U.S. Airmen assigned to the 202nd Rapid Engineer Deployable Heavy Operational Repair Squadron Engineers (RED HORSE) Squadron, Florida Air National Guard, clear roads in Keaton Beach, Florida, after the landfall of Hurricane Helene, Sept. 27, 2024. (Photo Wikipedia Commons, The National Guard)
The tragedies of death and destruction unfolding in Georgia, Florida, Tennessee, and North and South Carolina are not natural.
Global warming and the climate crisis are making the rapid intensification of storms more deadly and more frequent. NBC reported two studies released earlier this week found that human-caused global warming made Hurricane Helene stronger and wetter – which contributed to how destructive and deadly it became. One of the studies concluded that climate change created 50% more rain over parts of Georgia and the Carolinas.
Meanwhile, another study was released on the same day that spotlights the major culprits of this crisis. Researchers examined the energy portfolios of 21 leading U.S. private equity firms, which manage a combined total of over $6 trillion worth of companies. These firms were found to be responsible for an estimated combined 1.17 gigatons of annual greenhouse gas emissions—more than three times as much as from the energy used to power every home in the United States.
Authors of the study said, “With over a trillion dollars in energy investments generating high greenhouse gas emissions and minimal public visibility, private equity firms play an outsized role in accelerating the climate crisis.”
Oxfam uncovered last year how the “super-rich—the top 1 percent of global population by income” are making significant financial investments into wealthy corporate polluters. The study revealed how 125 billionaires are responsible for emitting an average of 3 million carbon tons each year; and how from 1990-2015, the carbon emissions of the super-rich globally were more than double the emissions of the poorest half of humanity.
At a factory in Erwin, TN, some employees were trapped and killed there during flooding from the hurricane last week. One worker reported that even after the plant lost power and water was rapidly rising, the workers were not allowed to leave. At least two workers were killed and another 7 remain missing.
It is clear that those super rich who are responsible for the climate crisis are the same super rich who lead anti-worker and anti-community campaigns, breaking workers’ unions and squeezing workers for every cent they can produce on the job.
Fortunately, courageous workers and their unions are resisting, and we must do all we can to support these efforts. As our friends at Climate Justice Alliance said, “We need a #JustRecovery. From devastating hurricanes to raging wildfires and beyond, we have seen how deeply inequitable systems amplify the impacts of the climate crisis on marginalized communities.”
Union members in the ILA, IAM and APWU are fighting for a Just Recovery for all of us – and we must stand with them. Now more than ever we need to build a mass movement together in order to win a just recovery and just transition that serves the needs of people and our planet, not more profit for corporations and billionaires.
For those immediately affected by Hurricane Helene, or to make donations toward relief efforts, please find a comprehensive list of resources here, including food drives, shelter, and FEMA applications. Donations can also be made to Southeast Climate Energy Network.
Then join us at Labor Network for Sustainability on our mission to be a relentless force for urgent climate action and secure an ecologically sustainable and economically just future for everyone.