo así como que “a los altos ejecutivos de las grandes empresas petroleras habría que juzgarlos por crímenes contra…“. [...]
The oil and gas products of our country provides millions of
jobs of our people to bring them from the earth and seas and
to make them into usable products for our conforts and transportation needs.
Some can remember using oil products for our cooking our
meals without wood or coal which were becoming defleted from
our forests and mines.
God has given us wind and water to take care of many of our needs and we must learn to use them if we are losing our need
for oil products.
Fossil fuels have created a lifestyle unlike any other in history. Look around you, the computer you are on, the light next to you, the chair you are sitting in. You cannot look around the room you are in and find a single item that oil has not helped create.
These people and their products have increased lifespans, improved living conditions, and reduced poverty and hunger throughout the world. Yes, we are addicted, but to accuse the leaders of oil companies for crimes against humanity is absurd.
@James you are right. We have more abundance than ever. But it has come at a cost that we are only beginning to full understand.
James,
I can look around my room and find something oil did not create. It did not create my Mom. It did not create the jumping spider who lives on the window sill. It did not create the African violets, the goldfish plant, the ants, the cacti, our dog…
Regal,
While many of the things you mentioned do not descend directly from hydrocarbons, oil still plays a major role. Your mom lives in an air conditioned home, drives a car, and uses countless items derived from petrochemicals daily. Your dog also consumes food created with the input of carbon, and out of a plastic bowl for that matter. As for the spider and the cactus, these are natural organisms that have lived for millions of year without the input of oil based technology. If you wish to live your life like these creatures, value poverty, short lifespans, and a society based on hunting and gathering, I with you the best of luck.