They said: We are all guilty [of contributing to climate change], because we all are using phones and computers, none produced in an environmentally friendly way. Nobody cares enough. So point the finger wherever you want.
Okay, that's not wrong. It's a valid point. Yet I also think it doesn't tell the full story, so I posted a long reply. Here is what I said there, slightly edited...
I agree that everyone reading this is complicit to some degree. All of us on the Internet are taking part in an unsustainable, environmentally destructive enterprise, like it or not.
However, just because we all are guilty, that does not mean we all are EQUALLY guilty.
Let's go back to ~1990, when scientists were giving urgent warnings to the UN about greenhouse warming. Leaders in government and industry could have done the right thing then, but they didn't. Instead they held meeting after meeting after meeting... and then changed nothing. More growth, more emissions, more global heating.
Or, let's go back earlier, to ~1970, when researchers inside the giant oil companies realized the damage that fossil fuel burning eventually would do and told their bosses about it. Those executives could have done the right thing, but they didn't. Instead they covered up the truth and spent millions in lobbying politicians and in the cynical promotion of misinformation.
Or, go back even earlier, to the mid 1950s, when the US government decided to budget hundreds of millions of dollars for an interstate highway system instead of funding public transit. Why? Because it was good for their buddies in the oil industry and the auto industry and the paving industry.
We can go back even further, if you like, but I think you get the point.
Yes, we are all guilty here in 2023. Each of us is complicit, at least to some degree. But our actions amount to almost nothing compared to the COLOSSAL EVIL perpetrated by those who were in a position of great power, who could have made the right choices, and did not. Instead, they chose profits over principle, capitalist greed over the natural world.
A proposal has been floated by a group of experts meeting under the auspices of the International Criminal Court in the Hague.
They recommend that we enact a new international crime: ECOCIDE.
The panel defined ecocide as “unlawful or wanton acts committed with knowledge that there is a substantial likelihood of severe and either widespread or long-term damage to the environment being caused by those acts.”
It's not a law yet. But if it were to be adopted, then those scoundrels at Exxon, Shell, Chevron, BP and the rest of the Big Oil criminals should be prosecuted to the fullest extent, with corporate and personal fortunes being confiscated for use in fighting climate change and making reparations.
Bill Gates says, “I’m still very optimistic that it will be much better to be born 20, 40, 60 years from now than [at] any time in the past.”
Bill Gates says, “At this point, to stay below 2.5C would be pretty fantastic.”
See? There's nothing to worry about. The future looks fantastic!
That means you can just keep on driving, keep on flying, keep on shopping, keep on buying. Do everything in your power to support your capitalist masters — your children and your grandchildren will thank you for it. ❤️
As we look forward to #COP28 later on this year in the UAE, anticipating another joyous fossil fuel bacchanalia, I'm sure we'll be hearing plenty from our masters about "Net Zero 2050." They'll remind us once again about all those delicious carbon offsets that are going to save the world for capitalism and consumerism, allowing endless growth forever and ever. No need to worry, they'll say, we've got everything under control! 😃
We cannot live sustainably within today’s economic system. Yet that is what we are constantly being told we can do.
We can buy sustainable cars, travel on sustainable motorways powered by sustainable petroleum. We can eat sustainable meat, and drink sustainable soft drinks out of sustainable plastic bottles. We can buy sustainable fast fashion and fly on sustainable airplanes using sustainable fuels. And, of course, we are going to meet our short- and long-term sustainable climate targets, too, without making the slightest effort.
“How?” you might ask. How can that be possible when we don’t yet have any technical solutions that can fix this crisis alone, and the option of stopping doing things is unacceptable from our current economic standpoint? What are we going to do?
Well, the answer is the same as always: we will cheat. We will use all the loopholes and all the creative accounting that we have conjured up in our climate frameworks since the very first conference of the parties, the 1995 COP1 in Berlin.
We will outsource our emissions along with our factories, we will use baseline manipulation and start counting our emissions reductions when it suits us best. We will burn trees, forests, and biomass, as those have been excluded from the official statistics. We will lock decades of emissions into fossil gas infrastructure and call it 'green' natural gas. And then we will offset the rest with vague afforestation projects – trees that might be lost to disease or fire – while we simultaneously cut down the last of our old-growth forests at a much higher speed.
Electric cars are less bad for the #environment than gas/petrol cars. Still bad, but slightly less bad.
Electric cars are GOOD for automakers, because they can keep building and selling cars!
Electric cars are GOOD for the oil industry, because they can produce and sell more petrochemicals used to make #plastics, which electric vehicles are loaded with.
Electric cars are GOOD for the asphalt, concrete, and steel industries, because they mean more roads, more highways, more suburban shopping malls, and more factories!
Electric cars are GOOD for capitalists who can fool buyers into believing they're making a carbon-neutral "green" choice, when they're really not.
Finally, electric cars are GOOD for promoting the myth of the endless-growth economy! 😀
Let’s get personal, shall we? I’ve been here a while now, and as I’m feeling quite comfortable at Mastodon, I’d like to share a bit more about myself beyond my passion for the climate and the environment.
To begin with, I’m a male, he/him, hetero, strongly supporting LGBTQ rights. I’m a baby boomer, born at 312 PPM 🌏, a United Statesian, although I lived in Europe (mostly Hungary) for several years, and traveled extensively for work before retiring in 2012. I’ve never been good at sustaining long-term romantic relationships, and I’ve finally settled into comfortable singlehood.
I like to say I’m made of contrasts.
For example, I’m rather funny and quite personable, but I don’t enjoy small talk and I hate parties. I currently live in the Bible Belt, but I’m an outspoken atheist. While I can easily fit into most social situations, I don’t feel comfortable around large groups and prefer being alone most of the time. I live near two huge military bases, but I detest the USA’s militaristic, troop-worshiping culture. I’m almost always cheerful, which masks my deeply felt existential nihilism. I’m a neat freak, but also rather lazy, preferring fun over work.
I’ll finish up with some hashtags to add flavor...