The Climate Change Question

A UK poll last week by the “money saving expert” Martin Lewis, concluded that price was more important to people now than ‘green issues’ and it made me consider the whole climate change argument from that perspective.

Angry young people and grumpy old people are forever arguing in the media about the climate crisis. One extreme thinks the world is going to end in ten years, the other seems to think that there is absolutely nothing to worry about, or if there is then it isn’t man made (as if that’s relevant).

My personal opinion on the actual issue is quite neutral. Ignorant maybe. But that’s just it. I don’t know enough about it to comment. I’ve seen respectable people who seem well-qualified say all sorts of things about it, so who am I supposed to believe? On the whole, however, I do firmly believe that we are in a climate crisis and the planet is being destroyed. I do my best to eat, shop and dispose of waste in an environmentally-friendly manner, but I think that efforts on the whole should be towards adaptation, rather than prevention. My reasoning for this is simple. Countries like China pollute the atmosphere on a daily basis in a way that isn’t even remotely comparable to the west. And that isn’t going to change anytime soon. I’m all for protesting and raising awareness, but excuse me for being skeptical about these arguments getting through to certain people. And, yes, one may point out that China simply wears the crown that once belonged to the west. Once the west was the world’s biggest polluter. Okay, that’s obviously true, but what point does it make? An argument I’m sick of making is that pointing out hypocrisy doesn’t prove anything. Especially when the west on the whole leads the way in green efforts now. Don’t blame these generations for the crimes of their forbears. And some on the other side of the fence might even argue that it isn’t fair to criticise China etc. for doing what we did for so long, and let them do it. Another point that I don’t think proves anything. What I look at is the facts and the facts are that the nations that pollute the atmosphere the most don’t even make an appearance at major climate change conferences (to which western leaders travel in jets).

So, you might ask, what is my point? We should still work towards a greener planet and we should always be looking to persuade others. I absolutely agree, but what I see now in society is a cost of living crisis that is hitting the poorest the hardest, as my initial point proves. Now, there are various contributing factors to the cost of living crisis (the war in Ukraine and COVID being obvious contributors) but the green movement is certainly one of them. It makes sense to make it very difficult for energy companies to not move towards greener policies, but it isn’t cheap. And those who suffer the most are those at the bottom. It’s all very well for middle class rich kids to enjoy protesting for green initiatives but we aren’t all able to afford that luxury because some people are forced to the breadline as a result of those initiatives. All the while nothing changes because where it actually matters levels of pollution don’t change.

Now, this doesn’t mean I’m against these policies, I’m for them. But there needs to be a consideration of everything involved and the bigger picture, and I don’t think western governments understand that because they see things in a very binary way - that if you criticise green policy then you’re a climate change denier. And that just isn’t the case. Something needs to change. Obviously. That’s what everyone’s saying. But we need to give these changes more thought. Because the climate is changing either way.