This topic is in response to Buzzman's post (2 April) in Carbon Price topic. It is something I wrote a few years ago when I was getting very pessimistic about progress on climate change - I am not sure that I yet living up to it - but here goes.....
It is easy to be pessimistic about climate change's impact. It is easy to doubt the world's ability to get its acts together quickly enough to be able to effectively tackle climate change. There are so many vested interests in maintaining the status quo – big oil, big coal, big energy hungry conventional industry and business. These groups have mega billions tied up in maintaining the status quo and seem quite willing to spend some of that to support their position. The political process itself generally means that change, if it occurs at all, will be slow and may not be sufficient. Political parties that might say it as it is and propose large changes that impact on the hip pocket nerve or lifestyle of the populous risk being thrown out by the electorate, as well as losing big campaign contributions from those powerful bodies with the vested interests in the status quo. Change has been slow when it needs to be fast.
Given this, it begs the question, why go on, why bother hitting our heads against what seems like an immovable object when failure is more than a possible outcome.
My answer to this question is simply this - I hope. I hope that I am wrong and that the world can get its act together and change, despite all of the obstacles. I hope that our political leaders will see the light and lead the change, despite the political risks. I hope that the population also recognises that change is necessary and agree to it despite some personal costs. However for this to occur I know it is also necessary to do more than just hope. These mammoth changes will not occur without good people keeping the pressure on, advocating for and participating in change.
To give up is to loose hope, to wallow in despair or to say “bugger you Earth, I am just going to enjoy myself while I can". But that is not me. I believe life is important, that people are important and future generations are also important. There is significance to our struggle. So while I believe this I will go on fighting the good fight. I will try, to the limit of my meagher skills, to be part of the solution. If we fail we fail but at least we won’t fail because we haven’t tried.
I live with hope.