A. Attention Getter: Our world is going to end in 2030, at least according to the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, and it’s not due to non-recyclable plastic straws (Miller, 2018).
B. Relevance: As people who hope to live on this planet, this is terrifying and a stark reality we must face if we really want to do anything with the degrees we’re here for. However, with misinformation, the correct problem cannot be diagnosed.
C. Credibility Statement: Growing up in a family of environmentally friendly people who have based their careers on sustainability and regulation of world around us, I have been hearing about this problem since I was old enough to understand the words “Climate Change”.
D. Central Idea: The climate is being directly impacted by capitalism, however due to misinformation, people are not actually doing anything that will help the environment in the long term.
E. Initial Preview: By the end of this speech, you will understand how climate change occurs, what you need to know about it, and why the system works this way.
Transition to 1st main point: So, to begin, we need to understand exactly what climate change is.
II. BODY
A. To go straight from the definition, climate change is a change in global or regional climate patterns.
1. This has been happening since the earth’s beginning with ice ages and glacial retreats, mostly due to small variations in Earth’s orbit that can put it closer to or further away from the sun. However, according to NASA, the current warming of the planet can be attributed to with 97% probability to human activity since the 1940’s that has polluted mass amounts of carbon dioxide into our atmosphere (Callery, 2018).
2. The reason carbon dioxide is bad is because it traps heat in our atmosphere. This has been known since the 1800’s with physicist John Tyndall who recognized the Earth’s natural greenhouse effect and suggested that slight changes in the atmospheric composition, like producing mass amounts of carbon dioxide, could bring about climatic variations (Callery, 2018).
3. The carbon dioxide trapping heat has raised the global temperature by almost 2 degrees Fahrenheit with the warmest year on record occurring in 2016, ocean temperatures and acidity increasing and killing marine wildlife, the shrinking ice sheets that is taking away natural habitats for polar bears and other artic creatures, decrease in snow in the northern hemisphere, the global sea level which has raised 4 inches since 1995, the increase in extreme weather events like hurricanes and record rain fall. The evidence is staggering when it comes to how carbon dioxide and other gasses produced by fossil fuels is killing the earth (NASA, 2018).
Transition to 2nd main point: Where is all this carbon dioxide coming from though? And why should we care?
B. About 100 companies. A study done by the Climate Accountability Institute and Carbon Disclosure Project found that 70% of greenhouse gas emissions since 1988 are from about 100 fossil fuel producing companies (Griffin, 2017)
1. Imagine you’re in a lecture hall class and one dude named Exxon keeps talking all class. Practically yelling from the back, and the professor starts getting mad at the whole class, not just Exxon. She gets so mad in fact, that she starts assigning homework and moving up due dates for papers because “Everyone is talking” but Exxon never stops, he even asks you to be quiet while he keeps talking. Then, at the end of class, Exxon just walks up to the front of class and hands the professor $100. That’s what this situation is.
2. Growing up we have always been taught that recycling and carpooling are the ways to save the earth but the mass carbon emissions that have been speeding up the death of our planet at alarming rates have been from just 100 companies. Some of the highest emitting companies include ExxonMobil, Shell, BP, and Chevron, which also happen to be investor owned companies. Meaning that the reason this is still happening is because people don’t want to lose money.
Transition to 3rd point: However, this information is not necessarily widespread or accepted, even though it is based in fact. The system continues to function this way for a few reasons.
C. Understanding why climate change is still rooted in capitalism is necessary.
1. The real culprit of the climate crisis is not any particular form of consumption, production or regulation but rather the very way in which we globally produce, which is for profit rather than for sustainability. So long as this order is in place, the crisis will continue and, given its progressive nature, worsen. This is a hard fact to confront. But averting our eyes from a problem does not make it any less a problem. It should be stated plainly: It’s capitalism that is at fault.
2. There are many reasons we do not typically talk about climate change in this way. The wealthy are holding fast to theirs. Bought politicians and state violence are on their side. Everyday people have plenty to keep up with, and they don’t want to devote their precious time off work to often tedious political meetings. The inertia, it is sad to say, makes enough sense. The lack of concern in our country is based more on an inability to care when so many other things are happening in our everyday lives and the people who make money off of fossil fuel production want to keep it that way (Fong, 2017)
III. Conclusion
A. Transition: In conclusion,
B. Restate Central Idea: The climate is being directly impacted by capitalism, however due to misinformation, people are not actually doing anything that will help the environment in the long term.
C. Final Summary: Hopefully you understand how climate change occurs and what you need to know about it.
D. Memorable closing: While I understand that not everyone can go out and rally against fracking or engage in political activism against big oil, being informed is the first step to becoming an engaged citizen and I hope this has helped you realize that maybe we can keep the earth alive for longer than 12 more years with more than just chastising others about plastic bags.