Passing laws against the words climate change will not stop climate change. Passing laws against climate science, climate reports and sea level rise will not stop climate change. Asking other countries to repeal rules for e environmental protections will also not stop climate change. All the money, profits and wishful thinking does not change what is happening to our atmosphere. Climate Change is not something you believe in, it's rather something you understand. You may (or may not) believe in God but you understand gravity. Powerful elites and the politicians they buy want to deny reality. (Still, you have to wonder why some are building doomsday bunkers.) The longer we put off addressing climate change, the worse it will be. The consequences of climate change are already happening.
How many superstorms, tornadoes, fires and droughts will it take for people to accept the reality of human caused climate change? I can give you a hint, for some it is directly related to their wallet. The status quo is a way to maximize profits. The greedy are perfectly willing to wreck the environment for future generations to get maximum short-term profits. Exxon was one of the first organizations to understand climate change and its implications. Dependent on large donor politicians cannot see beyond the next election cycle and are also willing to sacrifice the future. This is another reason money in politics is so dangerous. Money must be a hell of a drug for some! Then there is the “it doesn't affect me” crowd.
So what if there are record floods several states away or in another country? There are no fires where I am! Droughts always come and go. Summers are supposed to be hot! For this crew, who are being told everything is fine and nothing should change, it is easy to downplay or ignore climate disasters going on all around us. They tend to consume more propaganda than actual news. They let the money crowd listed above tell them what to think. Yet, there's even a worse bunch, the Greenwashers.
The Greenwashers are companies and organizations that pretend to care about climate change for the sake of profit. It is more important to look good than do things that address the issue. Car companies, restaurant chains, energy companies and even fashion companies have all jumped on the greenwashing bandwagon. Sure, getting rid of a few plastic straws, having a few electric car options and making tiny investments in green energy tech for self-promotion will fix everything! Their idea of sustainability only goes as far as this quarter's bottom line. Rather than commit to real change, they blame individuals. Hey, it's up to you to recycle, drive less and plant more trees while they effectively do nothing.
Yes, we all have a part to play. Our individual efforts are only a drop in the ocean when compared to what large corporations can and should do. It will never be too late to take climate change seriously. But the longer we wait, the more costly it will be. Here in the US, some states are trying to do their part. While others are going backwards. Getting anything done collectively at the national level seems like a lost cause for the next four years. Currently, there is no way to calculate the suffering, damage and loss of life the loss of these four years will impose.
