Fire Time: An Epic Tale of Climate Change and Industrial Dependency
Introduction
In a world battling the devastating effects of climate change, there often exists a dissonance between the actions of governments, corporations, and individuals. The book Fire Time by John Vaillant delves deep into this dissonance and brings to light the epic tale of Fort McMurray, a city located in the vast boreal forest of northern Canada. The city, dependent on the extraction of oil from tar sands, faced the wrath of an uncontrollable wildfire in 2016, raising questions about the sustainability and repercussions of our industrial dependency.
The Bifurcated Reality of Fort McMurray
Fort McMurray, known as the industrial epicenter of northern Alberta’s tar sands, holds one of the largest fossil fuel deposits in the world. The process of extracting oil from tar sands is carbon-intensive and contributes significantly to climate change. However, even with the understanding of the threat posed by anthropogenic carbon dioxide, the oil industry continues to thrive. The executives of companies like ExxonMobil and JPMorgan, who acknowledge the science, simultaneously contribute to exacerbating the problem.
The dichotomy between accepting scientific evidence and perpetuating the problem is not limited to the oil industry. Governments, such as Justin Trudeau’s federal Liberal government in Canada, enact climate laws while investing billions of dollars to pipe bitumen across the Rocky Mountains for export. This divide between rhetoric and action is indicative of the challenges faced in addressing climate change.
An Uncontrollable Wildfire and Its Devastation
The catastrophic wildfire that engulfed Fort McMurray in 2016 serves as a chilling reminder of the consequences of climate change. With an exceptionally warm spring and an uncontrollable fire, entire communities were destroyed, and 90,000 people were evacuated. The intensity of the fire created its own weather system, resulting in hurricane-force winds and lightning. The houses, made from petrochemicals used in the oil industry itself, were devoured within minutes, further highlighting the irony of the situation.
Vaillant’s book takes the readers through the stages of the disaster, from the initial glimpse of smoke on the horizon to the authorities’ assurances of control, culminating in catastrophe. This gripping narrative serves as a wake-up call, urging individuals, governments, and corporations to confront the imminent threat of global warming and make the necessary sacrifices to mitigate its effects.
Industrial Dependency and Cognitive Dissonance
Fort McMurray represents a microcosm of the industrial world’s reliance on fossil fuels. The extraction of oil from tar sands requires complex processes, including open-pit mining and injecting steam into the ground during the harsh Canadian winter. Despite being one of the most carbon-intensive sources of oil, the industry continues to expand to cater to global energy demands.
This cognitive dissonance is not unique to Fort McMurray; it permeates society. Individuals, governments, and corporations acknowledge the science behind climate change but struggle to align their actions with their beliefs. The allure of limitless energy and the convenience of fossil fuels hinder progress towards sustainable alternatives.
An Exploration of Climate Change Discourse
Fire Time goes beyond the tale of Fort McMurray and delves into the broader discourse surrounding climate change. Vaillant emphasizes how optimism often clouds judgment in the face of growing threats. Just as Fort McMurray’s emergency services reassured residents that the fire was under control until it became visible from the city limits, society as a whole often downplays the urgency of the climate crisis.
The book also explores the role of cognitive dissonance in climate change discourse. The industrial world, fueled by fossil fuels, inadvertently risks its own destruction. The reliance on hydrocarbons for energy and products creates a paradox where the very substances driving climate change become instrumental in sustaining our way of life.
Expanding Perspectives: The Need for Change
While Fire Time presents a compelling narrative of the Fort McMurray wildfire and its implications, it is essential to delve deeper into the topic and explore practical examples and insights. By understanding the interconnectedness of industries, governments, and individuals, we can better comprehend the complexities and barriers to effective climate action.
It is crucial to recognize that the responsibility for climate change goes beyond individual actions and extends to systemic issues. Governments must prioritize sustainable policies and regulations, while corporations need to transition towards cleaner energy sources. Additionally, individuals must reassess their consumption patterns and advocate for change through collective action.
The Path to a Sustainable Future
The lessons learned from Fort McMurray and the broader discourse on climate change emphasize the need for a coordinated and holistic approach towards sustainability. To address climate change effectively, the following steps are crucial:
- Investment in renewable energy sources and technologies
- Implementation of strict regulations and policies to reduce carbon emissions
- Integration of climate change education and awareness into school curricula
- Support for research and innovation in sustainable practices
- Promotion of sustainable lifestyles and consumer choices
- Collaboration between governments, corporations, and individuals to drive systemic change
A Call to Action
As individuals, we each have a role to play in addressing climate change. By making conscious choices and advocating for sustainable practices, we can contribute to a more sustainable future. However, true progress requires collective action and systemic change.
Together, we can demand accountability from governments and corporations, urging them to prioritize long-term sustainability over short-term gains. By pushing for renewable energy sources, supporting sustainable initiatives, and engaging in meaningful dialogue, we can ensure that future generations inherit a world free from the devastating consequences of climate change.
