The Burning Man festival gave us a mushy parable on climate
Elon Musk. One headline reads: “Did Gaia punish Burning Man for ignoring climate protests?" If that was how our planet worked, then the poorest and least polluting nations would not have to bear the brunt of the climate crisis. But the author can be forgiven for the sentiment, as the festival is a big polluter.
Burning Man Project, a San Francisco-based non-profit that runs the event, estimated that more than 54,200 metric tonnes of CO2 was released by the festival in 2019, the equivalent of burning 27,215 tonnes of coal. Black Rock Labs, a non-profit tech incubator, puts the figure at 100,000 tonnes. Some 91% of that is from hauling 80,000 people and equipment in and out of the desert.
Cars and other wheelers; also planes. Attendees visit from more than 5,500 cities across the world and the event has its own airport, so tech and finance bros can swing by on private jets. On-site emissions are inflated by air-conditioned tents and vans offering respite from the desert heat often felt in normal years.
Even before this year’s event, those involved with Burning Man were raising concerns about climate change. Just a few months ago, Matt Sundquist, director of Fly Ranch, wrote in a blog that “we will soon see multiple days in Black Rock City with extreme dust, substantial storms, 120°F+, and 200+ AQI ( Air Quality Index)." How right he was. The festival organizers have committed to being carbon negative by 2030.
Progress has been made, particularly through solar pilot projects. Some 590 theme camps expressed a clear commitment to working towards Burning Man sustainability goals, and 730 camps used solar power. But out of around 800 motorized art pieces, known as ‘mutant vehicles,’ about 40 were electric or human-powered in
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