0:00:01.300,0:00:02.366
to
0:00:05.933,0:00:07.100
the fossil fuel
0:00:07.466,0:00:08.866
industry
0:00:10.233,0:00:12.000
it's the end
0:00:14.666,0:00:15.733
of your reign!
0:00:15.733,0:00:18.733
it's the end of your reign!
0:00:20.566,0:00:23.700
One day, scrolling, an ad popped up in my feed.
0:00:23.700,0:00:26.100
It was difficult to tell what it was advertising,
0:00:26.100,0:00:27.866
but it seemed promising.
0:00:27.866,0:00:30.200
It told me to fall in love, follow my dreams,
0:00:30.200,0:00:32.800
keep my friends until old age, get a dog, a cat,
0:00:32.800,0:00:35.000
and even start a family.
0:00:35.000,0:00:37.200
Just wondering…
0:00:37.200,0:00:39.366
what was it selling?
0:00:39.366,0:00:40.433
Insurance?
0:00:40.433,0:00:41.800
Bank credit?
0:00:41.800,0:00:43.366
A car?
0:00:43.366,0:00:46.300
No, not this time.
0:00:46.700,0:00:52.666
At the end, there’s a beautiful image of an extraction platform in the sunset,
0:00:52.666,0:00:56.400
looking almost romantic.
0:00:56.400,0:01:02.666
This was an ad by OMV Petrom, one of the companies investing in the Neptun Deep platform,
0:01:02.666,0:01:07.700
the biggest gas exploitation project in the Black Sea region of Romania.
0:01:07.700,0:01:10.100
Its main motto was:
0:01:10.100,0:01:14.600
Never stop making plans for a better future.
0:01:14.600,0:01:15.666
Wow.
0:01:15.666,0:01:17.800
Imagine being a fossil fuel company,
0:01:17.800,0:01:21.100
directly responsible for anthropogenic climate change,
0:01:21.100,0:01:23.833
and promising young people a good future.
0:01:23.833,0:01:26.100
No, no, wait, wait,
0:01:26.366,0:01:28.366
“a better future”.
0:01:28.366,0:01:29.900
Why is it better?
0:01:29.900,0:01:35.300
Because they are going to invest 11 billion euros until 2030 into…
0:01:35.600,0:01:39.700
pictures of sunsets, I suppose?
0:01:39.700,0:01:42.666
Their audacity shouldn’t surprise us anymore,
0:01:42.666,0:01:44.766
yet it still does.
0:01:44.766,0:01:48.366
But they’ve been heavily investing in ads for decades,
0:01:48.366,0:01:51.233
and at least some of them…
0:01:51.233,0:01:54.266
are mind-blowing.
0:02:04.533,0:02:08.233
1. Ads! for heating the planet
0:02:08.433,0:02:11.300
Let’s go back to a time before the IPCC,
0:02:11.300,0:02:12.000
COP,
0:02:12.000,0:02:13.033
Greta Thunberg,
0:02:13.033,0:02:14.100
Just Stop Oil,
0:02:14.100,0:02:15.333
Extinction Rebellion,
0:02:15.333,0:02:16.600
or Ende Gelände.
0:02:17.133,0:02:23.266
Let’s remember the weirdly truthful 1962 ad by Humble Oil,
0:02:23.266,0:02:25.733
a company now called ExxonMobil,
0:02:25.733,0:02:31.433
which is known for its investment in climate research, denial, and obstruction.
0:02:31.433,0:02:36.100
Showing a blue-white picture of a glacier, the ad said
0:02:36.100,0:02:40.066
“This giant glacier has remained unmelted for centuries.
0:02:40.066,0:02:44.866
Yet, the petroleum energy Humble supplies, if converted into heat,
0:02:44.866,0:02:50.400
could melt it at the rate of 80 tons each second.”
0:02:50.400,0:02:55.400
Looking back on it now, it feels so eerie it is almost funny.
0:02:55.400,0:02:58.800
Can you believe they said the truth for once,
0:02:58.800,0:03:01.233
even unwillingly?
0:03:01.233,0:03:02.500
That’s so rare,
0:03:02.500,0:03:06.733
as the fossil fuel industry has put a lot of money
0:03:06.733,0:03:10.766
into advocating for anything that would keep them going,
0:03:10.766,0:03:13.700
subtly modifying their tactics and narratives
0:03:13.700,0:03:16.600
as public opinion was changed.
0:03:18.100,0:03:23.066
(Between 2010 and 2018, 98.7% of Shell's investments were in oil and gas)
0:03:23.066,0:03:26.433
(It's way pass time we called their bluff.)
0:03:26.433,0:03:32.033
One of their first strategies after they realized the magnitude of climate change was…
0:03:32.033,0:03:33.433
denial.
0:03:33.433,0:03:35.100
To deny as much as they could,
0:03:35.100,0:03:37.500
especially by emphasizing uncertainty,
0:03:37.500,0:03:38.933
manipulating science,
0:03:38.933,0:03:41.366
and swaying politicians.
