On Climate Change: Is Individual Action Pointless?
My friend Anna Atkinson asked recently whether I agree with Canadian author Gwynne Dyer, who in his fabulous book, Climate Wars, suggests that individual actions in the fight against global warming are next to useless - that we will only enjoy success if the world’s governments collaborate on big initiatives.
As it turns out, I agree completely. Nothing you or I do will make a spit of difference. Unless we all see some significant government action, we are helpless to overcome the problem of global warming and doomed to watch changes in our environment - in our lifetime - that NOBODY is going to enjoy.
But it doesn’t end there. Governments act because people want them to act. And people change their wants because they are nudged in one direction or another: by advertising (most often); by their conscience (not all that often); and by their paranoia that they may fall out of step with their neighbours - that they may, by their behavior, demonstrate that they are not aligning with societal norms.
This, I think, is the biggest driver.
Read more: On Climate Change: Is Individual Action Pointless?
TAGS: Climate Wars, glen beck, gwynne dyer, Polar Science Center, Richard Littlemore, Roy Green, rush limbaugh
