Seventeen Crimes

Twenty-one

 Upon her signal, Brie stood up in the sea of reports, holding out her phone to catch as much of the recording of Victoria Chandler as she could.

"As we are discussing the revamping and relaunch of a carbon neutral tracking program and the selling of carbon credits, can you tell me exactly how much carbon that we need available in our environment?" Brie asked.

"I am not sure what you are getting at," Victoria said. "The truth is that our planet is being irreparably damaged and the only way we can humanely help it is to control how much carbon we put into the atmosphere."

"I am referring to the Gibson-Dorran book called The Conspiracy of Change, which states that the current free carbon percentages in our atmosphere are only about point two-five above the threshold level needed for life."

"Let me interrupt you, Ms. Reyes," Victoria said, rolling her eyes. "If you are getting your information from Gibson-Dorran I need to question your credentials as a reporter."

"Ma'am, we are talking about creating a system for tracing carbon emissions – something that if Gibson and Dorran are correct about, we would actually need a carbon release event like the Industrial Revolution to happen twice a century to sustain life as we know it. My question is: do you have a number that we need to maintain as free carbon in the atmosphere?"

Brie felt hands on her shoulders, beginning to yank her from the pool.

"The truth of the matter that Gibson and Dorran and a whole host of scientists like them are failing to acknowledge is that this planet is dying. And anyone who does not comply with the doctors' order on how to fix it and heal it to survive must be removed from the natural environment," Victoria went on to say.