Letter: Address stranded assets to fight global warming

Hurricanes and forest fires are front and center in the news today, and there is more than speculation that they are linked to global warming. Many people say the science of climate change is clear, and they ask, “why do we continue to put climate change deniers in high places?

“Why don’t we act now to prevent, adapt, or mitigate in the face of relentless climate change?”

Here’s why.

Oil and coal companies have huge investments in fossil fuel reserves for future development.

It can take decades to fully develop a large oil field. If fossil fuels are suddenly made very expensive or unusable, these companies end up with stranded assets, and their shareholders lose billions of dollars which will not likely ever be recouped.

On another scale, consider that if gasoline becomes expensive or unusable, owners of the millions of gasoline-powered cars and trucks end up with unusable cars — stranded assets on wheels. Same idea.

Until the problem of fossil fuels as stranded assets is responsibly addressed on a national or global level, we’ll continue to see industry-funded climate change denial, and Scott Pruitt-types who specialize in climate change denial appointed to high offices such as EPA chief.

This story was originally published September 20, 2017 at 11:25 AM with the headline "Letter: Address stranded assets to fight global warming."