How to put out a fire

In recent weeks, two-thirds of the population of the United States have received warnings of possible flooding or extreme heat. The waters of the Atlantic Ocean are reaching record temperatures. Forest fires are ravaging parts of Greece. Tens of thousands of people were evacuated in Beijing due to the typhoon. July was the hottest month in recorded history.

In order to deal with the crisis, we must act quickly on two fronts: the first is encouraging international cooperation, and the second is calling to account those who are most responsible for this crisis.

The latest report of the International Panel on Climate Change at the United Nations is frighteningly precise and clear. If the United States, China and the rest of the world do not immediately and significantly reduce carbon emissions, the planet will suffer enormous, irreparable damage.

Let me emphasize this last part: if the whole world, led by the biggest economic powers - the United States and China - does not react as soon as possible, we will leave our descendants and future generations with a world that is no longer fit for human life.

Solving the resulting crisis is a task so difficult and complex that no country can do it alone. It is a global crisis that requires the cooperation of all the countries of the world. Like it or not, we're all in the same bind this time.

The United States is facing the terrifying consequences of climate change, but densely populated countries in Asia are even more at risk. China's coastal sea level is rising faster than the world average. Major coastal cities such as Shanghai, Tianjin and Shenzhen will face catastrophic flooding in the coming years - threatening the entire Chinese economy. Some predict that parts of Shanghai, a city of 24 million people, will be underwater as early as the end of this century.

Developing mutually beneficial relations with China in order to protect the planet will not be an easy task. Hawks on both sides are hard at work stoking a new cold war.

However, the United States, China and other countries of the world, all of us together, still have time for an aggressive offensive in the fight against climate change in order to prevent irreparable damage to our countries and our planet.

In addition to encouraging international cooperation in the fight against climate change, we must all together ask ourselves one simple question: How did this happen to us?

How did we get to this point, how did we allow the health and well-being of the entire planet and the lives of billions of people to be threatened by this enormous threat?

Understanding the causes of the crisis will help illuminate the way forward. Fortunately, the answer is quite clear. The scientific community has been warning for decades that climate change - and all the dangers that arise from it, in the form of droughts, floods, extreme weather conditions and diseases - are the result of carbon emissions due to the use of fossil fuels.

Physicist Edward Teller and other scientists have warned leading fossil fuel companies that carbon emissions are "polluting the atmosphere" and producing a "greenhouse effect" that will eventually cause temperatures to rise "enough to melt the polar caps and submerge New York." They were talking about it 60 years ago!

Scientists independently hired by these companies confirmed such predictions. Shell research from 1975 showed that rising carbon concentrations would increase global temperatures and cause "major climate change". Researchers have compared the dangers of burning fossil fuels to the dangers of storing nuclear waste. Beginning in the late 70s, Exxon - now Exxon Mobile - conducted extensive research into climate change. According to the findings of a recent study, these studies also "correctly and competently" predicted the temperature increase that is happening right now.

Energy companies already knew all this.

They knew they were causing global warming and endangering the survival of the planet.

However, in the race for profit, their managers not only did not share their findings with the public, but lied to us about this existential threat for years. The same companies are still funding disinformation campaigns today.

And what happened to the CEOs who betrayed the American people and the global community? Did they get fired? Were they debunked by cable TV commentators and editorialists in leading newspapers? Have any charges been filed?

No. None of them answered. They just got rich.

That's obscene.

When a criminal walks into a store and shoots the clerk behind the cash register, the moral judgment tells us that such behavior is socially unacceptable and that the assailant should be punished.

When a civil servant abuses his position and embezzles taxpayers' money, the moral court tells us that the perpetrator should lose his job and possibly end up in prison.

When the executives of energy companies make a decision to directly endanger millions of lives - and even the planet itself - they tell us that it is "just business".

That is not acceptable.

That's why I sent a letter to Attorney General Merrick Garland this week demanding that he bring criminal charges against fossil fuel companies for their long-running and carefully orchestrated campaign to mislead consumers and discredit the warnings of scientists, just to protect their profits. The letter was also signed by Senators Jeff Merkley, Elizabeth Warren and Ed Markey.

As with the tobacco industry before them, the actions of these companies are a clear example of violations of federal corruption laws, truth in advertising laws, consumer protection laws and many other regulations. The Ministry of Justice is obliged to call them to account.

More than 40 states and municipalities have filed lawsuits seeking to hold companies responsible for climate change disinformation campaigns. The Department of Justice must join the fight and work with the Federal Trade Commission and other law enforcement agencies to prosecute all those involved in the fossil fuel industry's conspiracy of lies.

This industry must begin to pay for the enormous damage it has already caused and continues to do every day. Climate change is an existential threat to every inhabitant of our planet. At every level and in every country, we must work to preserve the planet for our children and future generations. The people most responsible for this global crisis must finally be held accountable.

(MSNBC; Peščanik.net; translation: Đ. Tomić)