REVOILUTION
OVERVIEW
“OUR DEPENDENCE ON FOSSIL FUELS AMOUNTS TO GLOBAL PYROMANIA AND THE ONLY FIRE EXTINGUISHER WE HAVE AT OUR DESPOSAL IS RENEWABLE ENERGY.”
-Hermann Scheer
Despite sources for renewable energy becoming increasingly efficient and necessary, the United States continues to rely on burning fossil fuels, securing its position as the globe’s second-highest emitting country. With the effects of climate change becoming impossible to ignore, it’s time to leave fossil fuels in the past (and the ground) and finally embrace renewable technology.
OUR PLANET IS SUFFOCATING.
The burning of fossil fuels for energy, heat, and transportation is the number one cause of carbon emissions in the United States and the leading cause of global climate change. The pollutants dumped into the atmosphere from mining, transportation, and refining degrade air quality, leaving the low-income communities that usually surround such operations with life threatening respiratory problems and diseases. Oil spills destroy native ecosystems for decades afterwards, with side effects that can ripple all the way up food chains. Increased temperatures from emissions acidify the ocean, killing coral reefs and vital fish populations; disrupt global climate patterns, causing more frequent intense weather events, like wildfires, hurricanes, and droughts; kill off ecosystems near the equator, pushing the survivors farther and farther north; melt glaciers that reflect heat and provide freshwater for countless communities; dry up lakes in otherwise waterless desert regions… the list goes on and on. Fossil fuels are too dangerous to keep burning, and it’s going to take an energy RevOILution to topple their tyranny.
TIME IS RUNNING OUT.
We are quickly running out of time to kick out fossil fuels and make the switch to 100% renewable energy. According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (a panel of renowned experts from across the globe tasked with studying and projecting the effects of climate change), we must cap global warming at 1.5°C in order to avoid the worst effects and tipping points. If we continue with business-as-usual practices, we’re set to overshoot this barrier and descend into climate chaos by around 2032. That’s ten years, one single decade, to get our emissions in check.
REVOILUTION
What better way to tackle emissions than by getting rid of the very industry that emits the most? It’s time to revOILutionize the energy industry, and today’s advancements in renewable technology have made the transition easier than ever. Solar prices are dropping, battery storage technology is advancing, and more and more everyday technology is being adapted to run off these renewable sources. But the benefits don’t stop there. According to a recent study by Stanford University, “an energy system running on wind, water, and solar, coupled with storage, avoids blackouts, lowers energy requirements and consumer costs, while creating millions of jobs, improving people’s health, and reducing land requirements.” This transition is a no-brainer, and it’s time to make the switch.
A complete overhaul of our current energy system won’t happen overnight. It’s going to take grassroots organizing, protests, and a complete change in US policy to achieve these ambitious goals. We need motivated individuals (like you!) to help us place pressure on our elected officials and let them know that THE REIGN OF FOSSIL FUELS IS OVER. It’s time to put the health of our people and environment over the profits of the oil industry. Join the fight today!