Name the hurricane Exxon Mobil
Name hurricanes after the oil companies that purposefully promoted climate denialism — Hurricane Exxon Mobil. Name hurricanes after the white men who devoted their lives to poisoning our waters, and destroying our climate all so they can have a third yacht, and golf on a nicer field with ever more expensive wine — Hurricane Lee Roy Raymond or Hurricane Jeroen van der Veer. Name hurricanes after the politicians in power between the years of 1992 and 2024. Hurricane Biden, who approved weapons that caused millions of tons of carbon to be released into the atmosphere while murdering hundreds of thousands of Palestinians. Hurricane Trudeau, for the approving mega projects like the Coastal GasLink and TransMountain pipelines during his tenure as Prime Minister of Canada.
Name hurricanes after the agricultural businesses in the Amazon that clear cut our world's lungs and while violently evicting and murdering the Indigenous stewards of the land — Hurricane Cargill. Or maybe Hurricane Brian Sikes, after its CEO.
Name hurricanes after arms manufacturers, as military is the single largest industry contributing to climate disruption in the world — Hurricane Elbit Systems, Hurricane Boeing.
Name hurricanes after cruise lines — Hurricane Carnival Cruises and private jet users — Hurricane Taylor Swift — who is the largest single user of private jets in North America emitting more carbon in one year than several small countries.
Name hurricanes after Australian coal mines -- Hurricane Adani or tech companies that strip mine the Democratic Republic of Congo's rainforests while enslaving children -- Hurricane Apple or Hurricane Samsung.
Name hurricanes after billionaires, because the top 1% of income earners produce more emissions than the bottom 66% of earners -- Hurricane Jeff Bezos, Hurricane Elon Musk, Hurricane Warren Buffet.
Name hurricanes after all the banks that bankroll the fossil fuel industry, that prop up billionaires, that ensure that the capitalist economy won't stop until there's no planet left -- Hurricane Goldman Sachs. Hurricane Wells Fargo. Hurricane RBC.
Name hurricanes after every single executive that has purposefully made choices to prop up the fossil fuel industry as we stare annihilation in the face. We wouldn’t run out of names.
Don't sully the names of our friends and neighbours. Don’t evoke normalcy while living through apocalypse.
Don't bury the responsibility behind an everyday name, like hurricanes now are anything like they used to be. Don't pretend that weather is the same as it always has been, that these storms aren't deserving of a new naming system that reminds us that those responsible for apocalyptic storms have names, have faces, have histories that we should never forget.
Say their names every time we think of the Appalachian mountains literally falling down, changing the very topography of the region, while wiping towns off the map. Say their names every time we speak of the rising death toll, the names of the missing and dead. Say their names every time we speak of a family losing their home, of children being swept into rushing waters, every time we see the destruction.
Don’t let these vampires who have sucked the life blood of our planet for profit be forgotten. Let their names ring in the halls of history as the bringers of destruction. Let their names be on the lips of every broadcaster who speaks of the devastation. Let them never forget that we will never forget the death that is their names.
To support on the ground efforts please donate to The Cajun Navy, an on-ground, mutual aid disaster relief group that uses private planes, helicopters and boats to deliver supplies, conduct search and rescue and help rebuild. You can also support their Amazon wish list for specific needs.
In care and solidarity
Amelia
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