We all know that Climate Change is real, and we are witnessing the effects now. We say we want to fix the environment, but do we really want to fix Climate Change?
Or should I ask, are we prepared to do the things necessary to fix climate change?
The simple fact is that our daily actions scream that we are simply not prepared to do what is truly necessary to affect climate change.
Let me explain…
Will Someone Else Please Fix This?
Let me ask you this: How many of us have really changed the way we live to fix the environment? Are we truly making the changes that would have a positive impact on the climate?
I believe we all want someone else to fix the climate, just not us. We think we can outsource the climate change fix to the government, and still go on living our lives like nothing needs to change.
I would suggest that we have no intention of changing how we live our lives.
And yet by voting for a government that pretends to know how to fix the climate, we tick the box and think everything will be fine.
Unfortunately, you cannot outsource this issue to someone else – particularly not a government whose only focus is winning the next election.
The Truth About Climate Change Is Us
The true cause of climate change is us – each of us individually. So it has to be us at an individual level, and a community, that make the changes necessary to fix it!
Let me give you a few examples.
How can we show concern about climate change when we are the ones causing it?
What Are You Buying?
We are consuming even more than ever. Look at the popularity of things like Temu, AliExpress and Amazon – making the company owners among the richest people on the planet!
Have you ever stopped to think about the carbon footprint of all that stuff we buy? It’s huge, and growing!
The clothing industry is one of the biggest contributors to climate change, and again, we are all buying more and more new clothes. Most rarely is worn more than once, then it’s straight to landfill!
Been on a Holiday Lately?
How many overseas holidays are you and your friends taking? Remember only 30 or so years ago an overseas holiday was a once-in-a-lifetime thing. Now it’s a once-a-year necessity!
The transport industry, whether it’s shipping goods to our doors, or shipping us out on our holidays, make up 30% of carbon emissions. And that’s all due to us. We are the ones buying the goods and going on the holidays – it’s not the government forcing us.
What Car Do You Drive?
Look at the cars we drive. The most popular car is the medium to large SUV, and here in Australia it’s the 4×4 ute. These are not fuel-efficient vehicles that will help reduce carbon emissions. And yet we are still buying them without any thought to the environment.
We are now trying to electrify those big SUVs thinking that will make things better, when all it means is we need even bigger batteries, requiring even more carbon-emitting mining to produce them.
Yeh, like that’s going to save the planet!
We Are the Ones Causing Climate Change
There are many, many more examples, from our throwaway society to lack of recycling, our addiction to red meats and food wastage, constant use of plastics and buying the latest electronics to stay in fashion.
Even our obsession with owning larger family homes, increasing urban sprawl, is having negative impacts on the environment.
The point is, we are the ones driving climate change through the way we live each and every day.
How can we show concern about climate change when we are the ones causing it?
Changing how we live our lives will have a positive impact on the planet. Not some distant policy dreamt up by our politicians that will never truly be implemented.
So how many of us are truly willing to make the changes in day-to-day lives? I’m going to go out on a limb and sadly say not many.
Have we sold our children’s future, to enjoy the lifestyle and luxury we live today?
What Would True Government Intervention Look Like?
Let’s say the government does step in saying, “OK, we absolutely need to do something radical to achieve net-zero and save the planet for our children.”
So they decide to do the following:
- Turn off all fossil fuel power stations – which may result in regular blackouts and much higher energy prices, until we figure out the best zero-emission solution that’s stable and sustainable.
- Ban sales of all petrol vehicles – EV sales only allowed. Over night, your petrol car is worthless, and the cost of fuel goes through the roof.
- Force all house owners to install solar and battery systems. This includes all rental properties, which could collapse the rental market.
- Ban online purchasing of goods from overseas. All goods to be purchased through local retailers to reduce transport and shipping, and manage energy efficiency.
- Overseas travel restricted to compassionate and high-need business only – until this transport sector goes electric – which could be decades.
- Shut down ’dirty’ industries, like mining – particularly the oil and gas mining and exports. This will seriously impact employment as well as government budgets given that this sector makes up 70% of Australia’s exports.
What Would Change?
Of course, the results of these drastic measures would have an equal drastic flow-on effects like:
- No more manufacturing in Australia – cost of energy will be way too high.
- Cost of living goes through the roof as all goods now need to be energy-efficient in how they are sourced and delivered.
- Our energy costs become very expensive, while countries like China and India continue to buy coal and gas super cheap!
- The government needs to cut funding in key areas, such as welfare, health and hospitals, aged care and education etc etc, to pay for the shift to renewable and energy-efficient programs.
If any government were truly honest with us, as to what it would take to achieve net-zero in our lifetimes, given current technology, we would kick them to the curb! They would never be voted in.
So even our governments are not really doing what is necessary. Our governments are lying about what is actually happening and are in fact scared to do what is truly required, as they know they would be voted out.
Are We Going To Change Anything?
Please don’t get me wrong, I didn’t write this while sitting here on my high horse saying I do all the right things. I know I am just as bad as the next person. But I also have woken up to this fact.
What I want us to understand is that we either truly want to fix this, which requires a complete rethink of how we live our lives, or we brace for the climate change issues coming.
Even David Suzuki, the OG of Climate Change, believes it is too late for us to change things. He says the only thing left for us is to hunker down!
Unfortunately, I believe that climate change is going to hit hard, no matter what we do now. We do not have the appetite to make the necessary changes to fix it, so instead, we need to brace for it.
Until next time…
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