0:03:41.366,0:03:42.466
For example,
0:03:43.000,0:03:46.600
before the Kyoto negotiations in 1997,
0:03:46.600,0:03:49.966
which were meant to commit states to reduce greenhouse gas emissions,
0:03:49.966,0:03:52.100
they made a strong move.
0:03:52.100,0:03:52.766
Mobil,
0:03:52.766,0:03:54.800
before it merged with Exxon,
0:03:54.800,0:03:58.966
ran advertorials - ads disguised as editorials -
0:03:58.966,0:04:02.866
that questioned whether the climate crisis was real
0:04:02.866,0:04:04.566
or human-made.
0:04:04.566,0:04:09.466
In short, the general narrative, repeated over many years,
0:04:09.466,0:04:11.000
goes like this:
0:04:11.000,0:04:13.133
If climate change is real,
0:04:13.133,0:04:15.000
we are not sure what’s causing it,
0:04:15.000,0:04:17.966
but maybe it isn’t real at all, so
0:04:17.966,0:04:20.433
either way, it’s not our fault.
0:04:20.433,0:04:22.466
Or maybe it is sort of real,
0:04:22.466,0:04:25.333
but it will destroy the economy if we act like it is,
0:04:25.333,0:04:28.366
so we should pretend it isn’t!
0:04:28.366,0:04:30.400
Anyway, if it is real,
0:04:30.400,0:04:32.133
it’s not the industry’s fault,
0:04:32.133,0:04:33.500
it’s your fault!
0:04:33.500,0:04:34.100
You,
0:04:34.100,0:04:35.066
the consumer,
0:04:35.066,0:04:36.933
ask for fossil fuels,
0:04:37.100,0:04:40.333
the companies are just providing it to you!
0:04:40.333,0:04:41.766
And more so,
0:04:41.766,0:04:45.300
the fossil fuel industry is partnering with universities,
0:04:45.300,0:04:50.000
always trying to find the best solution for everyone!
0:04:50.000,0:04:53.566
Because we are part of the solution!
0:04:53.566,0:04:55.166
And let’s not forget,
0:04:55.166,0:04:58.566
you are criticizing the coal, oil, and gas companies
0:04:58.566,0:05:02.133
from your fossil-fuel-powered little abode,
0:05:02.133,0:05:06.566
and almost everything you own is probably also thanks to us
0:05:06.566,0:05:08.000
in some way!
0:05:08.000,0:05:09.366
So, really,
0:05:09.366,0:05:11.500
you are the hypocrite!
0:05:11.500,0:05:12.666
Well, well.
0:05:12.666,0:05:14.100
I guess they got you,
0:05:14.100,0:05:14.966
and me,
0:05:14.966,0:05:16.533
and all of us!
0:05:16.533,0:05:20.200
We shall just get back to driving our petroleum-fed cars
0:05:20.200,0:05:23.033
and eating industrially produced food from far-far away
0:05:23.033,0:05:25.333
packed in plastic which is also made of oil
0:05:25.333,0:05:27.266
while waiting for
0:05:27.266,0:05:29.666
the next megaflood.
0:05:29.666,0:05:33.466
It’s not like there’s any alternative.
0:05:33.466,0:05:38.033
And anyway, they’re not evil, they probably didn’t know better!
0:05:38.033,0:05:39.166
Right?!
0:05:39.766,0:05:41.466
Nope.
0:05:41.466,0:05:42.900
They knew.
0:05:42.900,0:05:47.700
Mobil and Exxon, for example, engaged in climate science research quite early,
0:05:47.700,0:05:51.133
with an internal 1979 study claiming
0:05:51.133,0:05:53.766
“dramatic world climate changes”
0:05:53.766,0:05:55.533
before 2050.
0:05:55.533,0:05:58.700
Actually, many years before that,
0:05:58.700,0:06:01.900
at the centennial of the American oil industry,
0:06:01.900,0:06:05.666
they were warned that a big increase in carbon dioxide
0:06:05.666,0:06:10.766
could raise sea levels so much to submerge New York!
0:06:10.766,0:06:12.000
But alas.
0:06:12.000,0:06:14.000
Big oil will be big oil.
0:06:14.000,0:06:16.100
It won’t step down willingly.
0:06:16.100,0:06:19.400
If coal mines are on the brink of closing in the Western world,
0:06:19.400,0:06:22.866
if oil demand is set to slow in the near future,
0:06:22.866,0:06:27.766
then it is time for the third fossil fuel to take up the stage:
0:06:27.766,0:06:29.800
natural gas.
0:06:29.800,0:06:33.533
As part of fossil fuel solutionism, the industry is saying:
0:06:33.533,0:06:35.600
hey, we hear you.
0:06:35.600,0:06:38.033
You want clean energy.
0:06:38.033,0:06:39.300
We have it,
0:06:39.300,0:06:41.066
it’s natural gas!
0:06:41.066,0:06:42.300
It’s natural!
0:06:42.300,0:06:43.566
It’s clean!
0:06:43.566,0:06:44.866
It’s low-carbon,
0:06:44.866,0:06:46.700
it promotes energy security,
0:06:46.700,0:06:49.166
and it will bring jobs.
