This guy is boss. The planet needs more Trowlands.
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The only thing I have a problem with on that article is his visit to India and how he made that tripâŚ
Huh?
Just Stop Oil wants to ban the use of fossil fuels entirely. He has been through the UK prison system. But he also talks about how heâs seen firsthand how people in India are suffering. Did he get there and back on a bike? Was he only a JSO convert after his visit?
Itâs very very difficult to believe in eliminating oil entirely then not come across as a massive hypocrite if you mention youâve travelled to the opposite side of the world.
Can you not believe in the elimination of fossil fuels but still be forced to use them because of the way the world is organised?
I believe that the use of oil and coal should be phased out, but until they are, I have little choice but to use cars, buses, planes etc.
Heâs a Kiwi in the UK. I doubt he got there by sailing ship.
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Iâve been a climate change activist long enough to know that there is always someone who will think itâs clever to point out that youâre a hypocrite if youâve used a thimbleful of oil at some point in your life.
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Well this is the approach of the oil industry. Thatâs the whole idea of the âcarbon footprintâ - itâs all down to the individual trying to survive in a society not of their making.
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How politics really works in the UK:
The rich silence anyone who causes them any inconvenience.
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Very true. A lot of industry and political energy goes into telling us âwe all have do our bitâ. There is a drive to make climate change a matter of personal responsibility.
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Maybe what we need is more people taking actual action to reduce their individual carbon footprint and lesser of those going around blocking traffic indiscriminately ignoring the potential danger of affecting someone else, i.e. ambulance, someone rushing to a funeral and spraying powder at sporting events or sticking themselves onto the ground or art piecesâŚ
Apparently, âdoing your bitâ is preferable to binding legislation.
Since the EU introduced itâs plastics directive Iâve noticed that single use plastics are really being kept to a minimum. I was in a McDonaldâs a couple of weeks ago and noticed that literally all packaging they use is now made of paper or card. Everything was easily recyclable, compostable or combustible.
Clearly, they could have done this years ago but neither the demands of the customers or accountants were pushing them in this direction.
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What I agree is that the government wants people to be more climate responsible but yet the costs are so punitive for the common folks. If they are serious about it, the policy makers have to regulate the costs involved for day to day usage for the people.
Maybe what we need are more governments and corporations doing their bit to combat climate change and pollution rather than putting all the onus on individuals and blaming protesters with legitimate grievances.
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As I said above, it doesnât have to be either of. Both needs to be done for any action to be effective.
I canât agree with this.
As an individual I can make all sorts of choices about my own carbon footprint, like Flying (I donât), driving (I do, albeit as little as possible) reducing energy use, insulation, domestic renewables etc.
But anything I do is always going to be akin to expecting it to feel colder because a moth has flown in front of the sun.
Pushing the idea of a personal carbon footprint is one of the great cons of our time. Itâs an entirely meaningless distraction, when so much of of our emissions are baked into our systems and societies.
What protesters are doing is highlighting the need for systemic change led by politics, which is really the only way of tackling this problem. The Just Stop Oil protesters are entirely correct that the idea of our Government committing to new fossil fuel extraction instead of maxing our renewables potential is absolutely fucking insane. Government has the power to direct society towards clean energy and lower emissions, but chooses not to do so. I can only address one personâs impact.
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As I said, it has to be both the actions of the government/corporations and the individual for any action to be effective. In Singapore, the government can fucking educate us to stop using plastic bags for years and still we have people who insist that plastic bags is a thing of tradition that is impossible for people to get rid of. Something so simple and yet individuals want to debate with.
Just Stop Oil or whatever groups that want to push agendas, they should and they could because they are legally allowed to by all means but stopping traffic will make the government and corporations listen more than a non disruptive protest?
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" In fact, only 100 investor and state-owned fossil fuel companies are responsible for around 70 percent of the worldâs historical GHG emissions. This contradicts the narrative pushed by fossil fuel interests that individualsâ actions alone can combat climate change, as individual actions have minute effects relative to these emissions â average American households produce only 8.1 metric tons of carbon dioxide out of a total of over 33 billion tons globally. Fossil fuel interests spend billions on climate science denial to mislead the public about the truth behind the crisis and push the misperception that through individual actions alone climate change can be stopped."
From the Harvard Political Review
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Yes, historically it does. Disruption has always been a significant tool for those who are are challenging the status quo. Ask the Suffragettes. Ask the Civil Rights Movement. Would they have achieved their aims with polite protest through permitted channels?
There is an argument that significant systemic change is not possible through permitted protest routes, because they are controlled by those who have a vested interest in the status quo. In the UK weâve experienced governments close off channels like legal challenge and judicial review, peaceful protest, and the planning system, when activists have been too successful at using those avenues to drive change.
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Granted I am no British so I will not understand the cultural backgrounds but I stand corrected, I have not seen Just Stop Oil going anywhere with getting the government to change much except pissing the common folks whom they inconvenienced off. But again, they are allowed to do so, then do be it.
And maybe Just Stop Oil should divert their attention to getting people to vote out the current government who is not listening. There is every chance that pissing the electorate can be used by the current government to twist it for their own agenda?
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