Guest essay by Eric Worrall
CNN laments that Covid-19 didn’t mess up the economy or frighten people enough to bring lasting change. But some see the Coronavirus lockdowns as a “test run”, which may help shape future climate policies.
The pandemic didn’t solve climate change. This week’s disasters are proof
By Eliza Mackintosh, CNN
Updated 0445 GMT (1245 HKT) September 18, 2020
(CNN)If you thought Covid-19 restrictions, like enforced lockdowns and social distancing, would put a lasting dent in our collective carbon footprint and save the world from warming, you were mistaken.
Earlier this year, in the midst of a horrific news cycle and a rapidly mounting death toll, that notion was a welcome silver lining to the pandemic. As people around the world stayed at home to stop the spread of the coronavirus, greenhouse gas emissions from the energy and transport industries plummeted, dropping to record lows.
But it may have given some a false sense that the worst effects of climate change were being mitigated. They’re not.
…
But Donald Trump might have you believe otherwise.
Earlier this week, the US President seemed to question whether climate change was fanning the flames raging up and down the West Coast — despite scientific evidence showing that global warming is increasing the odds in favor of extreme wildfire weather.
…
Kelman, whose book, “Disaster by Choice,” looks at how our actions turn natural hazards into catastrophes, says that though lockdowns may not have made a big impact on mitigating the climate crisis in the long term, they have shown that change is possible.
“We’ve been told for a long time that changing society overnight is not possible. What lockdown showed is that it is,” said Kelman.
…
“This has been, to some extent, been a test run of the positives and negatives, the possibilities and the harm. What we need to ensure is that we are helping people, we are creating jobs, we are supporting livelihoods, at the same time as reducing all forms of consumption. And this should not happen overnight.”
Is anyone else fed up with this miserable small minded green vision of the future, in which lockdowns are considered a trial run for what we shall all have to endure on a permanent basis?
I don’t want a future in which I have to look over my shoulder, in case the climate police catch me turning up my thermostat a few degrees, or pull me over for driving an unauthorised distance from my house.
I want a future in which my weekend choice is either a quick hypersonic commercial jet flight to enjoy a bit of sunshine on the other side of the world, or a weekender in an orbital zero gravity amusement park.
All we have to do to have a chance to personally experience a glorious future of unlimited energy expenditure, longer, more comfortable lives, and opportunities beyond our wildest dreams, is tell todays greens where they can shove their climate lockdowns.
Like this:
Like Loading…
Related
via Watts Up With That?
September 18, 2020 at 04:41PM
You must be logged in to post a comment.