Climate Change Is Real

The fact that the title of this post is mildly controversial in current discourse is mind blowing. The effort going on to ensure that there is doubt about climate change and its negative effects on the planet we call home is disgusting. So let’s get this out of the way first. Climate change is real, obviously, and the human race impacts on that climate for the worse. Annnnnnd we need to do something about it.

So what do we do? On a personal level the scale of the problem looks to be insurmountable. And surely the small stuff that I do isn’t going to make a difference at all because China is burning through fossil fuels like there’s no tomorrow, blah, blah, blah. But surely that’s just an excuse that we can tell ourselves so we don’t have to inconvenience ourselves. Why should we bother when they don’t? I understand and have indulged in that mindset before. However I would prefer our government, our country, to actually lead in something, set the example. I mean this could be how the United Kingdom gets that nostalgic view of itself back of being great. But you know, actually doing some good, rather than languishing off the back of raping and pillaging. We can be encouraged to make small changes over time to help make things better, as well as the government making the larger sweeping changes. And government can actually do some governing and ensure that the fossil fuel industries plays its part.

Protest is an inherent part of our democracy and this right is being whittled away by our current government. One of the first plays I acted in was about the Suffragettes and their struggles to fight for the right to vote for women. Emily Davison ran in front of the king’s horse at the 1913 Epsom Derby and this made news all around the world. And Just Stop Oil is doing something similar although altogether less dangerous now. Snooker, tennis, cricket, the Chelsea Flower show have all been protested by this group in their attempts to open the eyes of the wider public to their cause. I don’t much care for those sporting events apart from the cricket. It’s a big Ashes summer and I’ve been loving watching England play Australia for the small urn. However, when Just Stop Oil ran onto the pitch throwing their orange powder everywhere, it didn’t irk me. If the government won’t listen or sit down and start a dialogue on seeing through ‘green initiatives’ and if they continue to minimise the way in which we can protest, what do we all expect?

Here’s something that I don’t agree with though and I can’t believe I’m about to sympathise with George Fucking Osborne. I do not agree with the ‘protester’ who threw orange confetti over Osborne and his wife as they left the church immediately after their wedding vows. It’s their wedding day and a private event, leave them the fuck alone. If you want to protest at his work or if he’s making a public speech, have at, but not on his wedding day. Now apparently this protest was not officially organised by Just Stop Oil, however they were happy it happened and did not condone it, but my advice would be to stay away from private family events, even if they are for despicable public figures.

And ultimately I think this will be the last time that I discuss the protests and not the planet wide crisis itself. I think that these groups do need to have a little think about picking their battles, but I also believe that I’m not against them and actually maybe I need to lend my efforts in my own way to help.