Big Oil must pay for climate change. Now we can calculate how much

[turbinetree]

As communities in coastal Texas and Louisiana confront the damage wrought by Hurricane Harvey, another hurricane, Irma, fueled by abnormally warm waters, is barreling into the Caribbean and threatening Puerto Rico and Florida.

We know that the costs of both hurricanes will be enormous and that climate change will have made them far larger than they would have been otherwise. How much larger? Careful studies will take time but the evidence that climate change is warming ocean waters, increasing both sea level and the risk of extreme precipitation in these regions is well established.

On 29 October 2012, when Hurricane Sandy slammed into America’s east coast, a storm surge of more than nine feet caused extensive flooding damage throughout the affected region. Researchers have since determined that the damage from that storm surge was greatly worsened by climate change.

Sea level along the East Coast has risen by about eight inches since 1900, as oceans have warmed and expanded in response to rising concentrations of carbon dioxide and other heat-trapping gases in the atmosphere, with subsiding land adding insult to injury. According to one study, sea level rise increased Sandy’s flood damages to property in New York City alone by $2bn – more than $230 per New Yorker.

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/sep/07/big-oil-must-pay-for-climate-change-here-is-how-to-calculate-how-much

[BigmanPigman]

1. Can we send Big Oil the bills from FEMA?

[ProudLib72]

2. Fine, but the CEOs are not going to give up their $200 million a year bonuses

That will be coming out of consumers' pockets. It's simple, gasoline prices will surge to 2006 levels and remain there for a long time. I'm not saying the companies should not be held responsible. I am saying that lawsuits to collect disaster relief are not the way to go. Regulations are the way to go. Fed govt pushing for lower emission vehicles is the way to go.

[TexasBushwhacker]

3. Correct. BUT if gas prices go up and stay up

Maybe people will get serious about buying vehicles that get better. Whenever the price of gas goes down, sales of big trucks and SUVs go up.

[ProudLib72]

6. You are correct

However, consumer driven change takes longer to have an effect. What I really want is a government that believes in climate science and is willing to regulate big oil companies. And, yes, I get that in the absence of a decent government, the public needs to step in. I just don't think these fines (if the law finds in favor of the plaintiffs) will impact the CEOs' pocketbooks. In other words, this is a frustrating position to find ourselves in, and there are few if any good solutions.

[onenote]

4. Average per capita gasoline consumption in NYC - around 480 gallons/year

So an increase in the price of gas of .48 gallon would cover the $230 per person cost. Plus that doesn't take into account other forms of fuel, such as heating oil which would allow the amount of the increase at the pump to be spread out further.

In the end, we'd be paying for it, one way or another.

[BainsBane]

5. We all play a central role

because it is our consumption that big oil fills demand for. Americans use more fossil fuels than residents of any country on earth.