0:06:49.166,0:06:52.466
It’s the perfect bridge fuel!
0:06:52.466,0:06:54.066
No, wait…
0:06:54.066,0:06:55.466
it’s
0:06:55.466,0:06:59.866
the fuel of the future!
0:07:10.433,0:07:14.200
2. Natural gas, the bridge to no future
0:07:17.266,0:07:21.533
As the science of anthropogenic climate change became harder to dispute,
0:07:21.533,0:07:25.333
the deployed tactic was to delay
0:07:25.333,0:07:26.766
action.
0:07:26.766,0:07:28.466
Delay
0:07:28.466,0:07:30.100
as much as possible,
0:07:30.100,0:07:32.333
keep investing in fossil infrastructure,
0:07:32.333,0:07:34.866
and pretend it’s the right thing to do:
0:07:34.866,0:07:38.833
for the economy, for the nation, for the workers.
0:07:38.833,0:07:42.200
This is how the discourse around natural gas is constructed,
0:07:42.200,0:07:47.466
now that it has become too hard to argue that coal or oil can be clean.
0:07:47.466,0:07:52.200
Emphasizing that gas is just half as polluting as coal when burned,
0:07:52.200,0:07:57.200
the fossil industry managed to cherry-pick, again, the most convenient information.
0:07:57.200,0:07:58.266
Yes,
0:07:58.266,0:07:59.500
that’s true.
0:07:59.500,0:08:03.200
But let’s not forget that natural gas is, actually,
0:08:03.200,0:08:04.400
methane!
0:08:04.400,0:08:07.966
The second most abundant greenhouse gas in the atmosphere,
0:08:07.966,0:08:13.366
having a heating capacity of up to 86 times more than CO2
0:08:13.366,0:08:15.666
in a twenty-year lifespan.
0:08:16.666,0:08:20.633
That’s your next twenty years we’re talking about.
0:08:21.133,0:08:24.233
Because natural gas is almost entirely methane,
0:08:24.233,0:08:28.033
people are arguing that it shouldn’t even be called “natural”,
0:08:28.033,0:08:30.866
as that suggests some sort of innocent quality to it,
0:08:30.866,0:08:35.700
in a constructed cultural idea that what’s natural must be good.
0:08:35.700,0:08:37.233
Calling it “fossil gas”
0:08:37.233,0:08:40.800
or “methane gas” is simply more accurate.
0:08:40.800,0:08:44.566
The infrastructure for its extraction, production, and transport
0:08:44.566,0:08:48.300
is anything but “natural” in that traditional sense,
0:08:48.300,0:08:51.666
as it requires processing plants, storage units,
0:08:51.666,0:08:53.900
thousands of kilometers of pipelines,
0:08:53.900,0:08:56.633
and liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminals,
0:08:56.633,0:09:00.033
where gas is liquefied for maritime transportation and then
0:09:00.033,0:09:04.100
regasified when it arrives at the destination.
0:09:04.100,0:09:06.833
So efficient, right?!
0:09:06.833,0:09:08.633
Well, they might say,
0:09:08.633,0:09:12.833
look, our pipelines are “the envy of the world”,
0:09:12.833,0:09:19.633
they are secure and reliable, transporting “earth’s cleanest traditional fuel”!
0:09:19.633,0:09:25.200
And they certainly don’t leak methane into the atmosphere!
0:09:25.200,0:09:27.166
Except… they do.
0:09:27.166,0:09:31.266
It’s very hard to even calculate how much, but people try.
0:09:31.266,0:09:38.300
For example, a recent study shows that even when leak rates are as low as 0.2%,
0:09:38.300,0:09:42.733
life-cycle emissions from gas could be on par with coal.
0:09:42.733,0:09:43.900
Suddenly
0:09:43.900,0:09:46.233
this “bridge fuel”
0:09:46.233,0:09:48.400
doesn’t sound so sturdy,
0:09:48.400,0:09:49.700
does it?
0:09:50.700,0:09:52.700
And the problem is,
0:09:52.700,0:09:56.166
gas leaks much more than initially estimated.
0:09:56.166,0:09:58.466
It varies depending on a number of factors,
0:09:58.466,0:10:02.233
with scientists even finding a 10% leak rate
0:10:02.233,0:10:06.633
in one of the highest emitting, oil-focused regions of the US.
0:10:06.633,0:10:11.600
And that’s not the only place where it’s getting into our air and up into the sky,
0:10:11.600,0:10:15.433
it happens along the whole infrastructure and then…
0:10:15.433,0:10:17.566
in cities, too.
0:10:17.566,0:10:21.400
As the problem is dangerously underestimated,
0:10:21.400,0:10:27.633
citizen scientists in Massachusetts organized to monitor methane levels in their neighborhood,
0:10:27.633,0:10:32.266
discovering over 14,000 active leaks.
0:10:32.266,0:10:35.466
That’s just in a ‘business as usual’ scenario,
0:10:35.466,0:10:39.300
with inevitable leaks along the infrastructure.
