11 November 2021 | Fossil Fuel Fantasy

There seems to be this belief that turning away from fossil fuels is all that is required to combat climate change. Like in the same way you just simply cut carbs from your diet to lose weight permanently. This is a false belief.

It’s false because most people assume that we’re simply talking about the gas we put in our cars. People tend to think that makes up the bulk of our reliance on fossil fuels. This is also not true. The entire Western way of life, that has been exported everywhere else, is a petrol-based one. A luxury-addicted and decadent society like ours is **not** going to give any of that up easily, especially when the scope of what it requires becomes more evident.

That will include throwing out your PlayStations, your Xboxes, your Macs and iPads, the WiFi routers, the modems, and scores of products that use plastic. That includes your shrink-wrapped food you get at the grocery store. And medical devices. And binging shows on Netflix because that consumes lots of energy from the data farms with all those cables that are used to feed your appetite. Oil is what powers globalization and that allows us to buy goods cheaply and get food that was only seasonal once upon a time. How many people do you know are willing to pay more from a selection of lesser available goods?

We are not willing to do any of that. We have to live with and try to ameliorate the effects of climate change that are already occurring. The idea that we’re going to “beat it” and cold-stop what’s already been revved up is nonsense. It’s already too late.