Climate Solutions: The Business-As-Usual Path
I’ve change my mind: The business-as-usual path is the only way
I’m such an idiot! In my previous post, I preached the techno-optimist path to resolving our climate catastrophe. I was wrong, so wrong. As some of the article’s responders pointed out, and as Medium author Michael Campi sniped at me from a couple of articles.
Look how we as a civilisation have behaved since we achieved an understand of the impending climate change disaster 50 years ago. The warnings are becoming more and more dire with each decade, and now with each year. Has humanity mobilised to fix the problem? Hell no! We’ve just carried on consuming and enjoying our lives. At least those of us who can.
So let’s be honest. At least, I am going to be honest with myself: Humanity is going to continue doing business as usual, as long as it can, as long as there is another nickel in it to further enrich our plutocrat masters.
And that’s okay. The evidence is overwhelming: That’s just what humans do.
The other thing humans do is this: We rise to the challenge. Yes, it often takes a disaster or three before we do anything, but eventually we get the message and we take action.
We’re already seeing regular climate-driven disasters, and, look, we’re taking action!
- We’re helping the disaster victims.
- We’re getting more serious about deploying clean energy solutions.
- We’re building seawalls around our major coastal cities.
- We’re raising roads and buildings against sea level rise.
- We’re doing the science.
- And so on.
It is true that we aren’t moving fast enough to prevent “worst effects” of the climate change, as they like to put it. But you know what? We never could, regardless of what we do, because no matter how bad things get, they can always get worse. But our currently inadequate efforts are making a difference, and they will make more of a difference as we ramp them up as things get worser and worser.
See this insightful analysis by Medium author and research scientist Schalk Cloete for convincing evidence that business-as-usual is not just fine, but is actually the preferred path to minimise climate change disruption:
There is No Climate Emergency, subhead: “Climate change is an optimization problem that must be solved calmly and rationally. Alarmism is the wrong response.”
So do not despair over business-as-usual continuing. Yes, our climate change actions are inadequate, but so what? We’re doing what we can, and that’s what we will continue to do. We’re in for some very tough times ahead, indeed, with mass migrations and deaths on a scale that we’ve never had to deal with before. But we will rise to the challenge.
Too little, too late, but, I’m afraid that’s just what humans do. Accept it and get on with doing what you can, and enjoying life as you find it. Guilt and shame about not doing more is only going to make your life worse, and does nothing to help mitigate the problem.
C’est la vie.
— Lannie Rose, April 2023
preferred pronouns: she/her/hers
Written with NO HELP from ChatGTP or other AI resource (except for the graphic)
