ExxonMobil and Climate Change

Writing for RenewableEnergyWorld, my colleague Jennifer Runyon begins her recent article on ExxonMobil and climate change:

We don’t cover climate change news all that much here on RenewableEnergyWorld.com. The reason for that is that we view climate change as just one bullet point in a list of reasons why renewable energy make sense: energy independence, grid stability through decentralized generation and resource depletion are also on that list.

I’ve known Jennifer for many years, and I respect her deeply, but I don’t follow her logic here.  She’s right, of course, that climate change is only one of many reasons to favor renewable energy over fossil fuels, just like cancer is only one of the many diseases that can kill you.  But I’m not sure that’s a reason to pay little attention to it.