0:10:39.300,0:10:40.766
But then
0:10:40.766,0:10:42.500
it gets worse
0:10:42.500,0:10:44.433
there’s super-emitters.
0:10:44.433,0:10:50.000
Leaks so great they become equivalent to one-third of a country such as,
0:10:50.000,0:10:54.033
let’s say, Denmark’s annual emissions.
0:10:54.033,0:10:59.766
That’s exactly what happened in 2022 with the Nord Stream pipeline in the Baltic Sea,
0:10:59.766,0:11:03.900
which was used to carry methane gas from Russia to European countries.
0:11:03.900,0:11:07.566
Underwater explosions considered military sabotage
0:11:07.566,0:11:13.533
led to a leak that set the record for the single largest methane discharge.
0:11:14.533,0:11:20.933
Relying on gas as a key element of energy, then, not only worsens climate change
0:11:20.933,0:11:26.233
but manufactures social and environmental vulnerabilities.
0:11:26.233,0:11:29.300
So much goes for energy security,
0:11:29.300,0:11:35.333
if it requires increasing militarization to ‘protect it’...
0:11:37.133,0:11:39.033
YOUR LIES
0:11:41.333,0:11:43.433
ARE LEAKING
0:11:46.433,0:11:51.866
What did the seals and the fishes hurt by the shockwave have to do with any of this?
0:11:51.866,0:11:58.266
How will the hearing-impaired porpoises survive those contaminated waters?
0:11:58.266,0:12:01.233
And what about the rest of us,
0:12:01.233,0:12:02.900
human and non-human,
0:12:02.900,0:12:06.166
whose environment is being destroyed a little each day
0:12:06.166,0:12:08.800
by these industry giants,
0:12:08.800,0:12:11.600
compounded by militarization?
0:12:11.600,0:12:15.000
Big, dramatic events make the news more easily,
0:12:15.000,0:12:17.833
attracting attention and maybe even action.
0:12:17.833,0:12:22.033
But the terrifying increase in greenhouse gasses since the Industrial Revolution
0:12:22.033,0:12:23.700
is creating
0:12:23.700,0:12:25.500
another sort of violence,
0:12:25.500,0:12:26.766
slow
0:12:26.766,0:12:28.333
and unseen.
0:12:39.366,0:12:43.366
3. Seeing violence over time
0:12:47.833,0:12:50.066
There are tragic events,
0:12:50.066,0:12:52.766
like the Deepwater Horizon oil spill,
0:12:52.766,0:12:55.700
which people remember.
0:12:55.700,0:12:58.566
The months-long spill could be seen
0:12:58.566,0:12:59.633
from space,
0:12:59.633,0:13:04.866
ribbons of oil browning the ocean.
0:13:04.866,0:13:10.233
Dolphins kept dying for years, having stillborn babies.
0:13:10.233,0:13:12.200
Turtles were stranded.
0:13:12.200,0:13:15.366
Coral communities were suffering.
0:13:18.500,0:13:22.433
There are extreme weather events, floods, wildfires,
0:13:22.433,0:13:25.266
and heatwaves made so much worse
0:13:25.266,0:13:26.133
by climate change
0:13:26.133,0:13:28.633
that they kill hundreds of people
0:13:28.633,0:13:32.266
and who knows how many nonhuman animals.
0:13:35.600,0:13:39.133
Then there is the annual increase in temperature,
0:13:39.133,0:13:42.633
in some places, it’s just a little each year,
0:13:42.633,0:13:45.433
you can almost ignore it.
0:13:45.433,0:13:51.333
There’s the lengthened pollen season, which worsens allergies in children and adults.
0:13:51.333,0:13:55.866
There are more frequent droughts, impacting the production of food.
0:13:55.866,0:14:00.366
A lot is happening everywhere and it’s all
0:14:00.366,0:14:01.833
getting
0:14:01.833,0:14:03.900
worse.
0:14:03.900,0:14:06.133
Fast enough to be terrible,
0:14:06.133,0:14:11.833
slow enough for us to still somehow unsee it.
0:14:14.000,0:14:18.233
Climate change is a threat every day for everyone,
0:14:18.233,0:14:22.500
impacting disabled and marginalized people even more,
0:14:22.500,0:14:24.200
affecting mental health,
0:14:24.200,0:14:29.566
as well as access to clean water, nutrition and shelter.
0:14:29.566,0:14:34.066
What the fossil fuel industry is doing is called
0:14:34.066,0:14:36.466
slow violence,
0:14:36.466,0:14:42.766
described by Rob Nixon as “a violence that occurs gradually and out of sight,
0:14:42.766,0:14:48.433
a violence of delayed destruction that is dispersed across time and space,
0:14:48.433,0:14:54.933
an attritional violence that is typically not viewed as violence at all”.
0:14:54.933,0:14:56.466
This violence
0:14:56.466,0:14:58.266
is mundane,
0:14:58.266,0:15:02.333
seeping through the air, the water, the land,
0:15:02.333,0:15:04.166
just a drop,
0:15:04.166,0:15:05.566
and another,
0:15:05.566,0:15:07.200
and another,
0:15:07.200,0:15:10.066
until it accumulates.
