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Just 57 companies linked to 80% of greenhouse gas emissions since 2016 (www.theguardian.com)

submitted 7 months ago by Powderhorn@beehaw.org to c/environment@beehaw.org

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[–] eveninghere@beehaw.org 2 points 7 months ago* (last edited 7 months ago) (1 children)

The statistics itself is probably of good quality, but I dare argue that the media are disrespectful to the original report.

57 oil, gas, coal and cement producers

Err... yeah, I mean, yeah? Sure? Are there 1000,000 producers? Just count the big miners and soon you'll reach 80% of emission. Of course.

Indeed, this "just 57" seems to be a view that The Guardian added. The project webpage does no sensationalization of this number. This means, The Guardian did read the report, but chose not to focus on the main contribution. I hate this attitude, being a researcher myself. Well, they saw a professional study and sold it as an amateur argument! I'm sure the authors were disappointed.

The Carbon Majors research has helped to change the narrative about responsibility for the climate crisis by apportioning emissions to the entities that profit from taking fossil fuels out of the ground rather than the individuals that later burn and discharge them in the form of emissions.

I'm fine with the narrative, but if I wanted to lead it, I'd not hack this honest statistics, unlike media are doing this time. I'd instead study how these 57 producers trap and lobby the consumers.

Kudos on the researchers revealing what Exxon is actually doing behind their PR campaign that claims otherwise.

[–] Powderhorn@beehaw.org 1 points 7 months ago

Fair points. Unfortunately, that's on a subed for not fact-checking ahead of the story going live.