CLIMATE: CAPITALISM IS NOT THE CULPRIT

 

Many blames capitalism for the wreckage of the environment. Others thinks it's the best tool to mend the damages.

Is growth the answer to the environment problem or is it the cause of all the wrongs inflicted on the planet? It's debatable. But then, the whole debate is somewhat vain. It's difficult to deny that the blind corporate race to make the biggest profits possible in the shortest time possible created this growing mess. A few decades ago, the problem was only polluted rivers and acid rains. Today, the whole climate is out of whack.

For decades, the most powerful countries of the world used to run their economy without regard to the amount of carbon that was rejected in the atmosphere. It was mainly the result of sheer ignorance, but some people knew what was coming. Decades ago, many at the top of the oil and natural gas industry had studies that correctly predicted the danger of releasing too much carbon. But then, their profits were paramount in the eyes of those people, and no one said a word.

Carbon accumulated and accumulated, through those lost decades, while most were unaware of what was brewing in the atmosphere. Only now, do we learn that the companies most responsible for this mess knew that something was afoot, exactly like the cigarette companies, not so long ago, knew that smoking their products was dangerous and even deadly in many cases.

To be honest, it must be said that private enterprise is not the main culprit for climate change and pollution. What is really to blame is the greedy side of our own human nature. The whole thing shows how easily self-interest can blind someone (or a whole industry). Simply said, the oil and gas industry thought that its own welfare was more important than the welfare of mankind.

This being said, private enterprise can - and must - play a role in reversing matters, with wind energy, electric cars, better jet fuel, etc. Private enterprise was part of the problem, and it is right that it should be part of the solution. What really matters is that science leads the way, and that we put forward the solutions suggested by our growing knowledge and understanding of what has happened to our planet. It is still possible to save it. The devastation of the ozone layer and its slow return to health is proof that things, no matter how worse they may appear, can be repaired.

Meanwhile, in Wyoming, some short-sighted politicians, for the sake of protecting the local oil and gas industry, are thinking about banning electric cars...

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https://www.foxbusiness.com/media/larry-kudlow-growth-solves-lot-problems-john-kerry-never-understand

https://www.20minutes.fr/planete/4019422-20230118-climat-grand-mensonge-industrie-petroliere-rechauffement-climatique