By Esha Bagora

Humor Editor

Our world is really messed up. Each day, new issues are brought to light, and people scramble to sign petitions and donate money just for all of the effort to fizzle out when the next problem arises. Think of the Earth like a table, and all of these crises are stacked on top of it. But, if the table breaks, the problems are unsolvable. Thus, no one can fix any of these humanitarian issues if there is no world to fix them on. 

Climate change cannot and should not be an avoided topic. Many of the issues we deal with on a daily basis can’t be be eliminated if there is no world for us to solve them on. The companies that pretend to support any of the humanitarian and empathetic problems plaguing us today, including homophobia and racism, Newsflash: it’s not. 100 global companies are responsible for 71 percent of carbon emissions, one of the sole causes of climate change. 

Factories contribute substantially to the growing climate change problem.

Chevron is one of the companies whose advertisements speak only on their sustainable practices, calling themselves makers of “affordable, reliable, ever-cleaner energy,” when they’re 12th highest carbon emission rate. Most of the other energy providers on the list of companies that aren’t eco – friendly are ones I’ve never heard of, but it’s clear that based on their rankings, people rely on them heavily for energy. That is exactly what solar is for, sustainable and eco – friendly energy. 

It’s time to start holding companies accountable for destroying the environment. The energy companies make up 71 percent % of the world’s carbon footprint, so it doesn’t matter how short your shower is or how much compost you make because until they start treating climate change with importance, nothing will change. If they don’t start to cut back on their carbon use in the next 20 years, humans will have a set course to the next mass extinction. So for the time being, channel more energy into making sure there’s a world existing to solve the rest of our issues on. 

(Sources: BBC, The Guardian, Earthworks)