Could you be with a partner who doesn't believe in climate change?

[ToDoLists]

DH doesn't really think it's all that bad. He thinks we should be recyling more and caring for the planet as makes sense and is just the right thing to do - but that climate change as a disaster is an exaggeration and not based in science. And that people are utilising it for their own agenda, woke brigade & so on.

We have young kids.

AIBU to find this position increasingly problematic?

People are going to say people are allowed different opinions but he seems geniunely unconcerned about future of planet for our kids - and I find that hard to swallow.

I’m with your DH, so nope. Wouldn’t be an issue for me.

Nothing as a single individual matters
But something from many individuals does

Like the climate itself there will be a tipping point at which it becomes unacceptable to have a high footprint , at which you can't make your business work if it's not clean

So many thing worked like that - smoking for example

Emissions are not be down because not enough individuals are taking enough action, too many people paint us as cranks wanting to return to the stone age

I think that anyone who thinks that has to be a bit thick, as the weight of evidence doesn’t support the view.

I wouldn’t want to be with anyone thick, so yes it would be a problem.

You're so concerned about the climate you had children 😂

It's not like his opinions actually do any practical harm. He's not out burning down the rainforest. But if he's given you the ick and you're not into it any more than it is what it is. You don't need our permission to end your marriage.

"You had concerns about climate you had children"

What are you implying here ?

That it's impossible to bring up children to have a low impact lifestyle ?

That you should be so depressed about climate progress that you won't bring children up to die young?

Both rather defeatist viewpoints

"Climate change " is a great reason to increase taxes

Yip

It's a great Pity they aren't increasing taxes on the basis of climate change
Pity they are not using taxes to combat it

( and yes tax rises need to be targeted not at the poorest )

The ulez is a b.s tax in the name of climate change

Charging for bags in shops is a licence to print money tax with some shops charging 60p per bag

Like I said "climate change" is a great excuse to tax the plebs

Having two children per couple isn’t killing the planet 🫤

I think people seem to forget that we humans are mammals and are therefore part of the planets current eco-system and food chain. Many species have symbiotic relationships with us such that we depend on each other for survival. It’s not good for the planet for humans to go extinct.

Humans are not toxic waste, or pollutants- we are Earthlings as much as any mouse or bird or Daisy. We belong and our lives are just as valuable.

Reproducing at replacement level (zero growth) is manageable for the planet because when balanced against those who do not want any children at all, we then are reducing our population globally (negative growth) to more sustainable levels. In a century or so, it will be better for us and the planet for those who want children to have on average 3 children so we can be at zero growth overall.

The ulez is actually about air pollution which kills children today

It's side effect is lower carbon emissions

Plastic bags in shops - it's not really a tax it's a voluntary purchase

they just are not allowed to give harmful things out for free

Technically, ULEZ doesn’t lower CO2 emissions because the vehicles banned have to meet higher CO2 emissions standards to even pass their MOT tests, ULEZ lowers N2O which is also causing climate change and particulate emissions which cause deaths from air pollution.

Technically an average of 6% reduction in emissions has been measured in ukez zones

Well yeah, that’s due to less traffic overall not due to traffic that emits less CO2. So, you’re 100% right in that sense, I did not think of the traffic calming side effect. I take back what I said.

yeah the one married to a geologist is me.

Thing about geologists. They have a understanding of how the planet works over time. Quite a long time. We are currently in an inter-stadial period. These are relatively warm periods between glacial periods. Inter-stadials can last around 10,000 years. Give or take.

Anyway. I certainly can imagine a geologist entering into a debate on climate change. They kind of have the long view. Based on how the earth has changed over millions of years.

Either that or they are just jumped up gravel monkeys. (To quote Big Bang Theory)

The grant was always going to end in March 2021, that was declared when it started. You think that the PM could be justified on changing plans that will affect the whole plant because a tiny portion of the population of one country is behaving badly? That just wouldn't be accepted in parliament.

I live in an inner city area. I wish they'd bring ULEZ in here.

It wouldn't concern me too much OP, however I could not live with a wasteful partner or someone who didn't respect the environment. While I do believe the concept of climate change I would be cynical about the 'facts', are to what extent things are exaggerated. We are constantly scaremongered into different things and usually the driving force is ultimately money and power. In my lifetime already I've been concerned about smog, acid rain, the ozone layer, water pollution, global warming and now climate change. I honestly think it will be a different buzz word or threat in a few years.

They have a understanding of how the planet works over time. Quite a long time. We are currently in an inter-stadial period. These are relatively warm periods between glacial periods. Inter-stadials can last around 10,000 years. Give or take

Do you think maybe they should share that information with climate scientists, or do you think they might already know?

OP - I would not want to be with someone who refers to the woke brigade and doesn’t think that our understanding of climate change is not based on science. Would I leave someone for it if we had kids? Depends if they were of the conspiracy theory persuasion or not.

I do accept there is some bad reporting on this, and where I do think there is a lot of debate to be had is on the responsibilities for where tackling it lies, and where the costs should fall. I agree that companies and some governments will try to get away with pushing them more (in my opinion) towards the wrong parts of society. Which is why there is more reason to be engaged on the policies that are developed.

These sorts of government grants have to have nominal end dates due to fiscal law. They are normally renewed on repeat.

No I don’t think the PM is justifiably doing the U-turns, but he is doing them nonetheless and no one seems interested in stopping him because they too are pissed off against JSO and so happy to go along with it.

So people talked to governments and tried softly softly approaches and that didn't work - evidence of the heat waves from America to China

So they try something else in the last few years 1 and are accused of making people disconnect because of the disruption !

People weren't connected in the first place because otherwise we wouldn't be where we are today

Your house is burning down and you don't like the method the guys are using to let you know , you'd quite like a discussion about what to do and who should pay for the fire engine ?

I can see where your husband is coming from. We don't have an impartial media and the words and actions of politicians don't align at all. It's a highly complex issue that will only be resolved with governments cooperating with each other on an international scale and introducing worldwide legislation. It's never goi g to happen so it's a bit of a moot point whether we believe in it or not to be honest because no individual's actions will make the slightest bit of difference.

Defeatist

When enough powerful individuals care then it can be sorted

They don't care at the moment because not enough individuals act with their votes and their wallets

Well he does sound like a bit of a plonker. I mean how can you dispute that there's an issue. Do you actually discuss and debate these things? once you start really seriously examining his views surely it would show very quickly and easily that this was incorrect?

but the other issue is the fact that they're all doing bugger all. I mean the recent conference was a shambles and half the big countries never even turned up anc practically nothing was achieved. Disgraceful.

and they're not really doing anything to address it. even our recycling probably gets sent abroad to some stupid place that doesn't do anything with it. It's just all a load of nonsense. my DH says that recycling is a waste of time because we all know they don't even do anything proper with it. Unfortunately he has a point.

Why?