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These people are setting fire to our planet for money — “arsonist” is the right word
Words matter. We are in a battle for a habitable Earth and the well-being of our children. We are doing battle against fossil fuel profiteers — mostly old rich men who make money while creating giant wildfires, killer storms, heatwaves, droughts, floods and all kinds of suffering.
The terrible destruction and suffering they create is something they cause but don’t pay for. In economic terms, our suffering is “an externality.”
To sow confusion and protect their cruel schemes, fossil fuel profiteers use all kinds of deceptive concepts and words. They tell us that they create jobs, that our whole economy depends on oil and gas and coal. They say that the climate needs more study, that each of us individually must reduce our climate footprints, that alternative energy is not ready.
What they don’t do is admit the most significant fact: the Earth is on fire and the fossil fuel tycoons lit the match, and they continue to fan the flames.
By referring to them as arsonists — constantly, we put their ongoing crimes in bold face. We do it succinctly. If our words are unclear, that gives us the opportunity to spell it out.
