Pirate's Cove

Have you enjoyed lockdown, which never seems to really end? You don’t really have to get beyond the subhead (but, we will)

‘Coronavirus response proves we can solve climate crisis’ says top Lancaster academic
Pointless, wasteful activities have pushed us to the edge of a global climate crisis – but coronavirus has proved we have the ability to step back from the edge, says one of Britain’s leading sustainability thinkers.

Prof Mike Berners-Lee – a leading authority on calculating carbon footprints – says he feels more hopeful that we can effectively tackle climate change than he had for years.

But the Lancaster University academic has criticised our “incredible capacity” to “completely pointlessly” waste natural resources on activities such as space tourism and cryptocurrency mining which are responsible for huge amounts of additional CO2 entering our atmosphere.

In an interview with Steven Day, co-founder of 100 per cent renewable energy supplier Pure Planet, Prof Berners-Lee said: “Some things give me more hope than I’ve had for years, but we are so heading for trouble now in a short time frame – I can’t tell you exactly how it’s going to pan out and what year – but it’s not far off now so we really need this change right now.

“The virus has shown that we are capable of a level of change that a lot of us have assumed is impossible because we have always lived a certain way but we’ve just shown that of course you can do it.

“For me, the optimism started growing before this virus hit because of kids taking to the streets and joining protests like Extinction Rebellion. I was noticing a change of attitude in the business community too. It was beginning to feel like this intractable system was beginning to show some cracks.

“And then the virus happened. It was a distraction but has proven that change is possible. We can choose how we live and it can be different. So it’s an interesting moment and there’s everything to play for. I really hope we come out of lockdown in a better way and everything about the recovery needs to go through our deep green lens now.”

I don’t really need to remind you of the draconian, authoritarian measures put in place by government at all levels, right? Ones which are still in place? Things that are arbitrary? Why can people go to a store or restaurant (reduced capacity) but not church (at reduced capacity)? Why can kids go to school in NC, go to restaurants, but not the gym or bar or movie theater (not that there’s anything to actually watch, and wasn’t much before Bat Soup)? Why are people yelled at for being in their own front yards? Told they can’t go to their vacation homes? Well, not told, so much as threatened. Busted for being out on a paddleboard in the ocean when not near anyone? Have snitch lines for people out and about? Must I go further? How about the unemployment and lowered inventory? You know all this stuff. This is the world Warmists are pushing, yet, they never seem to get the idea that this will all apply to themselves.