Environ-Mental

The environmental highjinks and tough-talk of the teen Swedish environmentalist Greta Thunberg has gotten a lot of peoples’ attention in 2019.

He vitriolic finger-pointing at governments’ and world leaders lack of action when it comes to environmental issues has generated controversy, and much dislike for the young activist.

She seems to have suddenly come out of nowhere, fast.

Who is Greta? Is she just doing this all on her own, or is there a guiding hand behind her?

Her behavior is over-the-top; her performances seem coerced and choreographed.

And she certainly has access to, and the attention of some important people.

When it comes to the environment, it behooves everyone to keep it clean. After all, this is the only livable planet that we know of, and it is foolish to poison and destroy the very environment that sustains life.

That being said, over the years an industry has grown up around environmental issues whose interests are not as altruistic as meets the eye.

Clever creatures from the banking and corporate world have been exploiting environmental issues and problems caused by pollution to line their pockets.

From sales of million-dollar emission credits, hybrid/electric cars, to ‘organic’ everything, con-men and profiteers of every flavor have found a niche industry for themselves in the entire spectrum of the pro-environmental market.

Some people have found that becoming a CEO of some do-nothing environmental organization is a ticket to a multi-million-dollar a year salary.

The only things these people are interested in recycling is money, and preserving their profits.

When it comes to environmental activism, all the combined efforts of everyone over the decades to date have been half-hearted at best, and way short of what is needed.

Hybrid cars are a classic example of these half-hearted attempts at curbing emissions. They still use gasoline, and also take more resources to produce. Their owners are getting fleeced by car makers who exploit their concern for the environment by selling them a product which over time will negate any benefits that it supposedly delivers. Don’t think so? Just wait until your next hybrid battery change bill comes due!

Fully electric cars are also being used to pick the pockets of naive, environmentally-conscious consumers.

Electric cars today are simply a novelty gimmick for the wealthy and deluded, and these cars will not even make a ping in lowering the level of pollution.

The electric car manufacturers have completely missed the point of what an electric car should be.

For an electric car to be beneficial for the environment, it must be practical, reliable, and affordable. It should not be a novelty item for the wealthy with a bank-breaking price tag. An electric car is a much simpler design than a gasoline-powered one, so the price tag should be significantly below average of a regular gasoline engine car, or even a hybrid.

Just for not having to comply with government emissions standards, and not having to worry about installing expensive catalytic converters, sensors, and other junk that goes along with an internal combustion engine should be a huge money-saver for any electric car company, and ultimately the consumer. So why are they charging so much for these electric cars?

Perhaps someone wants it that way. Perhaps someone won’t tolerate the electrification of the car industry, and is having their lobbyists bribe those in power to ensure that oil stays, no matter what anyone says, wants, or does.

When it comes to the environment, the fact is that no government, president, politician, supranational organization, environmental entity, or a Greta is going to improve and fix it.

None of these actors have the power to do so. And when it comes to governments, they are the least likely to clean up the environment. Governments have to worry about the status and welfare of their states, which relies mainly on economic output.

If governments would seriously want to clean up the environment, they’d have to basically mothball virtually all economic activity. Anything to do with industrialization would have to go.

People would have to give up all consumerism and regress back into a pre-industrial age. Phones, computers, cars, planes, power generation, air travel and all other modern conveniences and comforts of civilization would have to go.

People would have to forego all high tech, motor transport, revert to pen and paper, build their own homes, farm their own land, and move either on-foot or by horse power.

That is the only way that the environment will become cleaner.

All else are just half-measures that at best slightly slow down environmental degeneration. But none of the actions taken so far will stop it. This is impossible within the present frame of mind of the people who inhabit this world.

Governments, who don’t want to see their countries’ economies die out, will try to put on a balancing act between environmental and economic concerns, but this is a waste of time.

You cannot have all the comforts of civilization and a clean environment at the same time. It is not possible. The two don’t mix, like oil and water.

It is up to each and every single person on earth to decide what they want, not some government, organization, or loud-mouth activist. There are no individual saviors out there when it comes to cleaning up the environment.

If people decide that they still want their smart phones, cars, electricity, and fast food joints, then they just need to stop whining and admit that a clean environment is not really a top concern for them.

Remember that every time you buy a new smart phone, car, computer, laptop, tank of gas, or a plane ticket, you are choosing comfort and convenience over the environment. Each and every single time.