Thank you for joining the Scientists’ Warning on Fossil Fuels. Filling out the form below adds your name to this open letter to decision-makers. Scientists joining this letter do so in their individual capacities and not on behalf of the institutions with which they’re affiliated. Please feel free to distribute it widely to your scientist colleagues.
Scientists’ Warning on Fossil Fuels: An Open Letter From Scientists to Decision-Makers
As scientists across multiple disciplines, we issue this urgent warning: Fossil fuels are at the core of interlinked crises that threaten humanity and the planet. The extraction, processing, and combustion of oil, gas, and coal drive climate change, harm public health, worsen environmental injustices, accelerate biodiversity loss, and fuel the petrochemical pollution problem. Despite this overwhelming evidence, fossil fuel production and infrastructure continue to expand. This is largely due to the fossil fuel industry’s tight political and financial grip on government and the industry’s decades-long, multi-billion-dollar disinformation campaign. We call for an immediate and just transition away from fossil fuels to clean, renewable energy and materials across the economy.
Climate Crisis
The climate emergency is undeniable. Fossil fuels account for nearly 90% of human-caused carbon dioxide emissions, pushing global temperatures toward dangerous tipping points. Fossil fuel emissions worsen heatwaves, hurricanes, wildfires, floods, and other climate disasters, costing lives, disrupting ecosystems, and totaling hundreds of billions in damages every year. The United States, as the world’s largest oil and gas producer, must lead in phasing out fossil fuels. We must stop new fossil fuel extraction and infrastructure and rapidly transition to clean, renewable energy to prevent further harms.
Public Health Harms
Fossil fuel pollution is a public health crisis. Air pollution from fossil fuel extraction and combustion contributes to respiratory and cardiovascular disease, cancer, and premature death. In the United States alone, pollution from fossil fuel combustion is responsible for hundreds of thousands of premature deaths each year. The climate crisis causes additional health harms and deaths from escalating climate disasters, disease transmission, food insecurity, and community displacement.
Environmental Injustice
Fossil fuel harms disproportionately affect communities of color and low-income communities where refineries, pipelines, power plants, and other polluting infrastructure are frequently sited. Fossil fuel racism is a direct consequence of decades of discriminatory policies; addressing these injustices means prioritizing clean energy investments and fossil fuel infrastructure retirements in frontline communities.
Biodiversity Loss and Extinction
Fossil fuels are a key driver of the global biodiversity crisis. Climate change puts escalating stress on wildlife and disrupts ecosystems, putting millions of species at risk of extinction. Beyond greenhouse gas emissions, fossil fuel development devastates forests, wetlands, marine habitats, and other ecosystems.
Petrochemical Pollution
The petrochemical industry, closely linked to fossil fuels, is another growing threat. Plastics, made almost entirely from fossil fuels, pollute our air, water, food, and bodies. Fossil fuel-based agrochemicals degrade soil, harm pollinators, contaminate food systems, and harm our health. Phasing out fossil fuels requires cutting plastic production and transitioning to sustainable agricultural practices.
Fossil Fuel Industry Disinformation and the Need for Accountability
For decades the fossil fuel industry has engaged in a multibillion-dollar disinformation campaign to delay climate action. Internal industry documents reveal that companies knew about the dangers of their products as early as the 1950s but chose to mislead the public. They’ve obstructed policy progress, promoted false solutions like carbon capture and storage, and shifted the blame onto consumers. We must hold these industrial polluters accountable for their deception and damages.
Call to Action: A Fossil Fuel Phaseout and Just Transition to Clean, Renewable Energy
We have the solutions to replace fossil fuels with clean, renewable energy and materials across the economy. Governments must do the following:
- Stop fossil fuel expansion and phase out existing fossil fuel extraction and use.
- End fossil fuel subsidies and incentivize clean renewables.
- Support a just transition by protecting affected communities and workers and ensuring access to affordable clean, renewable energy.
- Protect public health, starting by prohibiting fossil fuel operations near homes, schools, and hospitals.
- Prioritize environmental justice by retiring fossil fuel infrastructure and investing in clean energy in overburdened communities first.
- Protect biodiversity by siting renewable-energy infrastructure in the built environment and increasing wildlife and ecosystem protections to support carbon storage and sequestration, among other vital benefits.
- Reduce petrochemical pollution by cutting plastics production and transitioning to sustainable agricultural practices.
- Hold the fossil fuel industry accountable to pay for its deception and damages through legislation, regulation, litigation, and public scrutiny.
- Promote energy resilience by maximizing distributed renewable-energy technologies, including rooftop and community solar with battery storage, microgrids, and energy efficiency.
The time for delay is over. A fossil-free future is not only possible — it’s a necessity grounded in science and justice. Governments, industries, and civil society must act now to protect our planet and future generations.