We should be ANGRY, very angry (and, yes, I am shouting!)
Over the months I have been writing my blog I have tried to remain reasonable and to look for the positive aspects of what we, the human race, are doing to tackle man-made Climate Change. There are many people out there that are so depressed about the situation that bad news makes them feel they can do nothing. (That includes me some days.) So I have tried to stress the positive while talking about the bad stuff at the same time.
To be fair there are many positive aspects and many wonderful new inventions which if our heart was in it we could use in our fight against Global Warming. Many individuals have been wonderful and young people have been amazing in their battle for a better future. Grandparents are being jailed and people are gluing themselves to famous artworks. Farmers are investigating Regenerative Agriculture, many people are becoming vegans and protestors are being killed in the Amazon trying to save the rain forest. It is really humbling to see peoples’ commitment.
But where are our governments, the big multinationals, especially the fossil fuel companies and the individuals who stand to gain financially from fossil fuels?
They are taking us for fools.
Coal Mining
Every day I read news that I find almost impossible to comprehend:
June 2022 The US Supreme Court votes to reduce the Environmental Protection Agency’s ability to reduce carbon dioxide emissions. Thus severely restricting President Biden’s Climate Change plans. This matters a great deal to all of us as America is the second larger emitter after China.
In May 2020 the EU committed to planting 3 billion trees by 2030 as part of their plans to tackle Climate Change and create jobs. As of May 2022 they have planted about 2,900,000 trees. Less than 1% of the required total.
As of November 2021, Australia has fossil fuel expansion plans equivalent to opening 200 more coal-fired power stations. That is four times the amount planned by China! Australia has a new government which may be more gentle with the environment but I am not holding my breath.
Why do they not care? What life will my children and grandchildren have?
In a recent blog article, Bill McGuire (a climate scientist and professor at University College, London) has said that making less of the situation will foster the idea that things aren’t too bad. He believes this is completely untrue and notes:
“Our once stable climate is rapidly disintegrating, and no one will be insulated from the mayhem this will bring in the decades ahead.”
He believes we should all be afraid of the situation, and I am coming to the conclusion that he is right. We should be frightened – but we should also be angry, and should be driven by these emotions to act.
He further remarked that “The fact is, if we want to see entire populations rise up and demand serious action, which is what we need – and soon – then we need everyone to be scared, really scared, not slightly concerned.”
This is What We Need to Do
What we need to do on a world-wide basis
We need to read everything we can get hold of on the environment and what we are doing to our world. Not just to the climate but also to biodiversity. We need to read about Capitalism and how it is destroying not just our world but our right to happiness and security.
If you find this hard to do, read my blog on Active Hope and the books it recommends. We can move forward even when we are scared. We have proved this many times before.
We need to talk to everybody we know about the situation and get them involved.
We need to not be put off by our governments who will tell us they have to deal with the next short-term crisis. The Russian war against Ukraine is dreadful and really serious but we must keep the right goals in our minds.
We must not let our governments open new coal mines and oil drilling projects as “emergency” measures. The solutions to the Ukraine crisis are very difficult but we need to keep our governments focussed.
We need to remember that the oil and gas companies and the investors who support them don’t care about us, or the planet or their grandchildren. So we shouldn’t support them in any way.
Finally, we must protest in large numbers in whatever way we can and we must keep doing it!