2018-04-26 Climate Change
=========================
Climate change, again, and other things: 'We're doomed': Mayer Hillman
on the climate reality no one else will dare mention.
On traffic and how we have handed over public space to cars:
> In 1971, 80% of British seven- and eight-year-old children went to
> school on their own; today it’s virtually unthinkable that a
> seven-year-old would walk to school without an adult. As Hillman has
> pointed out, we’ve removed children from danger rather than removing
> danger from children – and filled roads with polluting cars on
> school runs. He calculated that escorting children took 900m adult
> hours in 1990, costing the economy £20bn each year. It will be even
> more expensive today.
Remember The Modern Moloch on 99% Invisible?
Sacrifices to the Modern Moloch (1923)
On the futility of individual action, and the futility of national
action. Only the collapse will bring about the change in behaviour
required.
> Although Hillman has not flown for more than 20 years as part of a
> personal commitment to reducing carbon emissions, he is now scornful
> of individual action which he describes as “as good as futile”. By
> the same logic, says Hillman, national action is also irrelevant
> “because Britain’s contribution is minute. Even if the government
> were to go to zero carbon it would make almost no difference.”
>
> Instead, says Hillman, the world’s population must globally move to
> zero emissions across agriculture, air travel, shipping, heating
> homes – every aspect of our economy – and reduce our human
> population too. Can it be done without a collapse of civilisation?
> “I don’t think so,” says Hillman. “Can you see everyone in a
> democracy volunteering to give up flying? Can you see the majority
> of the population becoming vegan? Can you see the majority agreeing
> to restrict the size of their families?”
And he connects it with migration, of course. So many strings, being
tied together.
> “And who is ‘we’?” asks Hillman with a typically impish smile.
> “Wealthy people will be better able to adapt but the world’s
> population will head to regions of the planet such as northern
> Europe which will be temporarily spared the extreme effects of
> climate change. How are these regions going to respond? We see it
> now. Migrants will be prevented from arriving. We will let them
> drown.”
It’s articles like these that confirm my intention to donate a bit to
The Guardian every year.
Also good: Is this how you feel? The Scientists. Interesting!
#Climate
2018-05-14. I liked Solderpunk’s comment on the futility of
individual action, via gopher.
2018-09-10. Interestingly, The Guardian is tooting the same horn:
Neoliberalism has conned us into fighting climate change as
individuals. 100 companies are responsible for 71% of the carbon
emissions. We need collective action to stop them.
2018-10-02. Sometimes I feel like maybe this will be called the last
long and beautiful hot summer we’ve had because we still remember
rainy and cloudy summers from before the climate apocalypse.
2024-03-14. @
[email protected] recently posted about this on
fedi.
> However, here was the problem: The study did not assess all sources
> of global emissions worldwide (which includes agriculture,
> transportation, buildings’ heating and cooling systems) but rather
> only analyzed the output of fossil-fuel producers, specifically. –
> Snopes
She's very critical of Mayor Hillman and wrote more on her blog post,
Fake good news about our real bad habits.
