Seeing Hurricane Helene and Hurricane Milton and their associated tornadoes pummel, soak and shred Florida and the Southeast makes clear the folly and tragic waste of decades of climate change denial. The data is incontrovertible; the evidence piled up like so much posthurricane debris.
Yes, weather patterns have fluctuated over time, and as recently as the 1960s, scientists were warning about the risks of a future ice age. But as the years brought ever-warmer temperatures, scientists updated their thinking. According to NASA, the Earth was about 2.45º F warmer in 2023 than the late 19th century preindustrial age, and the 10 most recent years are the warmest on record.
For a number of years, scientists were wary of linking climate change to particular weather events, noting that long-term climate and short-term weather are two different things. Yet climate can and does affect the weather. Warming oceans amplify the energy a storm gathers, making each one bigger, wetter and more destructive.
So, what is to be done about it?
We are not advocating for the ban of internal combustion engines or an end to petroleum use. But with a large share of global emissions coming from burning gasoline and diesel in cars and trucks, transportation industries have a role in slowing the pace of warming.
That involves cleaner manufacturing throughout the value chain. It means continuing to advance electrification — hybrids and battery-powered autos — and getting away from generating electricity by burning fossil fuels. We need to keep seeking breakthroughs in clean hydrogen.
No one should try to kill the auto industry in hopes of saving the planet. The industry's products — as well as its profits and jobs — are essential to sustaining human life and happiness.
But we must also take seriously the need for the industry to be a functional partner in a broad, global solution. The cost of climate change denial is simply too high.
When massive storms hit any part of the country, people of all beliefs and political affiliations rally together to take care of one another: to save lives, clean up the mess and repair the damage. The auto industry — and other industries — must maintain the same urgency and sense of purpose in striving for cleaner cars, cleaner factories and cleaner supply chains.
This editorial originally ran in Automotive News, a sister publication of Plastics News.