To resent the cognitive dissonance that exists around climate change

[JacquesHarlow]

Let’s be real - will anything get better when folk’s priorities are usually about themselves?

Let me explain my rather emotional opening point.

There’s been lots of news this week unsurprisingly about how we had the hottest year on record last year. The last 10 years have been the hottest on record. Wildfires, floods, you name it - the earth is changing.

Yet here in the temperate, largely rainy UK, many people I see around me are very happy to have their head in the sand, while also bizarrely choosing just one or two lines of attack on the climate crisis to shame others.

One of the parents i know has an electric car. It’s nice, I’m happy for them. They also take at least five flight a year. They have three children.

Yet if you hear them talk about diesel cars… it’s as if the owners are personally killing everyone around them.

Now don’t get me wrong. Emissions locally are important, the air our kids breathe is important. that might be a focus.

However you see it in the choice of car journeys over trains, of large SUVs over a normal family car like a Golf.

The latter particularly grates. We have a huge climate crisis. Yet Joanna or Nicola has to have a Discovery Sport for her three kids because she needs to sit high up, it’s easier to load them in, and she worries about crash worthiness.

The history books will show that rather than looking up and out for each other, we’re actually turning more inwards. Our own personal economy will always triumph over needing to protect others. If I’m able to pay £400 a month PCP on a Dispcvery Sport, then “I’ll protect my family over anything”, even though the entire thought process is irrational.

We need to take fewer flights and more rail journeys. working from home should mean more walking to school as the commute has gone. instead we’re seeing more car journeys. More flights. More large purchases; throwaway electronics; fast fashion.

AIBU to think there’s a lot of cognitive dissonance and head in the sand about climate change in the UK, and spending power (and the choices it unlocks) is king?

For quite a few years we tried not to fly and went to southern Europe via car / train. Absolutely flipping gruelling and extremely expensive. We quietly book our flights now.

As a species we have basically decided we would rather die or see others die than give up our lifestyles.

It's expensive if you book normal tickets, but much cheaper with an Interrail pass, especially if you live a long way from London (as I do). Currently planning a long weekend in Amsterdam, and it WILL take longer to get there (12 hours as opposed to 8 hours if we flew), and will cost more (roughly £300 as opposed to £220, would be a better deal in high season as the Interrail pass price is fixed whilst flights are dynamic). However, it means we don't have to deal with the joy of an airport- trains are a much more pleasurable experience- and we get to spend a night in Lille on the way back, a city I've never visited.

We had a similar few days in Marseille/Paris in October, and it completely converted my boyfriend to train travel! Compounded probably by watching the Netflix documentary about Boeing- I'm glad I won't be flying in a 737 any time soon 😬

I'm planning to take the DC Interrailing to Germany, Romania and Bulgaria this summer.

Whereas I can get a return flight to Amsterdam for £25 .From my local airport

I like train travel but it can be expensive. Especially in the uk

At what point would you say your financial
Benefit should take second place?

I mean you wouldn't kill someone in a scrum to get a cheap ticket would you?

But it's ok to contribute to someone's death when you don't know who or when it will happen ?

Where's the tipping point for you ?

Completely agree. If I'm going to have a short break abroad- which to be honest no one really needs- I'd rather do it without the guilt. And I'm officially a poor person. The upside is that any short getaways I've taken by train- although definitely much, much MUCH more complex to organise!- have also proved much more rewarding than flying. No fucking airports- and they often involve an overnight stop in Paris, which is never a bad thing IMO.

Well, looks like the government are again considering the 3rd runway, expanding Gatwick and Newcastle airports.
Looks like the economy trumps the climate.
Not sure they have the balls to actually do it though.

I just hope they've got enough money in the coffers to put right all the chaos and destruction climate change is going to cause then they haven't

That’s way, way off in the future though. And unless the global population halves, most likely inevitable.

In the future?! Do you know how much the LA wildfires have cost?! And the floods in Valencia?! It's happening now, right now.
And we don't need to halve the global population (which is set to start declining fairly soon anyway)- we just need to cut the vast emissions that a relatively small amount of people in wealthy countries produce.

We would need to close down the internet, etc to help towards climate change, due to the data centres processing all the electricity etc

YES, TURN THE BIG RED INTERNET LEVER OFF 😆
Seriously though, there's a lot of online stuff that should have been massively regulated. Cloud storage and streaming benefits neither us nor the environment, it's just a clever wheeze for the tech companies to rake more money in. And don't get me started on AI...

Yes, the future. People will not massively change their ways. Electric car? Maybe. More house insulation and an ASHP? Possibly. Forgo skiing or 2 weeks in Tenerife? No way. Governments are not introducing draconian emissions measures like banning holiday flights, taking every inefficient car off the roads, banning non-essential import of shite from abroad, banning cruise ships etc etc.
The best thing anyone can do to save the planet is not have kids. That’s only happening in the UK/Europe because housing is so fucking expensive, and people want to have a career and a bit of luxury. It’s nothing at all to do with saving the planet.
ChatGPT says the global population is increasing for the coming decades, albeit at a slower pace than the previous years. So that’s not good.