To Fight Climate Change We First Must Tackle Lobbyists
When we think about the devastating effects ofclimate change, current and future, it's easy to feel so helpless as to want to forget. Am I to blame? Are my cheap light bulbs accelerating the destruction of our ecosystem? Is my carbon footprint the only lasting impact I'll have on this earth? Was that packet of Chili Heatwave Doritos I ate responsible for thefiery deaths of tens of baby orangutans?
As I brush the greasy corn chip crumbs from the front of my China-made t-shirt onto the floor of my nicely air-conditioned apartment, I think to myself;it's all too easy. Yes; I alone am responsible for my own consumption andcarbon emissions, but the ignorant ease with which I can continue to fund planet-destroying activities, is something I refuse to take full blame for. And I urge you to as well.
Destroying the Earth for easy profit
In this system of capitalism, we are all consumers, willing or not. We've bought into it, it's ours, we're stuck with it. Industries within this system profit heavily from the use of the world's natural resources. Oil, gas, coal, meat, land, you name it. Industry profits increase in line with the affordability of these resources, andpalm oilis just one example of a natural staple, used by thousands of companies including the likes of Burger King and Starbucks, because it's very cheap to manufacture.
Thedownside of palm oilhowever is that, in order to farm it, huge areas of rainforest across the world, in Borneo, Sumatra and the Peruvian Amazon, are being burnt or bulldozed to the ground.
It gets worse. Imagine the amounts of carbon emissions released into the atmosphere by burning30,000 football pitches of natural rainforest. Then take into account how our rainforests have been working tirelessly for us, since forever, absorbing ever increasing amounts of human-produced carbon from our atmosphere and storing it, slowing the inevitable ruin of our ozone, our ocean life, our climate and modern life as we know it. But, hold up…we're burning them down? The rainforests are ON OUR SIDE and we're setting them alight! And for what? Cheap junk food and bad coffee. Because I don't want to depress anyone too much, I won't even touch on similar environmental destruction caused by oil rigging, fracking and other fossil fuel purification operations, but trust that it's not good news.
Despite the sneaky, Earth-harming methods many businesses employ to make profit, we can't place the blame wholly on them. After all, they are just giving us what we appear to want; classic supply and demand. If we as consumers stopped buying unsustainably sourced products, companies would be forced to change their methods of money-making. Increased business transparency would do a lot to help us make sustainable decisions, but for now it's up to us to do the digging.
Why we need a global 'carbon tax'
The idea of a 'carbon tax', a fee to be paid on any activity which produces carbon emissions, is not a popular one. Laughed out of congress in the US and sniffed at by the average Joe (likely already in debt), the carbon tax will be hard won. But it would be a win. Here's why:
I'm not one to give an economics lesson, so I'll tell you what Harvard University professor Robert M Beren told Leo DiCaprio on Nat Geo'sBefore the Flood; raise the price of something and people will consume less of it. And if, says me, people are consuming less carbon-emitting products, humanity will survive longer and may even continue to thrive.
On the business side, the importance of the carbon tax is even more significant. If the company is not already thinking of its environmental footprint, a tax will cut dramatically into profits, making their carbon emissions impossible to ignore. It's this incentive that will lead some of the world's biggest companies in energy, manufacturing and agriculture to invest in sustainable, earth-friendly business strategies and future development. It's this investment from big business that could make all the difference in reversing the damage of the past and ensuring our climate doesn't warm to apocalyptic levels within the next century.
Lobbyists: our biggest threat to optimism
The solution to our global problem doesn't rely on consumers buying a new light bulb, it relies on government taking action to ensure that industry and the public alike are all working towards a sustainable, low-carbon future. It's up to our richest nations to lead the way, investing in renewable energy ahead of cheap, quick methods of fueling society and lining their pockets.
The flies in the ointment lie in our old, corrupt systems of power, which allow government officials and policy makers to be bought by big business, serving to halt environmental progress and keep the law favorable to the richest industries in the world.
You'd be in good company thinking that your government works in your interest, but, if you're American at least, you'd be wrong. Latest analyses, from theCenter of American Progress(CAP), show that over a third of US Congress – the very people responsible for putting through progressive carbon tax laws (and everything else) – are firm climate change deniers. That's 144 politicians in the house and 38 in the senate who believe, through pure idiocy or good, old fashioned bribes, that climate change is one big hoax.
While you can question the rational of allowing idiots to make big societal decisions, the most pertinent issue today is how million-dollar payoffs are made to officials, essentially turning them into industry mouthpieces. Likewise, it's the business-backedlobbyistswho seize any official debate about trade restrictions and policy changes proposed to help the Earth, in order to stop progress and keep profiting. The question becomes; who's in charge here? Is our democracy actually a plutocracy?
Congress: obstructing progress for profit
In straight numbers, from the people at CAP, you'll see that a total of US$73,294,380 has been received by climate deniers in current congress by the energy sector. This is nothing but dirty money and is something we should be livid about. Instead, we're confused. These lobbyists pose as scientists of 'prestigious' institutions and the deniers are often in positions of authority, published, and very, very rich.
But who cares about Earth's tomorrow when you’re a billionaire today? Why would you allow your future profits to be heavily taxed when you have the money and connections to stop the tax in the first place, and the legal loopholes to get away with it?
Why do we trust our governments and media establishments to inform us, when those very institutions are joeys in the pockets of big business? The only reason we feel so helpless to stop climate change is because the problemisbigger than us, the problem is systemic. It's the commercial view of trade and profit as more important than the planet we live on; and it is that view – sold to us by our government, figures of authority and the media – which we must fight.
