Flash Flood in Nepal Is Climate Crime
WASHINGTON — A devastating flash flood in Nepal has killed at least 955 people, with 4,471 still missing, including at least 85 Americans. The flood was caused by a glacial collapse in the Himalayas, a long-predicted result of climate change, which is melting glaciers and thawing the bonds between ice and rock that hold these glaciers in place. In response, Aaron Regunberg, director of Public Citizen’s Climate Accountability Project, issued the following statement:
“This horrific catastrophe isn’t just a tragedy. It’s a crime. Big Oil companies have known for decades that their fossil fuels would lead to disasters like this. Already in the 1980s companies like Exxon and Shell were issuing internal reports predicting that climate change could cause ‘potentially catastrophic’ flood events and warning that if fossil fuels were not controlled ‘there would be more violent weather—more storms, more droughts, more deluges.’ Despite understanding this existential threat, Big Oil lied to us about these dangers, and the industry continues to block action at every turn. Now thousands of people—including 85 Americans—are killed or missing. Their blood is on Big Oil’s hands. It’s past time we start making these companies pay for the damage they’ve done.”
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