The main problem seems to me that nobody knows. So how do we find a way out of this uncertainty? What should or priorities be?
Before we even start, let me just say that I'm never interested in debating climate change. It's real, it's here, and people denying it are just trying to waste our time.
The first category of action, I think, would be political: Vote green, on all levels of government. And by "green" I mean the most radical green possible but not necessarily a Green Party member. It all depends on the voting system, on the actual parties you have. If you live in a one or two party state or if your Green Party is run by fascists, I have no idea what you should do. Something about political change, something about local politics, and so on.
On the individual level, I think uncertainty arises because we're not sure. No littering looks nice but probably doesn't help much against the climate. Perhaps it helps against the micro-plastic? But how many plastic bags from land-locked Switzerland actually end up in the ocean? How much plastic is that compared to the fishing nets lost at sea? The oil spills? And here's the moment where it spirals out of control. Stop! I need to stop because there's no "thinking it through" when things are so complex unless you're a scientist working on it. I hope the scientists can do their research, and somebody else can compile the research into arguments, with weights attached, so that politicians and individuals know what to tackle first.
This is why I appreciate lists of priorities, even if they are slightly wrong. They don't have to be perfect because perfection is a goal used to derail the conversation. If you think the top priority is to get rid of cars, and you have a lot of arguments against cars, then getting involved in a discussion where the other party argues about electric vehicles, lithium batteries, hydrogen storage, road access for emergency vehicles, mobility for the disabled, then yes to all of that, but also: get rid of cars. We can have nuance as long as we also start doing something. We can start by making large, private cars illegal. Then medium, private cars. Then add fees for long haul trucks. Build railways. Build trams. Get rid of public parking spaces without special permits. And on and on. This allows us to pull back out of car society with grace. We can get started and keep the things that we think are precious.
The alternative is living as we do, followed by uncontrolled collapse, I fear.
Yes, it's expensive. Not doing anything, however, is fatal.
Here's what @peterdutoit@mastodon.green recently posted:
In order of impact:
🚫 Live car free
🚙 Shift to BEV [i.e. Battery Electric Vehicle]
✈️ One less flight (long return)
☀️ Use renewable energy
🚋 Shift to public transport
🔨 Refurbishment and renovation
🥗 Vegan diet
🆒 Heat pump
⏲️ Improved cooking equipment
♨️ Renewable-based heating
He offered these two sources:
Quantifying the potential for climate change mitigation of consumption options
2022: Demand, services and social aspects of mitigation
IPCC, 2022: Climate Change 2022: Mitigation of Climate Change
The full report of *Climate Change 2022: Mitigation of Climate Change* is a PDF with 2042 pages. So there's an answer if anybody is claiming that we don't know what to do. But also: there's your answer if you're wondering why nobody is doing anything. Politicians at the top need people who read this report for them and my guess is – given what little I know about Swiss politics, for example – that there is only a very small number of people that have actually read this report, let alone understand enough of it in order to make informed decisions.
This is why a public "chain of trust" needs to lead from interviews with public figures to interviews with experts. The media, including social media, needs to mediate this. Then people can at least go along with people they trust, even if this trust is built on public appearance, hollow campaign promises, good looks, height and whatever else engenders trust in people.
Anyway, number one: 🚫 Live car free. If you can. Make the kind of choices that make this easier in the future, or for your children, or for your friends and family. If you can. But this is one of the goals we need to pursue. We need to get our priorities right.
(We don't need them to perfectly right, as discussed above. But we cannot save the planet and car culture, both. One of them will have to go.)
#Climate