What can you do TODAY to fight climate change?

Well, did you know that the the oil and gas industry has already signed your death certificate? If this sounds extreme or ridiculous, read on:

The Cancun Agreement of December 2010 was an internationally agreed upon commitment to keep global temperatures not more than 2 degree (Celsius) above pre-industrial levels. The Potsdam Climate Institute calculated the global carbon “budget” for the world in order to stay below that critical 2 degree level of warming.

For the years 2000 – 2050, they calculated that carbon emissions must be kept below 886/Gt; however, in just the first 10 years of that 50 year period (from 2000 – 2010), we had already used 321/Gt, leaving us with a maximum of 565/Gt to burn for the remaining 40 years. As improbable a budget as that seems, the reality is much worse.

According to SEC filings and proven fossil fuel reserves (oil, gas and coal which is already slated to be extracted and burned before the year 2050), the fossil fuel industry has committed itself, and by extension, every living thing on earth, to the extraction and burning of 2,795/Gt of carbon, worth an estimated $27 trillion dollars. This is roughly 5 times (565 x 5 = 2,825) the absolute upper limit of what our planet can possibly “absorb,” which means that oil and gas executives have signed our death certificates, quite literally. Unless we stop them.

So, for today, please share this post with everyone you know. And for additional information and further explanation, please go to Carbontracker’s website. Here is one of their reports: http://www.carbontracker.org/report/carbon-bubble/