0:15:10.066,0:15:15.800
People who live near oil and gas rigs are much more exposed to health risks,
0:15:15.800,0:15:21.466
with an increased incidence of respiratory problems and cancer.
0:15:21.466,0:15:25.133
Those whose lives happen to be around hydraulic fracking,
0:15:25.133,0:15:29.366
which is an unconventional technique of extracting oil and gas,
0:15:29.366,0:15:33.833
have their physical and mental health impacted in many ways,
0:15:33.833,0:15:37.400
frequently suffering from nausea, sleep and skin disorders,
0:15:37.400,0:15:40.266
and premature birth.
0:15:40.266,0:15:43.300
And it doesn’t get any better the further you go,
0:15:43.300,0:15:47.400
as gas and oil need to be transported to be used.
0:15:47.400,0:15:49.700
This is where the pipelines come in.
0:15:49.700,0:15:54.333
Their construction has contaminated wetlands and drinking water sources,
0:15:54.333,0:15:58.533
destroyed communities and farmlands, ruined soil and landscapes,
0:15:58.533,0:16:00.366
violated indigenous treaties,
0:16:00.366,0:16:04.400
and damaged the habitats of non-human species.
0:16:05.066,0:16:08.533
Once they’re in place, the risks continue,
0:16:08.533,0:16:11.400
there are routine explosions along them,
0:16:11.400,0:16:15.233
often injuring and even killing workers.
0:16:15.733,0:16:22.166
So if it can’t make the production or distribution of gas look any good,
0:16:22.166,0:16:25.333
the industry will turn to another tactic:
0:16:25.333,0:16:30.266
they will make cooking with gas seem like the best option,
0:16:30.266,0:16:33.466
the proper choice of a chef.
0:16:34.500,0:16:40.300
As it turns out, people don’t care if their homes are heated with gas or something else,
0:16:40.300,0:16:43.133
but they do care about how they cook.
0:16:43.133,0:16:49.833
So the natural gas industry promised that cooking with gas is cleaner, cheaper, and faster!
0:16:49.833,0:16:56.800
Which, currently, compared to electric induction stoves, it just isn’t.
0:16:56.800,0:17:02.833
But that idea creates an opening to install gas infrastructure,
0:17:02.833,0:17:06.600
which will mostly be used for water and home heating afterward,
0:17:06.600,0:17:11.533
and will be locked in for years.
0:17:11.533,0:17:17.300
And, like they usually do, they invested money into, wait for it,
0:17:17.300,0:17:23.433
not just the ads of the past, but on the social influencers of the present
0:17:23.433,0:17:25.933
to sell it.
0:17:25.933,0:17:30.066
Unfortunately, new research posits that gas stoves can exceed
0:17:30.066,0:17:34.766
indoor and outdoor guideline levels of nitrogen dioxide,
0:17:34.766,0:17:37.233
increasing the risk of asthma in children
0:17:37.233,0:17:40.633
and even affecting brain development.
0:17:41.633,0:17:46.933
There’s no limit to how this industry will spin the narrative in their favor.
0:17:46.933,0:17:49.800
They even trained their employees to advocate for it
0:17:49.800,0:17:53.400
by telling emotionally touching stories.
0:17:53.400,0:17:56.166
Imagine working at a company that warns you about
0:17:56.166,0:17:58.733
the “new brand of environmental activism”
0:17:58.733,0:18:01.966
so that you can advocate for the expansion of their profits
0:18:01.966,0:18:05.500
while they poison the very air you breathe.
0:18:05.500,0:18:07.433
That’s not an exaggeration,
0:18:07.433,0:18:12.500
according to a recent study, about 1 in 5 deaths globally, every year,
0:18:12.500,0:18:17.200
can be attributed to fossil fuel air pollution.
0:18:17.200,0:18:24.933
And that’s just air pollution, not counting their contribution to climate chaos.
0:18:25.933,0:18:28.700
FOSSIL FUELS
0:18:29.066,0:18:31.233
ARE KILLING US
0:18:39.900,0:18:43.133
it's about time, for a break.
0:18:48.566,0:18:49.500
just wondering…
0:18:54.033,0:18:54.700
wouldn’t it be great
0:18:57.600,0:18:58.500
if we could
0:19:02.766,0:19:03.700
step off the Earth
0:19:08.066,0:19:08.566
for a little while
0:19:13.766,0:19:16.033
and rest in the void?
0:19:20.100,0:19:21.366
or even better,
0:19:25.466,0:19:26.033
stay on the Earth
0:19:27.533,0:19:27.933
and push
0:19:31.600,0:19:32.166
the fossil fuel
0:19:33.600,0:19:34.233
industry
0:19:37.166,0:19:40.700
in the void.
0:19:41.500,0:19:45.733
Stay on the Earth
0:19:45.733,0:19:50.500
and push them in the void.
0:19:50.500,0:19:54.733
Nurture the Earth
0:19:54.733,0:19:59.500
and push them in the void.
