For today’s Provocative Question, Fandango asks:
Where do you think we should start with respect to climate change? What role should governments play? What can we, as individuals do to help? What steps are you, as an individual, taking? Or do you think climate change is a hoax?
Okay, quite an easy one this week, so I’ll keep this short.
The first step to solving any problem is to understand its scale.
We hear that burning gas is bad. How bad?
We hear that flying is bad. How bad?
We hear that eating meat is bad. How bad?
A few weeks ago, somebody posted on here that food waste is bad. How bad? (Hint – throwing a link at me with the “facts” written on it does not cut the mustard. Whose facts?)
And, only this morning, I read that vapour trails from airliners were bad. How bad?
Do you catch my drift?
The problem is not so much that there are no estimates of these, it’s that there are many. And, each estimate is different. The UK government, for example, will paint a totally different picture to Greenpeace. So, which should we believe? Well, we’ll believe the one that best fits with our pre-conceived political philosophy.
This is the first problem. That everyone sings from a different hymnsheet. Unfortunately, I don’t see a solution to that problem – ever.
Assuming we could agree on this, the role of governments is easy. Use either the tax system, or the legistative system, to encourage good and to discourage bad behaviour.
But in the absense of a solution, we are all left to stick our fingers in the air and to take whatever steps we feel able to take.
For me, this includes:
- not driving, although I enjoy the occasional use of a car.
- not flying. The last time I flew was 2013 (London – Majorca) and, before that, 2008 (London – Toulouse).
- not eating much meat. I eat some because, well, I enjoy it. My point is that farmed animals are, in many cases, an inefficient use of land. You’d find it far easier to count the meals I eat with meat, than those without it.
- Solar panels. I produce clean electricity which is pumped back into the grid.
- Woodburner. You might argue that wood smoke is every bit as bad, but it saves heating the place with gas.
…to name a few.
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