{"id":14867,"date":"2023-02-03T17:23:41","date_gmt":"2023-02-03T17:23:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cassandravoices.com\/?p=14867"},"modified":"2023-02-03T17:23:41","modified_gmt":"2023-02-03T17:23:41","slug":"climate-change-whats-driving-us-crazy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/casswp.eutonom.eu\/index.php\/2023\/02\/03\/climate-change-whats-driving-us-crazy\/","title":{"rendered":"Climate Change: What\u2019s Driving us Crazy?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Down to Earth: Politics in the New Climactic Regime<\/em><\/a><\/span> (2018) by the recently deceased French philosopher Bruno Latour points to a conspiracy theory<\/a><\/span> perpetrated by elites since the 1970s to conceal the true nature of climate change.<\/span><\/p>\n

Latour argues the intervening period, associated with Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher, \u2018was initially marked by what is called \u201cderegulation\u201d, alongside \u2018the start of an increasingly vertiginous explosion of inequalities.\u2019<\/p>\n

This coincided, he says, with another phenomenon less often stressed: \u2018the beginning of a systematic effort to deny the existence of climate change\u2019. He defines \u201cclimate change\u201d in broad terms as \u2018the relations between human beings and the material conditions of their lives,\u2019 rather than simply the climatic consequences of anthropogenic greenhouse gases, as the contemporary environmental challenge is commonly reduced to.<\/p>\n

This broader definition of \u201cclimate change\u201d therefore encompasses ecological constraints \u2013 the material conditions of our lives \u2013 which even the most vociferous denier cannot gainsay, as well as other readily ascertainable phenomena such as pollution and nature loss.<\/p>\n

Latour continues, \u2018It is as though a significant segment of the ruling classes (known today rather loosely as \u201cthe elites\u201d) had concluded that the earth no longer had room enough for them and for everyone.\u2019<\/p>\n

He contends: \u2018they [\u201cthe elites\u201d] decided that it was pointless to act as though history were going to continue to move toward a common horizon, toward a world in which all humans could prosper equally.\u2019<\/p>\n

Thus, \u2018From the 1980s on the ruling classes stopped purporting to lead and began instead to shelter themselves from the world. We are experiencing all the consequences of this flight, of which Donald Trump is merely a symbol, one among others.\u2019<\/p>\n

He offers the stark conclusion that any observer of social media can attest to: \u2018The absence of a common world we can share is driving us crazy.<\/em><\/strong>\u2019<\/p>\n

Dominant players in the fossil fuel industry were undoubtedly aware of climate change by the late 1970s<\/span><\/a>, and developed communication strategies designed to confound the public<\/a><\/span>.\u00a0Through their risk analyses, leading investment banks \u2013 representing the real elites \u2013 would surely have been privy to such information that had been circulating since the 1960s.<\/p>\n

Latour is correct to assert that since the 1970s inequalities have spiralled<\/span><\/a> to the advantage of these elite ruling classes. However, his book fails to anticipate how canny operators among the elites \u2013 while preparing boltholes in remote locations<\/a><\/span> \u2013 shifted approach on climate change<\/p>\n

Rather than ignoring what had emerged as a scientific consensus on the need to find alternatives to the extraction and use of fossil fuels, elites recognised mouth-watering opportunities for further wealth accumulation from renewable energy<\/span><\/a>.<\/p>\n

Thus, investment portfolios were diversified, and bets hedged. It hardly mattered that technologies branded \u201cclean and green\u201d could still have devastating environmental impacts<\/a><\/span>, or lead to new relationships of dependency<\/a><\/span> in developing countries. In this re-alignment, companies create halo effects around products through greenwashing strategies<\/a><\/span>. This explains the unprecedented attention to climate change we now see across mainstream media.<\/p>\n

The belated embrace of environmentalism \u2013 once the preserve of hippies \u2013 by elites also distracts from the urgent need for structural adjustments.<\/p>\n

The delusion of elite-led reform<\/a><\/span> is sustained by a compromised<\/a><\/span> and sycophantic media<\/span><\/a>, reminiscent of the fawning courtiers of unaccountable monarchs. But all the indicators are that reforms will be cosmetic, as successive emission reduction targets are not met<\/a><\/span>.<\/p>\n

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On my watch, the great American road trip is going to be fully electrified.<\/p>\n

And now, through a tax credit, you can get up to $7,500 on a new electric vehicle. pic.twitter.com\/n3iZ9etL4A<\/a><\/p>\n

— President Biden Archived (@POTUS46Archive) January 30, 2023<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n