The emphasis on personal responsibility is one that other big oil and gas companies have used as well. Exxon, BP and Shell are 3 of the 20 companies responsible for 1/3 of global carbon emissions since 1965. (source: Heede, theguardian.com/environment/20…) ...
https://twitter.com/GeoffreySupran/status/1392869611310354432
Here "three experts point to the history of the carbon footprint, a tool that tells you how much pollution you are creating. The fossil fuel industry, particularly BP, pushed this concept onto the masses in a hugely successful marketing effort 20 yrs ago." discovermagazine.com/planet-earth/h…
Just a few months ago, @Shell paid to have this tweet emphasizing personal responsibility promoted into my timeline. I replied. 
What does this accomplish? It overwhelms individuals with guilt. I hear from people all the time about guilt. And guilt paralyzes us. As @MaryHeglar says in one of my all-time fav essays, vox.com/the-highlight/…
And it's not like it even works. As @leahstokes says in @allwecansave, "we ran this experiment [of not driving and not flying and not leaving our homes] in 2020 and emissions fell 7%". That's just a fraction of what needs to happen to meet our Paris goals.
So what's the answer? As @billmckibben says,
Changing social norms is the way society changes. And we've done it before. Not b/c a Prez or PM or CEO decided to end slavery, allow women to vote, or desegregate. Change happens when individual people decide it must. That's what my new book is all about: simonandschuster.com/books/Saving-U…
And that's why talking about climate change is such an important first step - because how else are we to know why it matters, and what we can do to fix it? Talking about it knocks over the very first domino in the chain of social change. ted.com/talks/katharin…
But when we're obsessing over the size of our own sins, and waving judgmental fingers at others who don't adhere to our personal Ten Commandments of Green Living, who wins? Not you, and not me. Go right back to the top of this thread: that's who wins. sciencemag.org/news/2016/08/j…
If you are looking for more reading/listening on this topic. I highly recommend the following three resources: First, this episode of @degreespod with @DrKWilkinson, @leahstokes, @billmckibben and @Shahzeen degreespod.com/episodes/episo…
Second, this episode of @how2saveaplanet with @ayanaeliza and @DrKWilkinson from @allwecansave gimletmedia.com/shows/howtosav…
And third, this evergreen essay from fellow climate scientist @MichaelEMann time.com/5669071/lifest…
Lest any assume, wrongly, that scientists use this as a free get-out-of-personal-action card, read & listen to the above and abcnews.go.com/Technology/wir…
But we've done the math and we know personal action just isn't enough: it's the system that has to change. The good news? It can.
But we've done the math and we know personal action just isn't enough: it's the system that has to change. The good news? It can.
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