Summary
Fire Time by John Vaillant captures the epic tale of Fort McMurray, an industrial city in northern Canada. The city’s dependency on oil extraction from tar sands, one of the largest fossil fuel deposits globally, juxtaposes with the catastrophic wildfire it faced in 2016. The book explores the cognitive dissonance in climate change discourse, where individuals, governments, and corporations accept the science while perpetuating the problem. It delves into the broader implications of industrial dependency and the need for systemic change to address climate change effectively. Fire Time serves as a call to action, urging individuals and society to confront the imminent threat and work towards a sustainable future.
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July was the hottest month on record globally. Fires this summer destroyed a Hawaiian town and prompted evacuations in Canada, Greece and Thailand. Floods devastated Vermont towns in July and killed thousands of Libyans in September.
If this is climate change, governments and voters don’t seem too alarmed. Rishi Sunak just watered down the UK’s net zero policies. Last year, the Biden administration — the same one that enacted vast clean energy subsidies — implored drillers to pump more oil to make gasoline cheaper. And with elections looming, politicians suddenly seem reluctant to talk about the sacrifices that might be needed to stop global warming.
The new book by John Vaillant Fire time aims to shake us out of this torpor with a story of terror from an area on the front lines of climate change: the city of Fort McMurray, in the vast boreal forest of northern Canada, where an uncontrollable wildfire during an exceptionally warm spring in 2016 engulfed entire communities in a few days.
Vaillant tells his story at the pace of a disaster movie, starting with the glimpse of smoke on the horizon and the authorities’ assurances that all will be well in the suburbs. A growing catastrophe ensues as flames lick the golf courses on the edge of town. Then, catastrophe.
Ultimately, 90,000 people had been evacuated, 2,500 structures destroyed and another 500 damaged. The fire burned with such intensity that the houses were devoured whole within minutes. The energy generated by the fire created its own weather system, with hurricane-force winds and lightning.
Fire time includes much about the science of fire and time. But it is also a book about cognitive dissonance in climate change discourse; and how, like Fort McMurray emergency services who reassured residents that the fire was under control even as the flames became visible from the city limits, we are all too optimistic in the face of the imminent threat.
The book’s main irony is that Fort McMurray is the industrial epicenter of northern Alberta’s tar sands, one of the largest fossil fuel deposits in the world. It is a city whose existence depends on hydrocarbons whose combustion causes climate change; but whose existence almost ended in climate-induced combustion.
Extracting oil from the tar sands is a complicated operation, involving open-pit mining of the bitumen-soaked soil around the Athabasca River, or injecting steam – in the depths of the northern Canadian winter – into the ground to make the bitumen flow. Even then, it must be turned into liquids that can be refined. The process makes tar sands the most carbon-intensive source of oil in the world.
Yet projects continue to grow – providing the United States with a fifth of its oil – and the global fossil fuel industry thrives. It’s an example of what Vaillant calls a “bifurcated reality,” in which executives at companies like ExxonMobil or JPMorgan “accept the science of anthropogenic carbon dioxide and the threat it poses, and still — literally — pour gasoline on fire” .
This bifurcation is visible in Canada, where Justin Trudeau’s federal Liberal government has enacted ambitious climate laws but is also spending billions of dollars to pipe bitumen across the Rocky Mountains to the West Coast for export. At least the conservative provincial government in Alberta, where most of the oil sands are located, has been open in its attitude toward the climate, suing to stop a federal carbon tax and recently imposing a moratorium on clean energy development .
But consumers are no less dependent than Alberta on fossil fuels, which, as Vaillant demonstrates, can both sustain and threaten us, provide shelter but also terror.
The oil industry didn’t just pay the wages that allowed people to buy suburban homes in Fort McMurray; he also made houses. Vinyl siding; plastic products; Ethylene and propylene in household appliances, furniture and clothing are all petrochemicals. And they all provided rich fuel for the fires. As the fire raged, people fled in diesel-powered pick-up trucks, were treated in gas-guzzling ambulances and evacuated aboard kerosene-fueled planes.
Fire time is not a typical disaster book. Vaillant’s references to Nassim Taleb, Lucretius, Seamus Heaney, THE Lord of the RingsXerxes and Moby Dick can grate. The Suncor Community Leisure Center is impressive but not comparable to the Tower of Babel; Fort McMurray is not Babylon.
But Vaillant’s theme is epic. Our industrial world is releasing carbon at a rate 10 times faster than scientists can find in the geologic record of the last 250 million years, he writes. “Thanks to fire and our appetite for limitless energy, we have evolved into a geological event that will be measurable a million years from now.”
Fire Weather: A True Story from a Warmer World by John Vaillant Scepter £25/Knopf $32.50, 432 pages
Derek Brower is the FT’s US political news editor
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