That’s it, it’s our destiny: we must produce and spend even more energy, even going so far as to consider nuclear power again, because it’s the only avenue to support infinite economic growth. And all that energy will be very green, obviously. Like in a fairy tale.
While elsewhere in the modern world we seek to limit overly vague green labels and misleading information, here we praise greenwashing. We all seem happy to open our mouths wide and swallow the well-lubricated words of leaders who promise us so many spectacularly green developments and solutions.
Today, in Quebec, everything is green: natural gas, electric cars, the plane, the train, the tramway, the tunnels, the wind turbines, the forestry operations, the mines, the dams and now, the height of the ridiculous , nuclear energy. All development is, according to the promoters, systematically sustainable, optimized for future generations, with practically no impact on ecosystems. We should all be wearing sunglasses constantly so we don’t get dazzled by all that greenery.
Yet, are we seeing results from all these supposedly noble and environmentally-protective actions? Are the waters of the St. Lawrence River, our lakes, rivers and groundwater cleaner? Is the air we breathe cleaner? Is the food we eat freer of pollutants? Are forests better protected? Do insects, birds, fish, crustaceans, amphibians, mammals finally stop disappearing? Are mine sites properly cleaned? Did the nuclear waste volatilize?
Always more
Our society is currently based on the absurd idea that it is possible to grow indefinitely; yet the serious consequences of our excessive collective ambitions are knocking at our doors. The erosion of the banks, extreme weather phenomena, forest fires, floods and the decline of animal and plant species are there to testify to this.
It makes you wonder if we are not our own guinea pigs in a vast experiment on the vertiginous degradation of nature according to human energy bulimia. Because estimating the amount of energy produced and consumed is the most fundamental way to assess the negative effects of human activity on the environment. The more energy we produce and consume, the more we destroy our ecosystems. Quite simply.
But rather than taking this reality into account, our elites, specialists in meaningless slogans, proudly show us the way to collective suicide: it is absolutely necessary to produce and consume ever more energy.
Finally, let’s be honest: no energy production can be green. Any harnessing of a new energy source has negative effects on the environment. And nuclear energy is unfortunately the one whose wastes are the most durable and the most deadly, despite what its prophets may say. In addition, nuclear fuels the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction; it’s silly, isn’t it?
Let’s stop blindly believing that we can both produce more energy and save the planet. This is totally illogical reasoning promoted by the dishonest apostles of infinite economic growth. The only real solution to protect the only planet that can reasonably accommodate us is to reduce our production and our total consumption of energy. And not to condone the illusions of energy greenwashing.