Before Hurricane Beryl tore through Houston in early July, it disrupted Texas' oil and gas industry.
What's happening?
The storm's full effects may still be coming into focus, but the energy-grid infrastructure was knocked out for well over a week in many areas, and ports and corporations were impacted, according to U.S. News and World Report. Hurricanes also usually cause a brief spike in gas prices, CBS 7 in West Texas reported.
Reuters noted gas stations around the United States' fourth-largest city were still offline because of power and supply issues a day after Beryl made landfall near Matagorda on July 8. Since the Lone Star State produces 40% of the country's oil and 20% of its gas, tropical storms and hurricanes can even affect imports and exports.
"Approximately 15% of U.S. oil production and 5% of natural gas production occur offshore in the Gulf of Mexico," according to The Real Economy Blog. Storms shut down drilling rigs, platforms, and refineries.
Even the threat of a major storm can impact gas prices in other states, including Florida. A gallon of fuel in the Sunshine State cost $3.53 on July 4 — 27 cents more than it did on Independence Day last year, as WUSF reported.
"As the storm settles, it's important to remember that the financial impacts can linger," the CBS 7 report said. "The recovery process can be slow, with long-term effects on local economies, particularly in areas heavily dependent on the oil and gas industry. Infrastructure repairs, lost productivity, and the costs associated with evacuations and shutdowns all contribute to the economic burden.
"The disruptions caused by Hurricane Beryl underscore the need for comprehensive risk management strategies in the oil and gas sector. Companies must continuously adapt to changing conditions, invest in resilient infrastructure, and develop contingency plans to minimize the impact of such events."
Why is this important?
The burning of gas, coal, and oil is by far the most significant driver of warming temperatures, per the United Nations. In the U.S., transportation accounts for 28% of human-caused pollution; a vast majority of that comes from cars and trucks, which despite the rise of electric vehicles are predominantly powered by gasoline.
From the perspective of the oil industry, it is perhaps somewhat paradoxical that success in procuring and selling more oil has the potential to cause or worsen damaging effects to the environment that could then cut into its business when overheated areas from increased global temperatures cause more extreme weather events. (Scientists have long proved that hurricane intensity is increased by hotter temperatures.) In other words, oil operations are linked to increasing the weather circumstances that can damage oil operations.
Whether oil executives care as long as their profits outstrip their losses is another matter, yet the effects do not just hit their own industry. The fact remains that 99.9% of peer-reviewed scientific papers agree that human activity, and primarily the burning of fossil fuels, is responsible for consistently increasing global temperatures in recent decades.
As an extension of their industry significantly contributing to that, oil companies bear some responsibility when extreme storms such as Beryl ravage whole areas in worse ways than scientists say would be the case with the climate of, for example, a century ago.
While any one person can do only so much with their own purchasing decisions, society as a whole reducing its reliance on fossil fuels would go a long way toward tamping down the dangerous trajectory of increasing global temperatures.
To that end, EV sales spiked from 1 million in 2022 to 1.6 million in 2023 but still made up only 9.3% of American automobiles last year. That means gas-guzzlers use 70% of the nation's petroleum and a whopping 30% of its energy, per MarketWatch.
It may be difficult for some to imagine buying an EV now because of a perceived lack of charging infrastructure — although this is improving, most people overlook the fact that home charging up to several hundred miles of range solves this for everyday driving — but in addition to being more affordable than dirty energy, clean energy can help us disaster-proof society.
Coupling solar energy with battery storage, for example, would allow EV drivers to charge their cars even if a hurricane knocks out power to millions of residents for days, as Beryl did in the Houston area. And when you consider products such as General Motors' newly released vehicle-to-home charging bundle, which can allow a car to power an entire home for several days during a power outage, the value of an EV starts to shine more and more.
What else is being done about our switch to clean energy?
Speeding up this transition is vital, as the planet's rapid overheating because of human activities has caused more frequent and intense droughts, wildfires, and rainfall events — showing we cannot continue on this track without suffering deadly consequences. Rising temperatures are also making the worst hurricanes occur more often.
Governments and corporations — including those in the oil and gas industry that often reap record profits — must lead the way to divestment.
You can contribute to a safer future by investing in community solar, trading vehicle trips for bicycling or walking, or vacationing responsibly, to name a few steps. Even more important is using your voice to normalize such actions and to advocate for broader changes to laws and regulations.
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