It's Time for Climate Empowerment, Not Climate Doomism
It's Time for Society to Wield the Power it Possesses
All is Not Lost
If you’re anything like me, you’ll probably be feeling a little shellshocked after the week we’ve just had.
On day 1 of his second administration, Donald Trump introduced no fewer than nine Executive Orders and one memorandum to scale back or wholly eliminate federal climate mitigation and adaptation measures.
With news like that, I almost wouldn’t blame anyone for feeling tempted to simply give up and give in to climate doomism.
But that wouldn’t be productive, especially when it is we, the ordinary members of society who hold the ultimate trump card (pun intended) in this battle of wills.
The Locus of Power
To understand why I say this, we have to consider who, exactly, is pulling the strings in this (or indeed any) administration. Is it the elected politicians? Nay, Nay! It is the ones who spend inordinate amounts of money to persuade those government officials to do their bidding. Why else would anyone in their right minds sign off on paying massive subsidies to industries that routinely decimate the environment? It is money, ultimately, that carries the most sway.
This is mapped out in Fig 1, which depicts the dynamic flow of money, goods, services and resources in the system.
Admittedly this is a somewhat simplistic representation, but it goes something like this:
Society (the electorate) elects public officials to positions of authority in Government and provides the talent (human resources) that Corporations require to operate.
Society (the taxpayer) pays taxes to the Government to provide the infrastructure and services that the country needs to function.
Meanwhile, Corporations produce goods and services that Society (the consumer) needs in the normal course of living.
Some Corporations take advantage of the system by making generous contributions to governing parties and engaging lobbyists to persuade Government officials to approve subsidization of their operations and provide them protection through favourable legislation and/or regulations. They do this under the pretext that the goods or services they are providing are strategically important to the nation.
Government plays along by showering massive subsidies on these Corporations, while turning a blind eye to the damage they do to the world’s Natural Resources as well as to the consequences of that damage (climate change, biodiversity loss, risks to public health, etc.)
To add insult to injury, the Corporations externalize all of the costs associated with their exploitation of the Natural Resources, essentially forcing Society to bear those costs.
Dance of the Elephants
To paraphrase an old African proverb, “When the elephants dance, it’s the grass that suffers.”
It is tempting to believe that we, as ordinary members of society, hold little sway in the obscene tango between the industries most responsible for climate change (Fossil Fuel and Animal Ag) and the governments that enable them.
But that is not true. Every one of us has at least four tools at our disposal which, if used collectively, could easily bring these giants to heel and put an end to the decimation they routinely inflict on the environment we all share. These are the tools we must learn to use more effectively:
Voice: Everyone has a voice that they can use to spread the truth about the causes of climate change and to challenge the tide of misinformation and disinformation put out by the Fossil Fuel and Animal Agriculture giants. Talk to your family, friends and neighbours. You’ll find that many of them share your concerns about climate change and would love to be able to do something constructive about it.
Vote: If you’re eligible to vote, take full advantage of that privilege to elect public officials who you believe will have the courage to take the sometimes unpopular decisions necessary to combat climate change. Don’t fall for the line that “the best course of action is to let the free market sort it out”. That’s like giving the fox the keys to the henhouse.
Talent: Your skills, experience and knowledge are valuable resources that companies need to be successful. Make them available to companies that embrace, defend and advocate sustainability and deny them to those that value profit and growth above all else.
Wallet: In the end, it is the money that you and I spend on the goods and services we buy that determines the fate of the Corporations. If consumer demand for fossil fuels or animal products declines, the corporations supplying that demand suffer. And you know what? There’s not much they can do about it. When alternatives are available (and in today’s market they’re pretty abundant) no one can force you to pay your hard-earned money to support an industry that’s destroying your world.
None of us can afford to give up. We’ve been born into this world and we have to make the best of it. Remember, there are around 8 billion of us and perhaps, at best, a few thousand people currently making the decisions we have to live with. If enough of us speak with one voice, we’ll definitely get their attention and ultimately bend them to our will. No one says it will be easy, but the first step is to realize that we’re NOT powerless.
You know what to do.
And if you don’t, stay tuned. I’ll be developing on this theme in my future posts.