A lot of people are really scared and angry because of the results of the newest climate change reports — as they should be. But I’m already seeing a lot of posts and news reports like “HERE’S WHAT YOU CAN DO TO FIGHT GLOBAL WARMING” and bizarrely enough, the answers are never like “weed out climate change deniers from your government, impose strict new rules for the corporations that are creating most of the emissions, pour government resources into alternate forms of fuel, etc.” It’s always like “carpool to work!”
Look. Of course you should be working to reduce waste in your own life. But let’s not fucking pretend that consumers are the ones who made this mess. You know what another recent study found? Just 100 companies are responsible for 71% of global emissions. If the rest of us stopped ALL WASTE and fucking ascended to a higher plane of existence that no longer requires consumption of any kind, the world would still be absolutely fucked if those 100 companies keep on as they do.
I hate this personal responsibility model when it comes to conservation. By ignoring the actual source of the problem and focusing on individuals instead, guess who gets targeted? The absolute most vulnerable individuals on the planet. When people advocate personal responsibility, somehow they’re never talking about billionaires and their private jets. They’re creating straw bans that will make life more dangerous for people with disabilities. They’re shaming women for using disposable menstrual products. They’re criticizing the poor and destitute for using “wasteful” products because they’re all they can afford. They’re making vaguely eugenic statements about getting people in “third world countries” to stop ~breeding~ so much. It’s monstrous.
Stop shaming consumers for the sins of corporations and their powerful investors. Stop placing the blame at the feet of the people who already have the hardest time getting through life. Do something, and by “do something” I mean buy a reusable coffee cup on the way to fucking vote. Go to a protest. Call a representative. Demand accountability from the people who got us into this mess.
It’s as good a time as any to remind everyone that these apocalyptic projections have been known by politicians and capitalists since the 70s. There are already numerous cases of indigenous populations losing their ancestral homelands to climate change. A significant portion of our global refugee crisis, it’s as bad as in the aftermath of WWII, can be attributed to climate change creating political crises as people fight over scarce resources. Puerto Rico a colony of the United States got devestated by two hurricanes last year. A few other islands in the Caribbean were razed to the ground from powerful storms. Seismic activity is increasing in the Caribbean. Temperatures are sweltering across the US. For a sizeable portion of humanity the 2030 date has been a reality, as the most progressive presidential candidate of the United States recently said it’s time to stop being civil with parties with against your interest
Yeah, the most important things to realize about climate change is WE ARE IN IT.
We are past the 400 ppm CO2 line that scientists have told us not to cross to not risk a climate tipping point and we are well on our way towards the 450 ppm CO2 were a tipping point becomes close to a certainty.
Climate change is happening. Worse climate change is going to happen. And taking less showers won’t save us. Only system change will.
Hi, we’re gonna drown in the Netherlands. Also hands off my straws, I’m disabled. Nestle is the problem not my damn drinking aid.
& thousands of people are drowning already. Global warming causes famine, poverty, destabilization, war. Refugee movements and global warming are intimately linked.
QueerAnarchism 