Michael Shofi

Prof. Dupont
Critical Criminology
3 March 2018
Is the gradual destruction of planet Earth an environmental crime?
Yes.
If you ever wondered how much power one can have with money alone, wonder no more.
Dirty energy companies have republicans backing them up with their opposition to global
climate change (even though they have no facts to base their blind “beliefs” on). So what we
have is an overwhelmingly large group of people who don’t give any thought and/or care to the
health of our planet, but will gladly take millions of dollars from the companies contributing to
its downfall. Why then is taking action against climate change reform, or even complacency a
crime? The only thing that I can come up with is pretty much the same reason white collar crime
is so confusing. How would you charge some people/companies and for what exactly?
Especially in this case where the real crime and catastrophe hasn’t even happened yet.
To get on the right track before the real catastrophe, we can turn our attention to the facts
presented by real scientists tracking our planet’s health. It’s like if a parent took their helpless
baby to the doctor, and the doctor said you can’t leave this baby in the hot car alone or it will die,
and then the parent does it anyway. In this analogy, we are the parents and the Earth is our baby.
Right now our baby is sitting in a hot car and we are doing things to make it worse. How do we
know the temperatures are rising? “The planet's average surface temperature has risen about 2.0
degrees Fahrenheit (1.1 degrees Celsius) since the late 19th century, a change driven largely by
increased carbon dioxide and other human-made emissions into the atmosphere. Most of the
warming occurred in the past 35 years, with 16 of the 17 warmest years on record occurring
since 2001. Not only was 2016 the warmest year on record, but eight of the 12 months that make
up the year — from January through September, with the exception of June — were the warmest
on record for those respective months.” (“Climate Change: How Do We Know?”). Each year is
getting warmer and climate change is becoming more and more irreversible. We already had our
hands full with oil and coal companies getting in the way of cleaner energies, but now we have a
whole different issue to worry about.
As of now, we have a Republican majority in congress, and perhaps the most politically
incorrect Republican president America has ever seen. They are calling the shots to further their
agendas and wealth right now. President Trump literally signed a bill into law that “revoked a
rule that prevented coal mining companies from dumping debris into local streams.” This is a
deliberate attack on the environment and is inexcusable. If there was a way to show all the
terrible effects of this now, Trump should be charged with a crime. But then of course it would
be argued that there is too much confusion as to who was really liable and perhaps the worst that
would be done is a fine (of pocket-change to the money-grubbing Republican’s).
“Climate Change: How Do We Know?” Global Climate Change, NASA,
climate.nasa.gov/evidence/.

Popovich, Nadja, and Tatiana Schlossberg. “23 Environmental Rules Rolled Back in Trump's
First 100 Days.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 2 May 2017,
www.nytimes.com/interactive/2017/05/02/climate/environmental-rules-reversed-trump-100-
days.html?mcubz=0.