One of the lessons we eventually sense is that, in all things, over-indulgence is unhealthy. Even if we were to eat our favorite food too often, our body would eventually probably develop an allergy to it. Oil has been a boon to our quality of life. It’s enabled us to travel the globe at very affordable costs.
However, we’re now over-using this resource. And, as this research report describes, it’s literally killing us. Just as horse-drawn carriage and buggy whip makers fought to inhibit the transition to horseless carriages, and naturally tried whatever they could to sustain their businesses, the fossil fuel industry is doing likewise. But in this case, if the transition to sustainable alternatives is blocked, life on Earth may be doomed. Comments afterwords.
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‘Fossil Fuels Are Killing Us’:
Major Study Details How Fossil Fuels Are
Driving Climate, Health and Biodiversity Crises
Edited by Chris McDermott
EcoWatch
March 31, 2025
In a new review published in the journal Oxford Open Climate Change, scientists have issued an urgent warning that the fossil fuel industry and its products are driving intertwined crises threatening humans, wildlife and our shared future on this planet.
The collaborative review by scientists from the Center for Biological Diversity and several universities synthesizes scientific evidence that shows fossil fuels and the industry are behind many harms to public health, biodiversity and environmental justice, while contributing to the agrochemical pollution, plastics and climate crises, a press release from the Center for Biological Diversity said.
“The science can’t be any clearer that fossil fuels are killing us,”
… said lead author of the report Shaye Wolf, the Center for Biological Diversity’s climate science director, in the press release.
“Oil, gas and coal will continue to condemn
us to more deaths, wildlife extinctions and
extreme weather disasters unless we make
dirty fossil fuels a thing of the past.
“Clean, renewable energy is here, it’s
affordable, and it will save millions
of lives and trillions of dollars once
we make it the centerpiece
of our economy.”
The review’s focus is on the United States — the largest producer of oil and gas in the world and the biggest contributor to the fossil fuel crises. The study provides solutions that are already available for the phaseout of fossil fuel use and extraction while transitioning quickly and “fairly” to affordable renewable, clean energy and materials throughout the economy.
“Fossil fuel pollution impacts health at every
stage of life, with elevated risks for conditions
ranging from premature births to childhood
leukemia and severe depression,”
… said co-author of the review David J.X. González, an assistant environmental health sciences professor at University of California, Berkeley’s School of Public Health, in the press release.
“We’ve got to work fast to end fossil fuel
operations near our homes, schools and
hospitals and trade fossil fuel infra-
structure for healthy, clean energy.”
Fossil fuels are responsible for roughly 90 percent of all human-caused carbon emissions that are causing global heating, ocean acidification and fueling unparalleled climate disasters.
To limit damages caused by the climate crisis, the authors encouraged governments to immediately cease the expansion of fossil fuels and to phase out current fossil fuel development.
The review also detailed the disproportionate harms fossil fuel use, extraction and processing inflict upon low-income communities and communities of color.
“Decades of discriminatory policies, such
as redlining, have concentrated fossil fuel
development in Black, Brown, Indigenous
and poor white communities, resulting
in devastating consequences,”
… said Robin Saha, an associate professor of environmental studies at the University of Montana, in the press release.
“For far too long, these fence-line communities
have been treated as sacrifice zones by greedy,
callous industries. The most polluted commu-
nities should be prioritized for clean energy
investments and removal and cleanup of
dirty fossil fuel infrastructure.”
Climate change and pollution caused by fossil fuel use are also accelerating animals’ risk of extinction. As much as a third of plants and animals could become extinct over the next half-century if fossil fuel use continues unabated.
The review emphasized the need for increased protection of essential carbon-storing ecosystems and the incorporation of renewable energy infrastructure into the built environment, among other measures.
It also stressed the increased production of plastics by the fossil fuel industry, which creates pervasive pollution that contaminates our water, air, soil and food systems.
The scientists recommended ambitious targets to reduce the production of primary plastics and accompanying “chemicals of concern,” while at the same time incentivizing sustainable and safe plastics alternatives and substitutes, along with sustainable agricultural practices that limit petrochemical pollution from fertilizers and pesticides fueled by fossil fuels.
The review discussed a major barrier to the transition to clean energy: the longstanding, multibillion-dollar disinformation campaign by the fossil fuel industry to cover up the hazards of its products while blocking policies that support the phasing out of fossil fuels.
“The fossil fuel industry has spent decades
misleading us about the harms of their
products and working to prevent
meaningful climate action,”
… said Naomi Oreskes, a Harvard University professor of the history of science, in the press release.
“Perversely, our governments continue
to give out hundreds of billions of
dollars in subsidies to this damaging
industry. It is past time that stops.”
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The parallels of the transition from horsedrawn to horseless carriages is the same, in that new technology provided a better quality-of-life experience at less cost. And it’s not via anything that’s unproven. I’ve enjoyed living with a beautiful solar-powered home and e-car since 2013. Air quality is healthier. Power is as reliable as the sun. And it costs us a lot less; our only utility bill other than municipal trash & recycling pickup is Verizon.
We’re way past the “theoretical” or even “unproven” stages of this transition. In Nordic countries, such as Finland, the vast majority of new cars sales are electric. Their economies are stronger And they score higher on surveys of health care and happiness, and enjoy increasing longevity … which is actually declining in the U.S.
Understandably, fossil fuel producers – using PACs to influence politicians – wish to deter the transition. In fact, President Trump is considering eliminating the IRA, with tax savings that helped many achieve this transition. So … we can’t rely on governments to solve the problem; we must do it ourselves. And with the increasing numbers and severity of disastrous climate events, we are literally jn a “do or die” situation.
