Beware of eco-elitism

My aspiration to become part of the scientific community influenced me to spend many of my younger years as a relatively rugged environmentalist telling others how to run their lives.

Needless to say, I stubbornly accepted the heavily popularized theory of anthropogenic climate change.

I believe current climate change is very plausible, but we should beware of the politically rooted assumption that human activity is the only or major source of such an incredibly complex problem.

I also believe the ongoing dissonance between data and observations combined with the limited understanding of Earth’s long-term temperature patterns hasn’t resulted in conclusive proof.

Still, institutions worldwide propagate the theory of humankind’s antagonistic effects on the planet’s climate to the public as if it was a fact.

This creates a wall of information, fear and guilt that lines the pathway to proposed solutions, some of which might not be necessarily beneficial to the planet or aimed at securing our species’
livelihood.

The theoretical threat of an impending apocalyptic fate consuming our planet if we don’t mobilize systematically to manage our carbon emissions is the perfect invitation for bigger government and globalized technocratic control of our energy by the select few.

About 90 percent of today’s world economy is carbon based. Thus, up to 90 percent of industrialized human activity may become monitored and subject to constrictive regulations and taxes under the orders of those who might not have the interests of the general population at heart.

Whether anthropogenic climate change is true or a conspiratorial fabrication, it is historically supported that people in positions of power often demonstrate a habit of perpetuating or taking wrongful advantage of crises to achieve what couldn’t have been normally achieved before.

The image I get when thinking about what would result from a mass centralized movement to curb carbon dioxide outputs is of the average person locked in destitution while people like Al Gore fly overhead in their luxurious jets sipping champagne.

I’m skeptical that the environmental goals of most politicians involve any honest regards for the planet or
humanity.

Consider the Obama administration’s sickening crusade against coal-fired powered plants and open support for tax-payer-subsidized nuclear power plants here at home.

The drawbacks of coal are eco-angelical compared to the risks of sensitive nuclear energy, which possesses the nightmarish capability of radioactively contaminating and irreversibly wrecking the habitability of surrounding environments for thousands of years.

I firmly believe that we must embrace sustainable practices, wildlife conservation and safe renewable energy developments when they advance further.

Let’s just take responsibility for it at local levels and do our best to keep the elite out of the driver’s seat on our journey toward greening civilization.

The steering wheel and keys to almost our entire economy constitute far too much additional power to bestow upon the hands of our world leaders.

edharo@indiana.edu
@EdHarodude