Pirate's Cove

What is this all about? Diminishing the notion that Warmists should practice what they preach

Dear Humans, Industry, Not Your Activities, Is Causing Climate Change

Scientists and climate policy wonks usually say global warming is caused by “human activities.” This shorthand obscures an important point: that while we humans are certainly responsible for climate change on some level, just a few of us, particularly in industry and government, are a lot more responsible than the rest of us.

After all, I like humans. I like activities, too. And it’s industry practices and government policies that largely determine how much heat-trapping emissions our human activities produce. (snip)

When we focus on the “human activities” that are causing climate change, we sound like we’re laying climate blame on things like using a washer and dryer, driving, flipping a light switch and other day-to-day things many humans in the developed world take for granted and that many humans in the developing world would very much like to do, too.

This is all about blame-shifting, so Cult Of Climastrology members can continue to assail certain industries without feeling guilty about their own personal refusal to go carbon neutral while continuing to take fossil fueled vehicles.

As it stands, our best individual attempts at limiting the carbon footprint of our human activities can only go so far — and many steps are much harder than they should be, even in the developed world:

• I can buy the most fuel-efficient car, but if the gas I’m using to fill it up was extracted from tar sands, my carbon footprint will be larger than it would be otherwise.
• If my utility company buys a lot of coal because government policies subsidize it, LED lightbulbs, an electric car, and turning the light switch off when I leave a room can only get me so far.
• I can put solar panels on my roof — if my state and local government don’t throw up unnecessary barriers at the behest of energy companies.
• I can studiously make deforestation-free purchases, but only if companies tell me how they make their products.

Given these constraints, we need to be clearer about what is really causing climate change. “Human activities” are great. Climate change is caused by industrial activities. And those activities are incentivized by government policy, which industry goes out of its way to influence.

Yup, blame shifting. Aaron Huertas, the writer, even goes on to try the old smoking comparison, saying that it was mostly the fault of the tobacco companies, not those who actually use the product (it’s obviously not that black and white, considering the chemicals they sneaked in, but you get the point). This is providing an out for those CoC members who, again, drive fossil fueled vehicles and have big carbon footprints.

Solving a problem as big as climate change isn’t an activity individual humans can decide to do on their own. We need government to create better ground rules for energy production that account for the climate risks we face. That means we need companies to stop misrepresenting the science. They also need to stop trying to tilt the rules in favor of business models that neglect scientific realities.

Interesting: The Government must Do Something, in other words, more Big Government control. All while allowing Warmists to continue to be hypocrites and forcing their beliefs on Other People.

Crossed at Right Wing News.