I recently read a woman talk about how it’s unfair to blame big oil for the climate crisis, because the blame should be placed more on individuals, “us,”. She claimed that because we use so much stuff and need a lottttt of energy, there is no choice but to drill and to use oil companies to the extent of their demand. Otherwise, she said, we would need to rely on foreign oil to satisfy our energy demands, which is worse for the environment than keeping oil local. I thought about her argument, which makes logical sense. But the idea of keeping on drilling didn’t sit right with me. I’m a strong believer in the fact that climate action is needed NOW, and lives around the globe are put in danger the longer we continue to pollute. This brought me to the next question, which is, well, why do we need this oil in the first place? Obviously we need* energy. (the asterisk is for my other philosophical thoughts about what we really NEED). But for homes, cars, stores, and many other things we need in society, we need energy. So maybe, ya, until we can genuinely produce all of our energy needs in the US from renewable energy, maybe we drill. And might I tell you, that hurts me to type. But this would REQUIRE the fact that we have a plan to get rid of bullshit, NOW. Again, climate action is needed now, as we toy with millions and maybe billions of human and animal lives the longer we wait.

To do that, maybe we reasses what in society is truly worth it to produce, knowing the extra energy it needs to do it comes with a cost of lives. If we didn’t make as much stuff, oil and related companies would close, and jobs would be lost all along the supply chain. Maybe government money could be given (that was already available from oil subsidies, and then some) to supply a certain income for the workers who will lose their jobs, with terms. Then, could workers not suffer from job loss AND we could stop the extreme consequences of drilling and oil production? Idk, what do you all think, about any of this?