The impacts from Hurricane Helene are shocking. Whole towns wiped away. Power has been knocked out, and it may take months to fully return, as critical grid infrastructure was destroyed. Roads all over the region are flooded and washed out, leaving people stranded. People are struggling to survive in the aftermath, but many people are on the ground, doing their best to help their neighbors and provide relief.
Hurricane Helene highlights how we all have a tremendous stake in limiting warming, and how extreme weather magnifies the harms of inequalities. The storm tore through a part of Appalachia where many communities have been largely abandoned by the government and industry. It’s one thing to evacuate when you know you have supplies and money for gas and somewhere to stay, it’s another when falling behind on your paycheck is not something you can afford, or if you’re caring for an elderly relative or loved one with a disability who’s not easily moved. One of the great injustices of the climate crisis is that it is so often the most vulnerable among us who are first to be in harm’s way, and have the longest path to recovery from the damages.
This is why we believe it is so important to be fighting both for ending our use of fossil fuels as quickly as we can AND for a different social order that ends the racialized inequality in our world.
The widespread destruction from this storm also shines a light on an issue we’ve been working to highlight in our campaigns on the big banks and pension funds that provide critical support to new fossil fuels. Escalating extreme weather like this threatens not just those in the direct line of fire, but also the entire social and economic infrastructure. The early projected damage from Helene is over $100 billion. Widespread damages at this scale, with only worse conditions to come, threaten the viability of property insurance companies. The failure of a major insurer, or widespread defaults on homes that can’t access insurance and are impacted by extreme weather both have the capacity to trigger financial crises with major ramifications for all of us.
It is critical that we recommit ourselves to the fight to end the era of fossil fuels. And commit to fight for a world where we can truly take care of each other, even through the storms.
I hope you will join us.
In Solidarity,
Andrew
Campaigns Director
350 Seattle
350 Seattle
5031 University Way NE
Seattle, WA 98105
United States
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