When the pandemic first started & it set in that it was gonna be bad, really bad, once-in-a-century kind of bad, I started thinking about the Black Plague. Chiefly, I thought about how brutal & devastating it was, but how it forced humanity to evolve in significant ways. /1

Unexpected changes wrought by the Black Death included an end to feudalism, advancements in medicine & science, especially commoners being able to access medical texts & knowledge for the first time (all the scribes had been killed & texts were rewritten in layman's terms)... /2

The newfound suspicion of the infallibility of the Church & how much power it held, leading to more open-minded philosophy, women being elevated (so many men had died, women were allowed to own land & have businesses), higher wages for the peasant class, etc... /3

There was a bad, too. A lot of bad. You can look that up; I'll skip that part. I'm focused on the unexpected positives. I found myself wondering what the unexpected positives of the COVID-19 pandemic would be, how it would change the world in ways we couldn't have foreseen. /4

Tonight, @maddow covered an enormous, unexpected effect of the pandemic, and it's one that has the potential to massively change the world for the better: Oil & gas companies have been devastated by the pandemic. Absolutely devastated. Sounds bad. It isn't. /5

With no one driving and no one taking trips, the price of oil tanked. At one point early in the pandemic, a barrel of oil cost a NEGATIVE amount. Exxon-Mobil was for decades the most filthy rich, destructive company in the world, bulletproof, controlling & dictating politics. /6

But today? Exxon-Mobil is losing $61,000,000 a DAY. And they have been for a year now. The entire industry that nothing could touch is cratering. It's hemorrhaging money, millions, billions. And that's good for the world, because it means they're over a (useless oil) barrel. /7

It means that all the climate change legislation and technological progress they've been singlehandedly blocking for years with their money and influence is suddenly on the table. They have no choice. Their industry has been decimated by the pandemic. /8

It means they'll have to play ball about regulation. About energy efficiency & using non-renewable resources. About the types of cars we put on the road & how we power our buildings. For the first time, they are in no position to fight progress on climate change. /9

Covid has been horrific. It's a global trauma it will take years to get over. But there are some positives, huge opportunities in it, too. We have a chance right now to better shape the world we deserve. I wanted to share that so it doesn't all seem so hopeless & bleak 24/7. /end

And now here's a snub-nosed kitten who does not care about or understand climate change but thinks you're a Very Good Human for reading this thread.