Has carbon footprint become a tool to oppress one another? The term “carbon footprint” was created to quantify the environmental impact of different activities. Driving a car to work, the food you eat, and the actions you partake in are all examples of factors that can play into your carbon footprint. Many people thought this was a step in the right direction. Still, the term has started a more extensive conversation: why are we paying attention to individual footprints when the impact of corporations is far more significant? The messy truth is described in a Mother Jones article with a critical question: did fossil fuel companies invent the carbon footprint to distract from their actions? Author Rebecca Solnit traced the creation of the term “carbon footprint” back to big oil companies. At the same time, sustainability researchers like Michal Czepkiewicz assert that fossil fuel corporations didn’t invent the term but instead co-opted this concept. However, he argues that the term can still be useful to consider environmental impact. How useful is carbon footprint as a metric? What is missing from the conversation? Czepkiewicz and Solnit both have a point. It’s true – BP used and publicized the term “carbon footprint” to help distract from their role in global warming. However, when you set aside criticism of the fossil-fuel industry for a moment and analyze carbon footprints, a disturbing and revealing trend appears. A report developed by Oxfam analyzed carbon footprints and found that the wealthiest 10% of the global population contributed to nearly half of global emissions between the 1990s and 2015. The same study showed that the richest 1% (us in The Global North) were responsible for more than double the emissions of the 3.1 billion people that make up the poorest half of humanity. Despite Global North countries having the highest emissions, poor people and those in poverty still contribute to the lowest emissions. How do we situate the term carbon footprint in our movements? Is it helpful in understanding our lifestyle? #carbonfootprint #carbonfootprints #carbonfootprintreduction #queerbrownvegan