0:19:59.500,0:20:03.733
Fight for the Earth
0:20:03.733,0:20:08.433
and have them disappear,
0:20:08.433,0:20:11.866
Keep close to the ground
0:20:11.866,0:20:17.866
and have your friends near
0:20:42.966,0:20:50.400
4. Methane gas, a case study
0:20:51.700,0:20:54.400
Many of us already know about carbon dioxide,
0:20:54.400,0:20:57.300
the heat-trapping gas whose presence in the atmosphere
0:20:57.300,0:21:01.166
has risen dramatically since the Industrial Revolution.
0:21:01.166,0:21:03.466
But what about methane?
0:21:03.466,0:21:05.000
It’s also a greenhouse gas
0:21:05.000,0:21:08.733
and it’s the second-largest contributor to climate warming.
0:21:08.733,0:21:14.500
It traps more heat than CO2, but has a shorter lifespan in the atmosphere,
0:21:14.500,0:21:17.766
almost acting as an accelerator
0:21:17.766,0:21:19.733
- or maybe a decelerator -
0:21:19.733,0:21:21.300
of climate disaster,
0:21:21.300,0:21:25.966
depending on how society moves next.
0:21:26.333,0:21:32.200
Just like carbon dioxide, methane is released from natural sources and human activities,
0:21:32.200,0:21:36.633
the latter accounting for more than half of today’s emissions.
0:21:36.633,0:21:40.300
Globally, the largest anthropic sources of methane are,
0:21:40.300,0:21:43.000
by order of magnitude,
0:21:43.000,0:21:44.900
animal agriculture,
0:21:44.900,0:21:46.666
oil and gas,
0:21:46.666,0:21:48.500
landfills and waste,
0:21:48.500,0:21:50.166
coal mining,
0:21:50.166,0:21:53.100
and lastly, rice cultivation.
0:21:54.200,0:21:58.633
Because methane contributes to almost a third of net warming
0:21:58.633,0:22:02.000
and because it’s stronger in short timescales,
0:22:02.000,0:22:07.800
tackling it is key to prevent going over the 1.5 Celsius goal.
0:22:07.800,0:22:12.166
That’s why the Global Methane Pledge was launched at COP26,
0:22:12.166,0:22:17.400
which requires countries who sign it to reduce emissions by 2030.
0:22:17.400,0:22:20.400
But even that is not enough,
0:22:20.400,0:22:24.833
as it ignores the impact of agricultural methane so much
0:22:24.833,0:22:30.766
that meat lobbyists celebrated after the climate change conference!
0:22:33.200,0:22:37.533
And anyway, how could the pledge ever be reached,
0:22:37.533,0:22:42.666
if the fossil fuel industry will keep ramping up production?
0:22:43.500,0:22:50.000
Because that's what's in store if we buy the lie and consider “natural gas” a bridge fuel.
0:22:50.000,0:22:55.533
The industry wants to sell it as a sort of aid to renewable technologies,
0:22:55.533,0:22:59.533
a soft shoulder of support until they can grow up
0:22:59.533,0:23:03.133
and take the challenge of powering the world.
0:23:03.133,0:23:06.400
How kind of them, isn’t it?
0:23:08.633,0:23:09.366
except
0:23:10.966,0:23:11.466
of course,
0:23:13.700,0:23:15.166
it isn’t
0:23:15.800,0:23:21.033
As any new fossil fuel infrastructure takes an enormous amount of money and time
0:23:21.033,0:23:23.833
that we just don’t have.
0:23:23.833,0:23:28.233
And after it’s put in motion it gets much harder to dismantle.
0:23:28.233,0:23:31.466
So if you find yourself at the family dinner
0:23:31.466,0:23:37.233
where there’s always someone who won’t consider climate impacts seriously,
0:23:37.233,0:23:41.233
tell them about the economic risks.
0:23:41.233,0:23:45.933
Investments in gas infrastructure can cause stranded assets,
0:23:45.933,0:23:49.633
which devalue prematurely and bring losses.
0:23:49.633,0:23:53.566
That’s a long-winded way of saying:
0:23:53.566,0:23:56.866
they aren’t worth it.
0:23:57.433,0:24:02.200
Let’s go back to Neptun Deep, a pretty name for a terrible thing.
0:24:02.200,0:24:07.000
The biggest gas exploitation project in our region.
0:24:07.000,0:24:10.666
Pushing our emotional buttons, one of its ads underlines
0:24:10.666,0:24:16.533
that the project is made “to offer Romanians jobs here, in the country”,
0:24:16.533,0:24:24.000
knowing full well about the many personal impacts of years-long migration to Western Europe for work.
0:24:24.000,0:24:29.133
Romania is the country with most citizens living abroad within the European Union.
0:24:29.133,0:24:32.266
Many parents, especially women who provide care work,
0:24:32.266,0:24:37.166
undergo psychological stress from leaving their children at home.
0:24:37.166,0:24:40.033
But the ad’s claims don’t stop there,
0:24:40.033,0:24:43.466
its motto for “a stronger Romania
0:24:43.466,0:24:47.333
is almost echoing the 2019 presidential campaign slogan
0:24:47.333,0:24:51.400
“for a normal Romania”, one-upping it.
