The Activist

We Have the Ability, But What About the Will?:
Oil, Public Goods, and the Greatest Task of Our Time

What happened to the global warming issue? Over the past 2 centuries, the world as we know it has changed in ways no one could have fathomed at any other time in history. The earth’s climate has been gradually altered in much the same way the structures of power and sovereign rule were shaken forever following the heady days of the French Revolution. Another thing that should have been shaken in much the same way is the economy. We have to act now to reduce emissions, conserve energy, and attempt to ameliorate the ill effects of climate change on our environment. The consequences are dire. Projections of sea level changes have shown that many of the poorest regions of the world are in danger of being reclaimed by the sea, dispersing their already dense populations into untouched, already crowded nearby urban areas. Bangladesh might cease to be in a few centuries, and God knows what the evacuation of those lands and any mass migration to already densely populated cities, likely in Asia and likely possessing large poor populations already, will do for the health of millions, possibly billions, of humans. Terrorists might take out a few members of the world population this month, but global warming could start reducing the globe’s population at a rate a terrorist could only dream of.

We have to act, and we have to make tough decisions and actions now. We have to take the pain of modestly high gas prices (for the US) now so that we can ensure the survival of a healthy planet later as we try to reduce emissions and slow the process. The only way to truly ensure that actions such as these are taken is through regulation, whether we like it or not. It’s not in the interest of profit margins to conserve. With the role for government clear, the Democratic Party took the lead on climate change.

Without serious pressure from the American people, they very well might drop it. In fact, it’s safe to say they will. Yesterday, the House approved the offshore oil drilling ban. To be fair, this was largely the fault of the Republicans being in lock-step (and fighting tooth and nail for this) and the Democratic Party attempting to appease representatives who represent conservative districts or oil economy dependent regions (for instance, the state about 3 miles to my South right now). The lifting of the ban will have little effect on the price of gas at the pump. All that has been done is that new sources for profit have been opened up for oil companies to plunder. The “Drill Baby Drill!” crowd cheers this, and in my opinion has successfully convinced enough of the American people that even a temporary move like this will somehow make them better off, somehow bring back their health care and home.

It is time to see oil in a new way. It is a public good. Like water, housing, and health care, we cannot subject it to a profit-driven model. We must subject it rather to the test of allowance for human survival. It must be regulated. At the same time, it must be not expanded in quantity, but reduced in necessity. The top way to do this is through conservation. There is a clear role those who believe in true social justice can play in the energy and global warming debate. We need to emphasize what public goods are. Public goods must be defined as what is necessary for life and thus should not be subjected to the profit motive. In the case of oil, not only is it a public good in that it is necessary to operate the economy, it is also a harmful threat to our very being. By nationalizing our oil supply (or at least strictly regulating is use), passing better emissions standards, limiting new drilling, promoting new fuel sources, and pushing hard for conservation (the best way to lower energy prices), we can help with regards to global warming and energy security and curb the vices which drive up oil prices and hurt the consumer all while driving up the amount of harmful items in our air. The question is now, will we have the political will to do what is necessary to better regulate what could kill us and the rest of the world.

It is our clear role to define energy and the restriction of its use to better the environment as a public good and obligation to all citizens, at this very moment, with the same tenacity with which we have defined health care as a public good and right. We can afford to act, we have the obligation to act as a major polluter, and to not act would be a crime for which no atonement will be possible.