RELIGIOUS PEOPLE ARE used to the idea that words matter — it’s why we pay attention to scripture and go over the language carefully in sermons and Bible studies. Lawyers know words matter too — it’s why they pay attention to contracts and argue over “shall” vs. “may.” But in political life, we generally assume words are cheap: You say what you want, and everyone knows it’s “just words.”
The final declaration of December’s global climate talks (COP28) falls somewhere in between. It’s not gospel, and it’s not even binding law — there’s no enforcement mechanism. But it’s argued over, carefully, and when countries sign on, they theoretically mean it. So, it was a great victory for campaigners when the world’s governments caved to pressure and put this sentence into the final agreement: The time has come for “transitioning away from fossil fuels in energy systems, in a just, orderly, and equitable manner.”
This was, unbelievably, the first time in 28 of these global climate talks that the words “fossil fuels” had slipped into the text (it’s as if it took 28 lung cancer conferences before someone mentioned “cigarettes”). And it’s not as if it calls for an immediate end to the use of fossil fuels — sadly, given our long delays, that’s not possible.
But it is important nonetheless, as events of the following few weeks in the U.S. demonstrated — in particular, the White House’s late January decision to pause permitting for new Liquid Natural Gas terminals. If this decision holds, it’s the biggest thing a U.S. president has ever done to stand up to the fossil fuel industry. That’s because if permits were granted for the build-out of these LNG export terminals along the Gulf Coast, then by 2030 American LNG would have been producing more greenhouse gas emissions than all of Europe. It would have been the largest fossil fuel expansion on planet Earth.
But now it’s not going to happen, thanks to an inspired campaign from leaders in the Gulf South and environmentalists across the country. At Third Act, which organizes people over 60 for progressive action, we’d scheduled a week of sit-ins at the Department of Energy for early February, but we were able to call them off when the Biden administration paused the issuing of new permits for these export facilities — the biggest check on dirty energy that any president has ever provided (granted, a low bar).
The White House decision, of course, doesn’t guarantee long-term victory, but it sets up a process where victory is possible. It takes those words that the White House climate envoy, John Kerry, helped insert in the text and makes them real. It gives us a little breathing room after the hottest year in human history — and renewed faith that in this cynical moment at least one of our politicians means what he says.
A PERSONAL NOTE: It’s almost obligatory for writers to tussle with editors. But I have deeply enjoyed working with Jim Rice on these columns. His retirement after many years of true and faithful service is well-deserved, but a loss for many of us. Thank you!
Bill McKibben, founder of 350.org, is the author most recently of The Flag, the Cross, and the Station Wagon: A Graying American Looks Back at his Suburban Boyhood and Wonders What the Hell Happened.
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