Thread by @SteB777

I want to start a thread to illustrate how beyond absurd is the failure of all mainstream politicians, governments etc, to address the climate and ecological crisis.

All these people claim they want to address the crisis, but they then block action. They are dishonest.
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For clarity, I take inspiration from the great @GretaThunberg. When she was repeatedly asked the stupid question by the media, about didn't she want to become a climate scientist to solve the climate crisis, Greta responded in a very wise way, which illustrates the problem.
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@GretaThunberg cut through all the crap, by accurately pointing out the climate crisis was actually solved over 30 years ago. Over 30 years ago, we very accurately knew what the cause of climate change was, how dangerous it was, and most importantly what the solutions were.
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We knew over 30 years ago that burning fossil fuels and the release of large volumes of CO2 into the atmosphere was driving climate change, and if continued, would make large areas of the Earth uninhabitable and destroy much life on Earth with our ability to sustain ourselves.
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We also knew over 30 years ago this was an ecological crisis, a sustainability crisis, not just a climate crisis. That either we addressed the whole crisis (ecology is a holistic view of the whole system, everything), or we addressed none of it at all.
theguardian.com/commentisfree/…
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As I say, we knew what the solutions to the climate component of the crisis was. We must rapidly and immediately wind down the burning of fossil fuels, transition to renewable energy and create a system that only used the energy/resources that could be produced sustainably.
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The solutions to both the climate component of the ecological crisis, and the overall sustainability crisis, were well known over 30 years ago. The evidence for this is the 1992 Rio Earth Summit, which acknowledged both the problems and solutions.
un.org/en/conferences…
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The 1992 Rio Earth Summit was by far the biggest international conference there has ever been (not merely environmental or climate conference - any international conference) attended by most leaders of countries, with all countries being represented.
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It was based on the UN report, Our Common Future (1987), produced by the Brundtland Commission in response to the complete failure to take any action on the situation outlined at the first UN Environment conference in 1972.
sustainabledevelopment.un.org/content/docume…
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In other words, the whole problem, and the necessary solutions were well known, and established by massive UN conferences, at which all parties agreed what the problem was, not merely over 30 years ago, but 50 years ago.
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Which highlights the stupidity of the questions the mainstream media asked @GretaThunberg about solving the climate and ecological crisis, as if the solutions were not known and as if there was some sort of doubt about what the problem was.
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The only obstacle to implementing the necessary solutions is the world is run by a cartel of obscenely rich oligarchs, billionaires and the like, who derive all their wealth, profit, status and power from fossil fuel burning and the unsustainable consumption of resources.
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Just underneath these oligarchs is another cartel. These are the CEOs and other executives, on gigantic salaries many orders of magnitude greater than all other salaries, who control the media, and every organization and institute in our societies, the 1%.
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It is also no great coincidence that the 1% of the richest people in the world, have gigantic carbon footprints, much larger than everyone else, and produce over twice the carbon emissions of the poorest 50%.
oxfam.org/en/press-relea…
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As @jrockstrom THE expert in living within the planetary boundaries points out, the richest 1% need to reduce their emissions by 30 fold to keep within survivable warming levels, whilst the poorest 50% could increase their emissions 3 fold.

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I should explain that this doesn't mean all those in the top 1% need a 30 fold cut in personal emissions, as it is an average for this demographic. So the very richest need gigantic cuts to their emissions, and those only just in the 1%, a proportionally smaller reduction.
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All I'm pointing out here, is why the most powerful people in our societies, who run and control everything, have a vested interest in not phasing out the burning of fossil fuels and ending the destructive over-exploitation of resources.
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So when the politicians, the media, billionaires, corporate interests, try to gaslight you into believing that the solutions aren't known, it's to maintain their greedy lifestyles, their gross overconsumption, their wealth, power and status. Not that the solutions are unknown
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Coming on to the current cost of living and energy crisis. If we had transitioned from a fossil fuel economy, to renewables 30 years ago, as should have happened, we would not be in this mess. Nor if we had embraced sustainability, would food be becoming unaffordable to many.
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Who is currently massively profiting from the current energy crisis, in a massive transfer of wealth from ordinary people to the very richest? Well, the oil and gas companies.
theguardian.com/business/2022/…
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Yes everyone, the oil and gas companies whose deadly trade has created the climate crisis, have not created massive pipeline into your bank accounts, drilling into them, so they can pump out your savings into their own bank accounts. Drill baby drill.
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Even worse, their billionaire oligarch chums who own the media and politicians, are gaslighting the public to believing these price rises are caused by green levies and Net Zero policy, which are actually the policy of same said cartels. It's the greed driving this crisis.
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The oil producers cartel, OPEC, has long been recognised as a cartel.

"Economists have characterized OPEC as a textbook example of a cartel that cooperates to reduce market competition ..."

That is why they are raking it in at the moment.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OPEC
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As I laid out before, the whole world is in fact run by a series of interlinked vested interest cartels, who run the world for themselves, whilst gaslighting the public into thinking they are doing it for them. They have the power and the money to gaslight the public
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This is how and why they have successfully gaslighted the public into mistakenly believing the solutions to the climate and ecological crisis are unknown, and that this crisis is created by everyone. If you want to know who is driving this crisis, follow the money trail.
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These powerful and wealthy liars running the system have inverted everything. They want you to believe that scientists created the concept of climate change, to make money. Just look at the salaries of scientists compared to oil company executives, and the oligarchs?
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These oligarchs, then want you to believe that populist right wing politicians in league with them, want people to believe that billionaires like Trump, and Boris Johnson who is best pals with these oligarchs, are fighting against the establishment for ordinary people.
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It is almost too absurd for words. All these populist right leaders, have only ever socialised with the rich and powerful all their lives, and they want people to believe they are fighting for them, against the elites. A rather obvious scam.
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However, when oligarchs own and run the media, its not surprising they can sell inverted truths, like the oil and gas companies making massive profits from the energy crisis are the saviours, and more oil and gas will save everyone.
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The bizarre things as regards the energy crisis, is we've been here before, in the 1970s energy crises, caused by wars, reduced supply of oil, spiralling prices, etc.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1970s_ene…
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You would have thought, given the lesson from the oil crises in the 1970s, that it wasn't a very good idea to be totally reliant on gas and oil being supplied by murderous dictators. If we relied on locally produced renewable energy, there would not be an energy crisis
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I'm utterly baffled in rational terms, why barely a decade later, the world did not take the opportunity to transition from fossil fuels to renewables. But when you realise oligarchs can't profit from that in the same way and they control our societies, it makes sense.
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So to conclude, we do know what the problem is and what the solutions are. It should also be obvious, from the empirical evidence, what the obstacle is. Oligarchs and the vested interests cartels and cliques of the 1%, currently bleeding everyone dry after rigging the system.
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@GeorgeMonbiot @GretaThunberg @JKSteinberger @ClimateHuman @ClimateDad77 @ExtinctionR @DoctorVive @ProfSteveKeen @KateRaworth @ChrisGPackham @jasonhickel @ClimateBen @ECOWARRIORSS @Fridays4future

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