Climate change and the kitchen table
The consequences of climate disinformation manufactured by and for Big Oil
"The little blue shed" photo by Patti Waltz
As Hurricane Helene was gaining momentum, I was about to launch this website and had just finished drafting my first blog on how climate change and the threat against democracy are interconnected. Little did I know what was coming down the pike. On September 27, the floodwaters of Helene reached record levels in the historic town of Marshall, NC. Suddenly this became personal. It touched home and the community I love. The impact of climate change was pounding at the front door.
Two days later, Oklahoma Task Force entered Marshall to search buildings for survivors. One of the search and rescuers checked in on us after the flood. While we were still reeling from the shock of it all, he shook his head and said, “I’m sorry to say this, but your journey has just begun, and it isn’t going to be easy.” I felt the profound force of his statement, but at the time, had no concept of its depth.
No words or images can fully express the vast destruction and the layers upon layers of physical and emotional upheaval. Everyone with their own unique traumatic story to tell. Jobs lost, buildings swept away, businesses covered in toxic sludge, farms and wildlife habitat eroded or piled with feet of heavy silt. For thousands of miles along the shoreline of the French Broad River and its tributaries was a woven chaotic mesh of automobiles, uprooted trees, tin roofs, PVC pipe, and the belongings of peoples lives. The news cycle moves on, but the recovery across Western North Carolina will take years.
The silver lining amongst all of this, was bearing witness to the people from every walk of life working side by side. Business owners, the U.S. Army, the National Guard, teams of police, volunteers from near and far, rednecks, and long-haired-hippie-freaks all joining forces with one mission, to help neighbors in need and rebuild the historic town of Marshall. It was a beautiful sight. It was a testament to recognizing our commonality and what we can accomplish when we work together.
I never met a man I didn't like.
Will Rogers
Extreme weather events are happening more and more frequently. Scientific consensus has been warning about this since the 1960s. In 1988, NASA scientist James Hansen testified before Congress on the reality of global warming. The following year, Exxon began investing fortunes into manufacturing climate denial narratives to confuse public opinion and thwart climate policy. Big Oil prioritized profits over people and planet. For decades, Big Oil has put up a front professing concern over jobs and economy, knowing full well that climate change would have catastrophic economic impact. And here we are.
So, let’s talk about the economy. Western North Carolina is heavily reliant on tourism, the arts, and agricultural industries. In the wake of Hurricane Helene, tourist towns like Marshall, Hot Springs, Spruce Pine, Black Mountain, Swannanoa, and Biltmore Village suffered an economic freeze for nearly 8 months, while Bat Cave took 18 months just to restore basic highway access. 80 percent of Asheville’s iconic River Arts District was leveled. 19,000 jobs were lost and over one hundred people died. 90 miles of railroad needed to be repaired. More than 600 roads shut down due to mudslides and washouts. 822,000 acres of forest were destroyed. Farms suffered extensive damage that will take years to remedy. And layered on top of that, Helene hit on the verge of tourist and harvesting season when proprietors move out of the red into the black. The estimated price tag of damages in North Carolina reached $60 billion, leaving taxpayers and uninsured residents to shoulder this historic financial burden.
Norfolk Southern’s S-Line was out of commission for 8 months following the storm, and roads remained shut down for months. This prolonged standstill forced hidden supply chain costs onto regional industries—ultimately driving up consumer prices on everything from monthly electricity bills to the price of eggs. Across Western NC thousands of farms suffered extensive damage. Apple orchards were stripped bare and Christmas tree farms—which take a decade to mature— were violently uprooted. A majority of mountain farms suffered severe damage to their land, with many completely stripped of valuable topsoil while others were buried in up to 6 feet of silt and rock. Feed supplies were wiped out, fencing destroyed, entire cattle herds and poultry farms were drowned in the floodwaters, and long-term power outages led to product loss, solidifying a nationwide surge in food costs.
Marshall, NC | October 22, 2024
We are, without question, the most intellectual creatures to ever walk the planet. …
We may be intellectual, we may have brilliant brains, but we’re not intelligent.
Because intelligent creatures don’t destroy their only home.
Jane Goodall, last interview September 23, 2025
The French Broad River is a vital asset to our Western NC economy for both agriculture and outdoor tourism. The torrential force of the flood widened the rivers and streams, making the water shallower and consequently warmer—a shift that introduces severe thermal stress to our sensitive local aquatic life. Rising water temperatures are compounded by the loss of trees uprooted during the flood that once gave shade along the riverbeds, and the heavy silt covering the banks is leading to a delayed die-off of trees from root suffocation. This poses a thermal threat to cold-water dependent species like native Brook Trout. In some areas, entirely new channels were carved out and many of the once rocky stream bottoms remain covered in feet of sediment and sand which also affects the Brook Trout and fragile species like the Eastern Hellbender salamander, as well as foundational insect life that supports the aquatic food web. WNC is a premier destination for fly fishing and cold water trout tourism. These environmental shifts not only disrupt our river-based economy, but severely impact the rivers, forests, and native wildlife of the beautiful Blue Ridge.
What we are doing to the future of our children,
and the other species on the planet, is a clear moral issue.
James Hansen, NASA scientist
Climate change is at the center of kitchen table issues. When voting on the economy, we must understand how Big Oil has played a major role in climate disasters that are contributing to the rising cost of living, as well as the ever growing divide of wealth inequality. When legislators draft policy based off of disinformation designed by and for Big Oil, we are setting ourselves up for disaster. The climate data is in. We are running out of time. Within a decade we will be facing five catastrophic irreversible tipping points including the collapse of coral reef ecosystems, the thawing of the Arctic permafrost, and sea-level risings from melting ice sheets. We have a choice. To either keep our head in the sand and ignore the problem until it’s too late, or face the problem and unite our forces to find solutions.
Politicians think that if matters look difficult, compromise is a good approach.
Unfortunately, nature and the laws of physics cannot compromise - they are what they are.
James Hansen
For me, Helene has become a metaphor—a microcosm of a much bigger picture—shining a ray of light on the hidden potential of our humanity. If we are to protect this planet for future generations, we must confront the reality of climate change. Disinformation has led to climate inaction. To find solutions we must face the facts. When we confront seemingly insurmountable challenges, and unite to do right with courage and joy, we are capable of accomplishing the extraordinary. We are capable of making the impossible, possible.
Two years later…
Most of the historic tourist towns across WNC, including Marshall, are thriving once again. And though there continue to be struggles, numerous volunteers and organizations remain dedicated to the hard work required to make a difference.
Hats off to organizations like MountainTrue which has successfully pulled nearly 6 million pounds of debris out of our waterways. Groups like Trout Unlimited are actively planting thousands trees to stabilize banks and restore fallen tree canopies, while Mountain Valleys RC&D and Asheville GreenWorks continue to anchor riverbanks by establishing vital native vegetation.
Finally, on the agricultural side, non-profits like TRACTOR Food & Farms and the Appalachian Sustainable Agriculture Project (ASAP) have partnered closely with the NC Cooperative Extension to ensure essential soil remediation and economic survival for local mountain farmers.
This is a short list of many, but much love and thanks to all!
In the wake of Hurricane Helene
With no electricity, I redirected my attention to photo document the devastation from Helene and the cleanup efforts in the town of Marshall. The photos below were taken over the first month of recovery efforts. Although many beloved local shops celebrated re-opening in April 2025, numerous buildings are still in a state of disrepair and remain shuttered.
The Post Office
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