Open Forum: It's time to act on climate change

If you don’t believe what I’m writing below, Google it.

One of my ancestors fought at the Battle of Bunker Hill 250 years ago. A quarter of a century ago, patriots waged war for their freedom against a king and oppressive sanctions.

Today, a similar revolution is unfolding. A third of the people remain indifferent, a third support our present tyranny, and a third rebel against the rampant waste, fraud, and corruption of an autocratic president.

Yet the true tragedy lies in what future generations will be forced to pay for — the systematic dismantling of our American institutions.

President Donald Trump has burned global bridges, fostered international instability, and undermined prosperity across the planet. However, perhaps his greatest crime is the outright denial of climate change — our most pressing existential threat.

Most Americans remain oblivious to the inconvenient truth: global warming is decimating our flora and fauna, and the consequences are escalating.

In the late 1970s, I collaborated with major oil companies to push for a tax on motor oil quarts, successfully incentivizing consumers to return used oil — much like they did with auto batteries.

The U.S. has over 330 million registered motor vehicles, with some owners still opting to change their oil — excluding agricultural, off-road, and other non-standard vehicles. While DIY oil changes have declined in favor of professional services, a staggering amount of oil remains trapped in filters or lost in discarded containers. Of the 425 million oil filters sold annually, roughly every 16 light-duty ones contain a gallon of used oil.

Over the past decade, U.S. petroleum consumption has surged alongside a 7.4% population increase. Millions of gallons of crude virgin oil are processed annually into petroleum-based products — gasoline, kerosene, plastics, and more. Yet only half of one percent of this oil becomes used oil, highlighting a glaring gap in sustainable reuse.

In 2023 alone, the United States consumed an average of 20.25 million barrels of petroleum per day — totaling over 310 billion gallons that year.

While the American Petroleum Institute self-reports environmental impacts, much of the actual cost remains hidden. Each year, the U.S. injects over a trillion tons of oilfield waste into deep wells and generates over 3 billion tons of waste through oil and gas exploration. Despite these staggering figures, billions in taxpayer dollars continue to subsidize the industry, cushioning its environmental footprint through tax credits.

We remain largely in the dark about the full consequences of this unchecked CO₂ surge, overwhelmingly driven by fossil fuel combustion. Atmospheric CO₂ now stands at 420 parts per million — the highest level recorded in 9 million years.

In the past decade, wildfires have obliterated 15 billion trees — trees that once played a crucial role in converting CO₂ into oxygen. It is no coincidence that this period also marks the hottest recorded temperatures in human history.

If Americans do not rise to meet this crisis — if we fail to embrace a revolution of sustainability — our very freedom and future hang in the balance.

Rob Arner lives in Edinburg.