The news about the environment reaching us as world leaders gather in Glasgow to try to contain the climate emergency (COP26) demonstrates wonderfully that it is not about analyzing and decrying a problem back and forth so that it magically disappears.
If the pen is stronger than the sword, it seems oddly helpless in the face of human greed and stupidity.
When I hear our Quebec Minister of the Environment say that no environmental study – federal or provincial – could prevent the construction of the motorway tunnel between Quebec and Lévis1, when I learn that the major oil companies in Canada plan to significantly increase their production by 2030 and do not have a plan to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions2, I admit having difficulty finding better in terms of concrete examples of blindness.
Reading this news, I can’t help but think of Patrick Lagacé’s climate-resignation3 and 4. Because they remain fully aligned with polls that place the environment and the state of the planet far behind other priorities, such as the economy and COVID-19 among our fellow citizens.
It’s easy to demonstrate. But are we ready to stop living as we do now to preserve the future of our children? Our collective response is clear and clear: it’s no.
Whether you look at any group in society, everyone refuses to give up the slightest inch of their privileges. It is even rather the opposite! As with the economy, we want them to grow constantly: new trips, new treats. Let us prosper while there is still time.
PHOTO LUKE SHARRETT, THE NEW YORK TIMES ARCHIVES
“Everyone refuses to give up the slightest inch of their privileges,” notes the author.
I admit that I feel less and less credible as an adult who tries to raise responsible children. Because I know that it is they and their descendants who will live with the consequences of our actions (and missed opportunities to act).
However, our governments are the only actors to have the levers to hope to limit the extent of the damage. Because damage, there will be. The science is – unfortunately, too – obvious and clear on this. We’re debating between being well done or being charred, which is a bit ironic though.
Can democratic governments ignore polls to listen to a minority of savvy citizens, even if they are not at the head of a powerful conglomerate?
Remedies
Do they have any recourse to protect the majority against itself? Has it ever been seen? Hey yes, I thought I saw that recently when it was necessary to take a break to save lives here and now. And the majority rallied quickly.
This is the crux of the matter: our institutions, our laws and our minds are proving to be very ill-equipped to protect our collective future compared to our short-term private interests.
Yet when the climate is sufficiently disturbed, it will harm us far more than building a highway, Minister. It will even destroy roads that have already been built. He, too, will not give a damn about environmental studies to move forward.
Because, in turn, human greed and stupidity prove to be oddly powerless in the face of the forces of nature.
1 Read “Third link: green wood for Minister Charette”
2 Read “Canadian Oil Companies Have No Climate Plan”
3 Read “The environment is not important”
4 Read “Red, the color of tomorrow” What do you think? Express your opinion