Reducing CO2 Emissions from Major Corporations
The Issue
The issue of climate change is best described as “the ‘greenhouse effect’ — warming that results when the atmosphere traps heat radiating from Earth toward space” (Nasa). Major corporations/companies are responsible for over half of greenhouse gas emissions. “According to the CDP, between 1988 and 2015, 100 companies were responsible for 71% of global GHG emissions” (Active Sustainability). Although there is definitely a large percentage of GHG emissions that major corporations are responsible for, these top 100 companies clearly have a much larger impact than your average person. If we were able to better regulate these companies and decrease their GHG emissions, then we would greatly decrease the rate at which climate change is occurring.
How is it an Intervention in a Policy Discussion?
Many policies have been considered in regards to decreasing the GHG or CO2 emissions of these major corporations. One possible policy has been to distribute a carbon tax, which essentially puts a price on their carbon emissions, forcing them to pay a price based on the size of their Co2 emissions. Another possible policy has been to put a strict cap on CO2 emissions, not allowing them to produce more than a specific amount of CO2. The issue brief will be exploring these possible policies and deciding which one might be the most effective at dealing with the issue.
Addressing the Exigence and Rhetorical Solution
The issue brief will address the exigence by describing how the issue has come to fruition, what is at stake, and the urgency of the timeframe. We are currently at a very fragile point in time because there has been some research that has decided that the “point of no return” is upon us. Meaning that the time to act has already occurred, and now temperatures might continue to rise despite our efforts. This does not mean anything we do now is futile. Anything that can be done to halt the emission of CO2 will help to decrease the rate at which climate change will occur. The best time to address climate change was 100 years, and the second-best time is now.
The Cause
The cause of this can be considered an intentional one. The existence of climate change was first discovered towards the end of the 19th century and towards the end of the 20th and the entirety of the 21st century, major corporations were fully aware of the negative effects that their greenhouse gas emissions were leaving on the planet. Since there were had been no repercussions for the large majority of the 20th century, these major corporations were able to produce these greenhouse gases knowingly without any negative economic or social consequences on their business. A recent investigation even found that Exxon, an American multinational oil and gas corporation, was aware of climate change as early as 1977, but refused to publicly acknowledge the existence for the coming decades. Exxon mobile is now the 4th largest producer of greenhouse gas emissions at a whopping 3.09% of total emissions from 1965 to 2017.
Policy Instruments
The policy instruments that I will be exploring in the issue brief will mainly include mandates, inducements, and system changes with a slightly smaller emphasis on system changes. Mandates might be things such as a carbon tax or a CO2 emissions cap, which were discussed earlier. Inducements could include policies that promote the use of clean energy or production without the emission of CO2 through means such as subsidies. An example of a system change might be giving less power to these companies. Companies with large sums of income are able to give this money to politicians in the form of lobbying, which is very similar to bribery. Lobbying is currently legal in the U.S., so this gives major corporations a huge advantage when wanting to pass their own agenda.