For anyone who heats their home with oil or owns a car, the spike in gas prices caused by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has been felt deeply and for some, is causing them to re-think a reliance on fossil fuel.
That’s true for Deb Markowitz, the Massachusetts state director at The Nature Conservancy, the largest nonprofit environmental organization in the United States. She told Morning Edition hosts Paris Alston and Jeremy Siegel that her home fuel oil bill was a whopping $850 for a 200-gallon tank on Wednesday. Markowitz isn’t sure it will push Americans toward renewable energy and electric vehicles in the long term, but it’s a powerful incentive to remember the alternatives available to gas.
“I just think about people who don't have that money in the bank — so many people in our area, don't even have $400 in their savings account to help with this sticker shock,” she said.
Through her work at The Nature Conservancy, she is leading efforts to make the United States reconsider its approach to renewable energy. She noted that renewable energy accounts for about 22% of electricity in the country, while in Massachusetts it’s around 25%.
“A crisis like this is a reminder that there are better alternatives out there, both for national security, our energy security, but also for climate change,” she said.
To avoid spikes in gas prices subject to geopolitical factors, many people have started to think more about electric cars. Car dealerships told GBH News they anticipate an increase in demand because of the recent crisis, but consumers could face a lack of inventory with supply chain issues hampering electric vehicles’ availability.
That’s why, Markowitz said, it’s helpful to keep an eye on the big picture solutions — “policy, investments and actionable science” — rather than on just immediate reactions like buying an electric car.
“That’s not alone going to solve the problem,” she said. “It also requires policy changes because, you know, somebody who's low income, who lives in an apartment, can’t get an electric vehicle if there's nowhere at the apartment to charge it.”
A surge in gas prices from the early 2000s leaves hints about what the future might hold. Markowitz said there was an increase in people buying fuel efficient cars and taking more public transportation. But, she said, it was just a short-term bump.
“When we looked back a year later, things kind of went back to their normal levels,” she said.
"A crisis like this is a reminder that there are better alternatives out there, both for national security, our energy security, but also for climate change."Deb Markowitz, Massachusetts state director at The Nature Conservancy
Markowitz has her eye on the long game. A recent UN report from leading climate scientists painted a dire picture and found that climate change is "a threat to human well-being and planetary health.” She also noted a report from NOAA, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, which forecasted that by 2050, sea levels along U.S. coastlines will be about a foot higher than they were in 2000.
“For Boston, for Massachusetts, for the Northeast — that is serious,” she said, noting that Massachusetts could see 16 inches of sea level rise compared to 2000. “So, climate change for us in Massachusetts is urgent.”
As an optimist, Markowitz said she wouldn’t continue to do her work if she didn’t have hope that society can come together to solve this problem, especially in a time of crisis.
“The private sector matters. Government matters. Investments matter,” she said. “I do believe... this will open the door for more conversations about how we need to have systems change in order to really advance the climate agenda overall.”