0:24:51.400,0:24:57.333
The fossil fuel industry will do more for you than the entire government!
0:24:57.333,0:25:01.866
It continues saying that this strength will be made
0:25:01.866,0:25:04.333
“with energy from the Black Sea”
0:25:04.333,0:25:10.733
because home-made climate destruction is just better than the imported kind, you know!
0:25:10.733,0:25:13.233
And the Black Sea is so kind,
0:25:13.233,0:25:20.266
just full of free-floating energy waiting to share it with all of us…
0:25:20.266,0:25:23.000
as if there’s no drilling involved…
0:25:23.000,0:25:26.266
no destruction of its inhabitants' ecosystems…
0:25:26.266,0:25:29.300
no risk of explosions or leaks that might
0:25:29.300,0:25:32.200
kill the lives it harbors…
0:25:32.200,0:25:36.333
It’s just flowing, you know.
0:25:36.333,0:25:43.566
Natural gas, it's so natural it can even pass through natural reserves.
0:25:44.600,0:25:48.400
Neptun Deep’s development began in 2023
0:25:48.400,0:25:51.866
and is scheduled to start producing in 2027.
0:25:51.866,0:25:55.266
It needs a 300km connection pipeline
0:25:55.266,0:25:57.400
to the main gas transmission corridor
0:25:57.400,0:25:59.133
known as BRUA
0:25:59.133,0:26:02.633
(Bulgaria - Romania - Hungary - Austria),
0:26:02.633,0:26:04.933
which is only partly finished.
0:26:04.933,0:26:09.966
Its completed phase already trespasses eight protected natural areas.
0:26:09.966,0:26:12.966
The connection pipeline will plow through
0:26:12.966,0:26:14.333
eleven.
0:26:14.333,0:26:18.166
Special laws were drafted just for these projects to pass,
0:26:18.166,0:26:24.266
otherwise, the environmental impact would have made them unviable.
0:26:24.766,0:26:26.000
Even so,
0:26:26.000,0:26:28.100
the fight isn’t lost.
0:26:28.100,0:26:32.766
Because it takes so long for it to become functional,
0:26:32.766,0:26:36.300
the project might fail economically.
0:26:36.300,0:26:41.033
Moreover, environmental groups like Bankwatch and Greenpeace worked to show
0:26:41.033,0:26:46.200
that its estimated emissions are incompatible with Romania’s climate pledges.
0:26:46.200,0:26:50.033
How can they commit to The Global Methane Pledge, for example,
0:26:50.033,0:26:54.233
while building new fossil fuel infrastructure?!
0:26:57.600,0:27:01.666
by gaslighting us
0:27:01.666,0:27:04.933
Collectives like Gastivists show us that
0:27:04.933,0:27:07.000
“gas is a dirty lie”,
0:27:07.000,0:27:09.600
emphasizing its relations to colonialism
0:27:09.600,0:27:13.066
and its worsening of geopolitical conflicts.
0:27:13.066,0:27:17.533
By only changing the energy source and not the energy system,
0:27:17.533,0:27:25.166
the fossil fuel industry aims to maintain its economic, cultural, and political stronghold on society.
0:27:25.166,0:27:30.733
But a decentralized, renewable energy future isn’t just a dream,
0:27:30.733,0:27:33.433
it is already happening.
0:27:33.433,0:27:36.533
Renewables are becoming more and more cost-effective,
0:27:36.533,0:27:41.700
with solar and wind being cheaper than methane gas in some regions.
0:27:41.700,0:27:43.666
With all it has against it,
0:27:43.666,0:27:48.366
the fossil fuel industry seems like it’s one step from becoming
0:27:48.366,0:27:50.033
a fossil.
0:27:50.033,0:27:51.800
Once you see it,
0:27:51.800,0:27:53.233
you can’t unsee it.
0:28:07.600,0:28:12.733
5. The last of the fossil fuels
0:28:14.833,0:28:17.366
Let’s go back to that first ad,
0:28:17.366,0:28:21.200
“For a Romania worth dreaming and making plans in.”
0:28:21.200,0:28:23.133
If we make it true,
0:28:23.133,0:28:25.100
and international,
0:28:25.100,0:28:27.233
what would that look like?
0:28:27.233,0:28:32.466
For a world worth dreaming and making plans in.
0:28:32.466,0:28:33.500
Well,
0:28:33.500,0:28:37.700
it would mean no new oil or gas projects
0:28:37.700,0:28:39.333
anywhere.
0:28:39.333,0:28:43.700
Not in the overdeveloped North, not anywhere.
0:28:43.700,0:28:50.966
Otherwise, we’re pushed past 1.5 Celsius global heating above pre-industrial times.
0:28:50.966,0:28:54.866
As environmental justice activists and land defenders emphasize,
0:28:54.866,0:28:57.866
no one has the right to destroy the Earth.
0:28:57.866,0:29:00.700
And “no one has the right to fossil fuels”,
0:29:00.700,0:29:03.366
they don’t even bring in the wealth they promise,
0:29:03.366,0:29:08.433
as climate justice activists point out that new gas projects in Africa are becoming
0:29:08.433,0:29:13.033
“the latest example” of a resource curse.
