There was great publicity last week surrounding Greta Thunberg’s choice of transportation, in the form of a solar & wind turbine supported yacht, which is to take her to the UN summit in New York.
Greta chose the mode of transport to make her journey as carbon neutral as was possible, in advance of her addressing the UN Climate Summit on the 21st September.
‘The Youth Climate Summit will feature a full-day of programming that brings together young activists, innovators, entrepreneurs, and change-makers who are committed to combating climate change at the pace and scale needed to meet the challenge. It will be action oriented, intergenerational, and inclusive, with equal representation of young leaders from all walks of life.’ (1)
The Youth Climate Summit will take place in advance of the UN Secretary-General’s Climate Action Summit on Monday, 23rd September.
However, in the same week that this very public display from a global influencer made headlines to further encourage world leaders to take responsibility for advancing climate change; the media also reported how some world leaders are not only not taking climate change seriously, but are making policies & political choices which could cause further damage to our climate.
We are all aware that the burning of fossil fuels, is massively contributory to the Co2 emissions Earth is now combating. It I also no secret that man-made climate change is now having a direct affect on our weather & our lifestyles.
Therefore, with irrefutable proof that man-made climate change has been advancing as a direct result of human interaction; how come some world leaders are not only ignoring the evidence, but are actively supporting activities which will continue to have a direct impact on advancing climate change?
Last Tuesday, 13th August, ‘a coalition of 29 states and cities sued to block the Trump administration from easing restrictions on coal-burning power plants, setting up a case that could determine how much leverage the federal government has to fight climate change in the future.’ (2)
With the rule set up by the Obama administration known as the Clean Power Plan the options included & encouraged were: switching to cleaner energy sources like gas, solar or wind; putting a price on carbon dioxide emissions; or using technology that could capture and store carbon dioxide (2)
The new Trump administration rule does not cap greenhouse gas emissions. Instead it leaves it up to states to decide whether, or if, to scale back emissions and pick from a menu of technologies to improve power-plant efficiency at the facility level. (2)
With the Trump administration having very publicly denounced man-made climate change as a “Hoax!”, this latest turn of events adds even more weight to concerned climate scientists, that the current American leadership is not taking the Co2 emissions crisis seriously & is actively encouraging the continuation of coal extraction & the burning of coal for energy.
New York Attorney General Letitia James said in a recent statement “Without significant course correction, we are careening towards a climate disaster. Rather than staying the course with policies aimed at fixing the problem and protecting people’s health, safety, and the environment, the Trump Administration repealed the Clean Power Plan and replaced it with this ‘Dirty Power’ rule.” (3)
California Attorney General Xavier Becerra called Trump’s Affordable Clean Energy rule a “toothless substitute” for the Obama-era rule at a press conference on Tuesday “It’s more of a fossil fuel protection plan,” he said. “It’s ill-advised, but more importantly it’s against the law.” (3)
More devastating news emerged last week about the ‘corporate clear cutting’ regime which Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro has introduced since taking power earlier this year.
Bolsonaro has made no secret about his disbelief in man-made climate change & has actively encouraged deforestation of the Amazon rain forest. The rain forest known as Earths ‘green lung’ is integral to the balance of the Earths eco system & despite continued pressure from outside, Bolsonaro seems to have no intentions on stopping the clear-cutting regime.
‘Brazil’s national space research institute, INPE, has reported increased deforestation since Bolsonaro took power. Amazon clear-cutting was up 88% in June from the previous year — and in July it was up 278%. Bolsonaro fired the head of INPE, saying the institute’s science was the work of foreign climate activists.’ (4)
Although a very learned engineer once said “Politics may come & go, but we are heading in the right direction” one has to ask how is this possible when some of the giants of the political world are simply blinkered to the damaging affects their policies are having on the Earth?
Sir David Attenborough was recently interviewed for the Radio times & very honestly said of humans “We are a plague on the Earth. It’s coming home to roost over the next 50 years or so. It’s not just climate change; it’s sheer space, places to grow food for this enormous horde. Either we limit our population growth or the natural world will do it for us, and the natural world is doing it for us right now,” (5)
Despite all of the advances in science & the natural climate solutions being rolled out across the globe; like it or not, Earth is struggling. With the focus of at least the leaders illustrated here being on supply & demand for humans & the rights of humans; as Sir David Attenborough has so eloquently put it, there are too many humans for Earth to sustain them & the natural world will eventually be so ravaged that it will simply cease to function.
Written by Katy-Jane Mason on behalf of Dolphin N2.
- https://www.un.org/en/climatechange/youth-summit.shtml
- https://www.nytimes.com/2019/08/13/climate/states-lawsuit-clean-power-ace.html
- https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/epa-lawsuit-dirty-power_n_5d52de6ae4b0cfeed1a3e8a2?guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuZ29vZ2xlLmNvbS8&guce_referrer_sig=AQAAAG4eWIvvULq6OjTouGWZOyAU-6TEMZOLP2nfzOl0eZmb_htKMSiFEnqBP4cbLdsiE0o3dg8xAqUO7gCSSL7xChpJnGJFYfhg7OY2d6QvYrP55GMedqvf7uQsEosRx1Aj2q31jMR-bwV-FUReAYxjnol5b8TTfq8v_0CU_cnKU5ot&guccounter=2
- https://www.dw.com/en/jair-bolsonaro-to-merkel-reforest-germany-not-amazon/a-50032213
