Is It Time To Tone Down The Climate Change “Greenwashing” Rhetoric?

Eliminating fossil fuel in an all-or-nothing approach will be detrimental to the global economy

Is the Earth warming? The answer is yes. Do we need to do more about reducing our dependency on fossil fuels? Absolutely yes. And do we need to reduce our carbon footprint yes? However, doing so in a non-advanced manner and at the expense of millions of people losing their jobs and livelihoods overnight is irresponsible and unacceptable.

Like any organization, we are all for climate change; we are all for the planet, but we’re also pragmatists and understand the economy. It’s also very impractical for climate activists to call on governments to cut their emissions in fossil fuels consumption cold turkey. If they did that, the ramifications would be huge. Economies around the globe will collapse, businesses will shut down, families will lose their homes, and unemployment will reach levels seen after World War II.

Many activists know this, yet they take a hard-line stance and the All or Nothing approach, which does nothing to move the climate change conversation forward. It would be impossible to heat homes and factories if we stopped subsidizing fossil fuel production and stopped producing gas, oil, and gas. Cars and automobiles that depend on this industry would be inactive—effectively stopping all transportation, including air travel, which we will discuss in more depth.

It’s easy for activists to demand all governments stop all production of fossil fuels and shut down the tar sands. Still, there needs to be more concrete talk about how they will immediately replace lost jobs and keep a global economy from collapsing.

Everyone knows electric vehicles are the future, but the average person can not afford one right now, even after government subsidies. Electric cars are good for the environment but terrible for pocketbooks. Until the cost of electric vehicles becomes more affordable, gas and hybrids will be the preferred choice.

Lastly, activists must stop talking about the pollution caused by the private jets of heads of State when they gather annually for their G20 or other critical high-level meetings. These jets are polluting, but there is no safer, faster way for world leaders to travel in the desired time.

Climate activists, we hear you, but the All or Nothing approach is detrimental to your cause. We all want a future free of pollution and independent of fossil fuels. Let’s tone down the “greenwashing” rhetoric and work together until we get there.