It’s interesting that Cult of Climastrology moppets always go to the same well, and think that it will somehow not ruin people’s lives. Here we have Rick Stafford in phys.org
How to stop climate change: six ways to make the world a better place
Nobel Peace Prize nominee Greta Thunberg claims we need system change to save the planet, and the majority of experts, from the IPCC, through to our own research, would certainly agree with this.
But for most people, it often isn’t clear what changes actually need to be made to address environmental problems. And ideas that are presented can be seem as extreme to some. This is despite the fact that many experts agree that to really tackle climate change, the focus needs to be on changing the capitalist system to make it more environment-friendly.
Yeah, let’s listen to the child blowing off school (and taking fossil fueled trips). Anyhow, here are the 6 ideas
1. Less focus on economic growth
The suggestion that GDP is a good measure of a country’s progress has been frequently challenged. To achieve growth, we consume more products, these products need raw materials and energy to produce – and often result in excessive waste when they are disposed of. Hence pursuit of economic growth drives a wasteful use of scarce resources.
Achieving growth isn’t necessarily bad – but focusing solely on growth is. it prevents many other important strategies being put in place, even if they are actually beneficial for the majority of society. As economist Kate Raworth states, we need to be “agnostic about economic growth” and embrace other measures of societal well-being, such as the Human Development Indexand Genuine Progress Indicator, which combine financial gains with non-market benefits – such as human health and reduced environmental degradation.
Well, if we implemented all the CoC ideas, we’d have no economic growth, the systems would collapse, so, sure, a good idea to not focus on it.
- Higher taxes and subsidised transport (surprise?)
- Work less (“Less commuting to work, more time to cook healthy food and more time to take holidays, without the need for flying. The reduction in household income…”
- Think locally (good luck with getting all your Avacados and fancy pants coffee locally)
- Learn about nature and look after it (climatic changes, regardless of causation, have nothing to do with nature, because they’ve always happened)
- Don’t just rely on technology (yeah, they want you to change your lifestyle. Funny they never change their own.)
You might wonder why I highlight these types of stories a lot. Well, it needs to be pointed out again and again what the CoC really wants, and that this has almost nothing to do with science.
