Despair Is Not An Acceptable Response to Climate Change
Flooding in California. Angst over gas stoves. Market-driven environmental denialism. The price of natural gas. Exxon knew their products were destroying the atmosphere decades ago and did nothing.
All of the above are individual parts of the story of climate change. The big picture, as opposed to these bits, is worthy of our understanding. You might even be surprised about what’s taking place.
We as a planet are in a crucial period; decisions being made today will impact the quality of life for humans and many other species inhabiting the planet. Knowing the truth could make a big difference.
First up, the news isn’t all bad. I’m not here to preach doom and gloom. That’s too easy and I can do it in my sleep.
As the 27th Conference of the Parties to the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change approached last fall, Susan Joy Hassol (director of nonprofit Climate Communication),and Professor/Author Michael E. Mann published an op ed in the Los Angeles Times with rundown of past conferences and a wishlist for future action:
These things are all doable. The obstacles are not technological. They’re not physical. They are entirely political. The false belief that we are making no progress at all can be too easily exploited by polluters and their apologists to support inaction and business as usual. What we need instead is more ambition, as well as near-term plans and deadlines to keep us on track.
We must wrap our minds around two seemingly opposing realities: We are making substantial progress, and yet it’s wholly insufficient to the scale of the challenge. At COP27, we must seek to change that.
My point today is about hoping our collective frame of mind will move away from narratives discouraging the sort of actions with the potential to move us in a better direction.
The news on the climate change front is mixed. It’s important to realize that lots of conflict accompanies deep changes in society, and those subject to change always want people to believe their past supremacy is the best for society.
Industrial nations of the planet aren’t doing enough. Suppliers of fossil fuel energy, along with the corporate infrastructure enabling consumption, are throwing sand into the gears of progress.
Enemies have become frenemies, pushing misinformation and distractions to protect their interests. So-called grassroots groups (funded by dirty energy) are pitching lies about offshore wind farms ruining the primary asset (the value of their homes) that many Americans hold near and dear.
Less-developed nations want more opportunities for their citizens and can’t afford the investments needed to transition into a cleaner economy. But this year the dam holding back financing began to break.
While U.S. carbon emissions rose for the second straight year in 2022, renewable energy surpassed coal as a power source in the United States for the first time in more than 60 years. It’s quite possible that THIS YEAR wind and solar alone could generate more electricity in the United States than nuclear and coal.
Clean energy manufacturing jobs would more than double from six million today to nearly 14 million by 2030—with further industrial and employment growth expected in the following decades as transitions progress.
All-too-often we (driven by outdated media reports) are assuming that the battle for hearts and minds on these topics is going poorly. The glass may not be half full, but there’s still hope.
US Senators displaying snowballs–proof they don’t know the difference between weather and climate–, claims that modest changes are somehow extremist, and fear mongering aimed at literally every discussion about acting on climate change add up to not-helpful negativity.
Even some Republicans admit the necessity for addressing these issues, though possible policies (needed because younger voters are completely disgusted by denialism) are couched in the sort of market-first philosophy driving current US energy policy.
The nutcase caucus that’s taken over the House of Representatives doesn’t want any part of this almost common sense approach.
Here’s a snip from the Climate Denier Roundup at Daily Kos:
And not only is the GOP far from supporting market-based climate policies, but they’re actively fighting those that already exist!
There’s no climate approach that is more pro-capitalism and market-based than applying Environmental, Social, and Governance principles to investing. But these days, thanks to the coordinated anti-ESG campaign, there’s nothing more reviled on the right than ESG standards.
As Republicans prepare to take over the House of Representatives, they’re targeting ESG, with Kentucky Rep. Andy Barr calling it “discriminating against fossil energy” and “a cancer in our capital markets” and Nebraska State Treasurer John Murante telling Breitbart that ESG policies are “a real attack on farmers and ranchers in Nebraska.”
Two-thirds of Americans want to see more government action on climate, yet most Americans believe that only a minority (37-43%) support climate action. I would argue that this difference between perception and reality is deliberately cultivated.
Just this week, the Guardian’s US Columnist, Rebecca Solnit, published an edited version of a speech given at Princeton University in November 2022 arguing that it’s time for an attitude adjustment on the topic of climate change.
**I strongly urge you to read the entire piece. It’s long. And it’s worth it.** https://www.theguardian.com/news/2023/jan/12/rebecca-solnit-climate-crisis-popular-imagination-why-we-need-new-stories
That voices from the climate movement have finally succeeded in making the vast majority understand it, and many care passionately about it, might be the biggest single victory the movement will have. Because once you’ve won the popular imagination, you’ve changed the game and its possible outcomes. But this was a long, slow, arduous process, and misconceptions still abound.
We should start with accepting the truth about who’s responsible for our current state of affairs. Going vegan isn’t going to stop China from signing long term contracts to import natural gas. We have a planet-wide problem, and Shell oil could care less about how much tofu you eat.
When it comes to who’s harming the climate, it’s also been popular to focus on individual contributions. The fossil fuel industry likes the narrative of personal responsibility as a way to keep us scrutinising ourselves and one another, rather than them. They’ve promoted the concept of climate footprints as a way to keep the focus on us and not them, and it’s worked. Usually if I ask people what they’re doing about the climate emergency, most will talk about what they’re not consuming or doing – but these will never add up to the speed and scale of change needed to change the system.
One of the goals of system change is to supersede individual virtue. Just as you no longer have to opt in to buying a car with seatbelts or ask for the no-smoking section on the train or restaurant, at some point in the near future you won’t have to opt into travelling in an electric car or bus, or living or working in all-electric buildings. Electrification will have happened because of the collective action that takes shape as policy and regulation.
This mantra of the actions of an individual as central to success is a dangerous trap, one repeated early and often by free-market fundamentalists and libertarians. Getting off the road to hellfire, drought, and pollution means understanding the connectedness of all things. It means we have obligations and responsibilities to things beyond our silo.
Change is always incremental, and looking backwards at our societal accomplishments can serve as encouragement to continue plodding forward, even in dark times. Just this week, we’ve learned that the worldwide push to eliminate the aerosol chemicals causing an ozone hole is succeeding…thanks in large part to a change in government policies in China.
I’ll close with a bit from the conclusion of Rebecca Solnit’s speech/article.
The climate crisis is a problem with no single solution, but many, just as there is no one saviour, but many protagonists in the struggle. In 2019, Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg said we must embrace “cathedral thinking”, adding: “We must lay the foundation while we may not know exactly how to build the ceiling.”
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