ROTHENBURGER: More ‘blah, blah, blah’ in the fight to control climate change

That one-word switch was from “phasing out” global coal production to “phasing down.”

India, of course, is a major coal polluter, as are China and Russia, whose leaders didn’t even attend the conference. Keeping global warming within 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels feels more like a fond wish than a commitment.

Maybe the teenaged climate-change nag Greta Thunberg is right: it’s all just a bunch of “blah, blah, blah.”

“Net zero, blah, blah, blah. Climate neutral, blah, blah, blah,” she famously said in a speech a few weeks ago. “This is all we hear from our so-called leaders — words, words that sound great but so far, has led to no action or hopes and dreams. Empty words and promises.”

Certainly, the COP26 compromise crafted this past weekend doesn’t reflect the desperation in the Climate Change 2021 report released in August, which declared “a code red for humanity” and “the death knell” for fossil fuel.

The point is this: we all have a role to play, whether it be replacing our old gas guzzlers with hybrids and e-vehicles or taking the bus, or buying e-bikes to get around town, but no matter how much we as individuals try, it will mean nothing if leaders at the very top don’t start sharing the alarm sounded in the Climate Change report.

Otherwise, it’s all just blah blah blah.

I’m Mel Rothenburger, the Armchair Mayor.

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Mel Rothenburger is a former mayor of Kamloops and a retired newspaper editor. He is a regular contributor to CFJC Today, publishes the ArmchairMayor.ca opinion website, and is a director on the Thompson-Nicola Regional District board. He can be reached at mrothenburger@armchairmayor.ca.

by Mel Rothenburger

ROTHENBURGER: More ‘blah, blah, blah’ in the fight to control climate change

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