Hitting the Snooze Button

Scientists calmly intensify their warnings about the catastrophic impacts of climate change coming sooner than previously predicted in the most recent report from the UN International Panel on Climate Change (UN IPCC) released on March 20, 2023. Temperatures are rising faster. Impacts are more severe and are hurting those most vulnerable and least responsible. They declare that the timeline to achieve net zero emissions is now 2040, not 2050.

The report urges an integrated approach to action that results in energy conservation, clean energy (a reduction of emissions), changes to land use and food systems (including wasting less food), and new urban planning to reduce demand for travel. In addition, adaptation measures must be taken, such as managed retreat from rising sea levels, smarter water management to cope with severe droughts and extreme floods; urban greening to reduce the heat island effect. These solutions will need to be tailored to local conditions and can be done in a way that reduces GHG emissions, and that improves human and ecosystem health. The report also calls for prioritizing equity.

Through decades of working on sustainability and climate action, I have tried to have a positive vision of the future and to maintain hope and courage. It is increasingly clear that the fossil fuel industry and the major investors who profit with them are committed to extracting as much oil and gas as they can, even if it results in the destruction of our planet and the life support systems on which we all depend. Their profit-first thinking and their insulation from climate catastrophes combine to let them plow ahead without a shred of compassion or a sense of responsibility for the well-being of others. Can democratic societies ban industries that pollute and poison our land, air, waters and atmosphere? What would it take to truly transform our economic, financial and social systems? Can we do it in time?

We frogs are relaxing in the gradually heating hot tub, distracting ourselves with streaming media and celebrity or political gossip. News shows are not covering the latest report because it might upset their funders, who also finance the US Chamber of Commerce, the National Association of Manufacturers and the fossil fuel industry. Those entities also give heavily to members of Congress, Presidential candidates, and state elected leaders. They fight or water down any climate legislation that could result in transformative change. So while another IPCC report calls us to wake up, too many are oblivious and just hitting the snooze button, hoping to return to the safety of their dreams and the lullabies of the consumption culture.