Individual vs. Corporate Responsibility

Most climate change advocates will speak frequently about a shared sacrifice. In the effort our energy systems those who can adapt and be flexible with energy consumption stand to be least harmed. Let’s focus, for a minute, on the individual choices we make. We can, for the moment, ignore the oil and gas industry, which has been intractable and complicit in “predatory delay” (as coined by Alex Steffen) at best, and criminal in their negligence and greed at worst. But without opening that can of worms, lets narrow down from trucking company or port authority needing to switch towards electric vehicles. Then zoom into a used car shopper deciding the size, make, and engine style of their next vehicle. That’s a big decision, so let’s further consider a home owner whose hot water heater recently stopped working, or a person engaging in a some decisions in a new-build on the outskirts of a major city.

As we narrow down the decision making towards the individual, we can see that the choices we make will indeed have an impact on our climate battle. Do I electrify my stove? Will my hot water heater run on natural gas? I think of these small individual decisions as a lot like voting. They comprise a part of the sum. And the decision to participate and engage provides an ethos and agency that is important for intangible reasons. So at that point one could just throw one’s hands up and say “maybe the fossil fuel industry should do something” or “how about I just take one less airplane ride per year.” To that I say… YES, I agree, there are large scale decisions that can make a difference, and those are the important ones.  – and our society needs to engage in a holistic encouragement of responsible decision making. This will start at a policy level.

*This juncture is where I need to mention about the societal corporate decision to shift responsibility for thoughtful climate decisions onto individuals from corporations. This is problematic, and the answer is likely policy. As my wife has always said – if on the individual decision then the collective decision making has somehow broken down. Personal responsibility is important, but it shouldn’t be our only recourse or hope.

So lets talk about gas vs electric stoves. I think it’s safe to say that nobody cares HOW their water gets heated if it comes out of their shower head warm. Cooking is a different matter – and gas vs. electric stoves is a great example of a sacrifice, however small, that we can share. I know that a coal miner in West Virginia would scoff at the idea that he and I are joining the same sacrifice, and he has a point. But it is these small decisions that need to be encouraged, and perhaps even made more appealing, in order to encourage buy-in and adoption of electrification at scale. So I, like many people, love my natural gas powered stove. The visual of the gas flame is a useful part of my cooking method, and the BTU output is unparalleled. So I would have trouble changing. But a new build policy, an inventory setup and rebate, as well as a disengagement from expanding natural gas infrastructure are all things that could nudge me in the right direction. And those are the policy nudges that could encourage a responsible decision on building electrification if I already inclined to go electric.

In closing, I don’t want to discount corporate responsibility. But even those who aren’t climate warriors are faced with small decisions every day that contribute towards a better carbon future for us all. I’ve become ever more concerned that our sweeping policy, political, and corporate infrastructure won’t take steps extreme enough to halt global warming. Therefore, even if it might not be enough, I do want to acknowledge that some sacrifices, big and small, must be made at the individual level.