0:29:13.366,0:29:18.666
Enough decades have gone by since we’ve been buying this industry’s lies.
0:29:18.666,0:29:21.800
It’s not safe jobs they’re providing,
0:29:21.800,0:29:24.866
but underpaid employment in a dying sector.
0:29:24.866,0:29:27.266
It’s not just energy they’re selling,
0:29:27.266,0:29:31.200
but damage and suffering on endless fronts.
0:29:31.200,0:29:35.300
“Natural gas” shouldn’t be considered a bridge fuel,
0:29:35.300,0:29:38.300
but the last of its kind.
0:29:38.300,0:29:41.066
The industry likes to spin narratives in its favor,
0:29:41.066,0:29:42.700
but so can we.
0:29:43.133,0:29:47.766
We’re even better storytellers because there’s more of us than there is of them.
0:29:47.766,0:29:51.000
There are people harmed and angered by their practices,
0:29:51.000,0:29:53.066
people who’ve had enough.
0:29:53.066,0:29:57.700
When we look at fossil fuel infrastructure, we can see it’s a thing of the past,
0:29:57.700,0:30:00.633
a mistake too far gone, and a lesson learned.
0:30:00.633,0:30:04.100
Methane gas will only lead us to destruction,
0:30:04.100,0:30:07.500
unless we keep it in the ground.
0:30:13.600,0:30:18.000
The future energy system can’t be made with the face of the old one:
0:30:18.000,0:30:20.166
it should be guided by people over profit,
0:30:20.166,0:30:21.966
decolonization over expansion,
0:30:21.966,0:30:24.633
environmental protection over growth.
0:30:24.633,0:30:26.300
This won’t be a walk in the park,
0:30:26.300,0:30:31.333
but we must do it, if we care about parks, trees, birds, humans
0:30:31.333,0:30:35.333
or anyone on Earth, at all.
0:30:35.333,0:30:37.500
And we can fight for structural change
0:30:37.500,0:30:41.733
while incorporating lifestyle changes in our daily lives as well,
0:30:41.733,0:30:43.633
no one is off the hook.
0:30:43.633,0:30:47.333
A global shifting away from fossil fuels, as well as meat and dairy,
0:30:47.333,0:30:50.600
is essential for preventing environmental collapse.
0:30:54.266,0:30:56.366
if you won’t do it,
0:30:58.933,0:31:03.033
who will?
0:31:03.666,0:31:08.666
As we deal with the discomfort and difficulties of transforming our entire society,
0:31:08.666,0:31:12.866
we can remember how much we gain by giving up fossil fuels:
0:31:12.866,0:31:15.566
not only cleaner water, soil, and air,
0:31:15.566,0:31:20.666
but healthier lives for everyone, human and non-human;
0:31:20.666,0:31:22.166
and also…
0:31:22.166,0:31:24.566
a glimmer of possibility
0:31:24.566,0:31:28.133
that future earthlings could have it
0:31:28.133,0:31:29.566
pretty good,
0:31:29.566,0:31:33.133
rather than terribly bad.
0:31:33.133,0:31:35.233
Don’t you love that,
0:31:35.233,0:31:37.200
for all of us?
0:31:54.766,0:31:57.000
[Man-made] carbon dioxide
0:31:57.000,0:31:58.000
bye
0:31:58.000,0:31:58.933
goodbye
0:31:58.933,0:32:01.066
see you by the ocean tide
0:32:01.066,0:32:04.633
[Man-made] nitrous oxide
0:32:04.633,0:32:06.000
bye
0:32:06.000,0:32:07.000
goodbye
0:32:07.000,0:32:09.366
see you by the soil side
0:32:09.366,0:32:12.233
[Man-made] methane gas
0:32:12.233,0:32:14.100
goodbye
0:32:14.100,0:32:15.066
goodbye
0:32:15.066,0:32:18.733
see you by the wetland plain
0:32:19.733,0:32:22.233
Fossil fuel industry
0:32:22.233,0:32:28.500
it’s the end of your reign
0:32:36.966,0:32:38.166
Bye-bye
0:32:38.166,0:32:40.466
oil rigs and gas pipelines
0:32:40.466,0:32:41.266
bye-bye
0:32:41.266,0:32:42.700
coal mines
0:32:42.700,0:32:43.733
Bye-bye
0:32:43.733,0:32:46.300
extractive policies
0:32:46.300,0:32:47.200
bye-bye
0:32:47.200,0:32:50.533
corporate monopolies
0:32:51.266,0:32:52.333
Bye-bye
0:32:52.333,0:32:54.266
racial capitalism
0:32:54.266,0:32:55.300
bye-bye
0:32:55.300,0:32:57.933
alt-right fascism
0:32:57.933,0:32:59.033
Bye-bye
0:32:59.033,0:33:02.433
fossil fuel industry
0:33:02.433,0:33:04.233
you’re
0:33:04.233,0:33:05.533
dead
0:33:05.533,0:33:06.733
to me.