Parochialism at its worst

I am so excited to see that politicians are finally starting to talk again about the science of climate change. There was so much momentum 4 or 5 years ago, and the community was starting to realise that it wasn’t something we could stick our heads in the sand about. People started to understand that rampant industrialism and consumerism was causing our planet significant damage. That WE were responsible.

Then it disappeared and in the interim years we have had very little science and a whole lot of misinformation. Dressed up as concern for the financial and social impact of decreasing pollution and carbon emissions, it included insidious refutation of the science, seeking to confuse and obscure the consensus of the scientific community.

And Australians fell for it. Big time. We have gone so far backwards in our understanding and acceptance of the science and our fear of the possible short term financial and social costs of switching to cleaner greener power, that the recent update and concise presentation of recent scientific information about climate change – the Climate Change Commission’s Report entitled “The Critical Decade” – elicited a greater number of misinformed and ignorant comments than I’ve ever seen. And the two themes that seem to keep cropping up – apart from the standard “the world’s climate has been changing for millennia and it’s natural” – are that the financial burden is too great for our society to bear, and that Australia is so small in total global emissions that any change would not only be insignificant globally but leave us hanging high and dry alone.

These two points seem to reflect to me all that is undesirable about Australian parochialism. Yes we have a wonderful laid back view and pace of life and a she’ll be right mentality. But we have allowed ourselves to become so parochial as to think of nothing but ourselves and our hip pockets. So narrow-minded and guided by fear and loathing as to shirk all that is difficult and different. So focused on short-term costs and benefits that we are unable to lift our gaze to the future. It breaks my heart.

I may not be an economist, but even I can see the potential for great financial and social benefit to our society if we make the switch to green energy. A shift to manufacturing and producing products such as solar panels and wind turbines represents jobs and a boost to the economy. A greater focus on research and development of cleaner and greener transport, manufacturing methods, fuels and other forms of energy generation would place us at the forefront of this area. A price on carbon (whether you call it a tax or otherwise) is essential to wean big business off high carbon emitting methods, and would be even more effective if coupled with incentives to switch to greener methods. Which would be easier to do if we had the industry and resources here to do it. All of these things go hand in hand, and though there is likely to be a short term rise in the cost of electricity and fuel and goods, the long-term benefits are undeniable.

Recent arguments that it doesn’t make sense for Australia to lead the world on a switch to clean energy and on pricing carbon are now void and redundant. We can’t and won’t, because the UK and some states in the USA are already doing this. It is currently being considered in the EU. At the rate we’re going we’ll be late to the party and have lost every chance at the advantages of being at the front of the pack. The fact that this argument is still trotted out shows the ignorance amongst the community, either innocent or wilful, about what else is happening in the world, and simply provides a paper veil to hide behind so they can either stick their heads back in the sand or conceal even greater scepticism in the guise of seeming rational and concerned.

It’s time we as Australians woke up to ourselves and this herd mentality. Is it so hard to not only think for ourselves but to also take action? To inform ourselves through reading and critical thinking, and to start to think long-term not only for our sake but for the sake of every future generation. It’s time to take off the blinkers that politicians and much of mass media would have us wear to keep us pliable and gullible. It’s time for us to grow up as a country and to take action rather than sit in the corner like a sullen teenager crying “he’s not doing it so why should I”? Parochialism can have its benefits, helping a community feel more cohesive and a sense of identity and common ground, but at the moment we are a greedy lot who think only of ourselves, hate change and difference, and collectively can’t think past tomorrow.

We need to change, before our climate does irrevocably.