By: Katie LePage
Wildfires, floods, droughts, ice storms, extreme temperatures, hurricanes, and rising sea levels – there is no doubt that the weather has been quite extreme and unpredictable as of late. These extreme widespread changes in weather patterns are a direct consequence of human-induced climate change, which will only be further amplified unless our society makes serious modifications to our behavior now. As technological developments continue to advance, many have been hopeful that we can slow down climate change. However, President Biden’s recent approval of the Willow Project, which is the largest proposed oil drilling project on U.S. public lands, could damage our climate to a point beyond repair. As a result of this controversial decision, various environmental organizations have filed suit against the Biden Administration.
Climate change refers to long-term shifts in temperatures and weather patterns. Although some of these transformations may be natural, the driving force behind these changes is accredited to human activity. The greenhouse effect, a process that scientists have identified as the root cause of climate change, occurs when greenhouse gases, such as carbon dioxide, are released into Earth’s atmosphere and accumulate heat radiating from the sun, causing Earth’s temperature to increase. While greenhouse gases are essential to keep Earth at a suitable temperature to sustain life, for over a century human activity like burning fossil fuels, deforestation, and agriculture have emitted a substantial amount of greenhouse gases, thereby constituting the largest contributor to global warming.
Throughout the past five years, Earth’s temperature has reached the highest it’s ever been within the past five decades, rising about two degrees Fahrenheit in the past century. While a two-degree increase may seem inconsequential, it takes an immense amount of heat to increase the temperature in Earth’s oceans, atmosphere, and land masses. To demonstrate the grave consequences that can result from such a small change, history has revealed that a one to two degree drop in the Earth’s temperature has previously triggered a “Little Ice Age,” and a 5 degree drop once buried large portions of North America in sheets of ice.
According to the 2023 report from the U.N. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (“IPCC”), humanity has “fundamentally and irreversibly transformed Earth’s system.” As a result of Earth’s rising temperature, there have been drastic changes in wind patterns, moisture levels, and heat circulation, which has resulted in extreme weather events that many of us have already experienced the consequences thereof. For example, the deadly winter storm that hit Texas in 2021 killed 246 people; in 2022, Hurricane Ian, one of the deadliest hurricanes to hit the United States in 20 years, killed 148 people; and deadly heatwaves kill around 1,300 people a year.
In attempts to combat the consequences deriving from climate change, many scientists and lawmakers have taken initiative to reduce our carbon footprint. As of 2022, the transportation sector, which consists of cars, trains, and planes, equates to 27% of the United States’ greenhouse gases, making it the predominant contributor to climate change. In October of 2022, California regulators passed a new law banning the sale of new gas cars by 2035, with 15 other states implementing similar laws. A transition to electric vehicles will significantly reduce the amount of greenhouse gases that are emitted into Earth’s atmosphere because as opposed to gas cars, electric vehicles are battery operated, thus producing zero tailpipe emissions. While there are some drawbacks associated with the batteries of electric vehicles, these cars have been proven to be a more sustainable and environmentally friendly option.
In December of 2022, NASA launched a new tech device, a satellite known as Surface Water and Ocean Topography (“SWOT”), as a method to monitor changes in Earth’s form from outer space. SWOT is the first radar system to survey nearly every aspect of Earth’s surface water, as well as provide a 3D view of how Earth’s systems operate and how they are affected by climate change. SWOT will measure the height of waterbodies on over 90% of Earth’s surface, which will help scientists understand how the ocean influences climate change and help communities better detect and plan for floods, droughts, and rising sea levels.
Recently, many countries have begun investing in direct air capture (“DAC”) plants as a solution to remove carbon dioxide that has been emitted throughout the years. DAC plants collect carbon dioxide directly from the air and permanently store or repurpose it for uses like carbonating drinks or creating synthetic low carbon fuel for aviation industries. There are currently 19 DAC facilities worldwide, most of which are in the United States, Europe, or Canada. To reach net zero emissions by 2050, DAC plants must capture more than 85 million tons of CO2 by 2030, but the current plants are only capturing about 10,000 tons. The United States is currently in the process of building the world’s largest-scale plant, which is expected to operate by the mid-2020’s and will capture up to 1 million tons per year. Unfortunately, DAC plants, along with other climate fighting technology, still may not be enough in light of a new decision released from the White House.
In January of this year, President Biden stated that, “[g]lobal warming is the single most existential threat to humanity we have ever faced, including nuclear weapons.” However, less than five weeks later, President Biden approved the Willow Project, an oil drilling project in Alaska that has been referred to as a “carbon bomb,” due to the likelihood that the project will intensify climate change and derail Biden’s own climate goals. The Willow Project could produce up to 180,000 barrels of oil a day, which would ultimately produce over 263 million tons of greenhouse gases within the next 30 years. The amount of greenhouse gases that could be emitted from this project equates to gas emissions from 1.7 million cars each year.
We currently live on a planet that is a ticking time bomb. Our future and livelihood depend on the decisions we make today. In response to President Biden’s approval of the Willow Project, environmental agencies have filed suit against the Biden Administration in hopes of receiving an injunction to halt the project, and climate activists have gathered in person and online to protest the decision. If we want to defuse Earth’s climate time bomb, we can no longer stay ignorant to climate change because the window for action is quickly closing.
Student Bio: Katie LePage is a second-year full time student at Suffolk University Law School. She is a staff writer on the Journal of High Technology Law. Katie is a graduate from Stonehill College, where she received a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Criminology, with a minor in Sociology.
Disclaimer: The views expressed in this blog are the views of the author alone and do not represent the views of JHTL or Suffolk University Law School.
