Climate action is like a paradise…Imran Jan

Everybody wants to end up in heaven. But who is willing to die to get there? Climate action is no different. Everyone wants to tackle climate change but nobody is willing to sacrifice whatever is dear to them toward that end. Who is willing to give up eating beef, have less children, watch how much water they consume in the shower, sell a beautiful house they own near a beach, give up the profits of cattle farming and grow more vegetables instead, just so that the planet could be saved for their grandchildren?

Most importantly, who is willing to buy overpriced electricity and electric vehicles just because they care about the planet? I care about the planet and I worry about climate change. And I own a Tesla. However not for those reasons. I bought it because I wanted to avoid paying for fuel. And that is how the minds of the general public work. If paradise required a visa, most of the global population would have lined up. But it requires the ultimate price.

The major corporations around the world are not showing one bit of willingness to sacrifice on their profits and investments just because theres noise that the emissions they produce in their operations would heat up the planet to a point of no return to normalcy, whatever that might mean now. Every electric car owner I have talked to about their vehicle, all the praise they have for the vehicle has to do with how cheap it has become for them to go from point A to point B and how they stand out in the crowd for owning an electric car.

Not a single person I asked about their electric car has told me that they are contributing toward the fight against climate change. So many solar power generating companies are propping up nowadays in America. When you look at the details of their cost even after subtracting the tax rebate, youd realise that the system is not even designed where it could encourage people to abandon the dirty electricity and go solar. The monthly payments for installing solar panels on your rooftop in America are far more than even the highest monthly bills of summer time using the fossil fuel generated electricity. Decarbonising the grid is very expensive for people and expecting them to spend more for a better planet is just not going to work. Major US corporations outsource their customer support service usually to India not because they care about the employment figures of India but because they want to minimise their cost and increase their profits.

Likewise, consumers also buy Chinese made goods and sometimes even Chinese knock-off designer items not because they believe that they should boycott expensive brands for their human rights violations but because they want to buy it cheap. Some of the proudest Americans I know lie about their income in order to avoid paying taxes to the very country they hold so dear. Doesnt mean they dont love America or love it conditionally. It simply means people are wired to factor their own benefit into everything. Whats in it for me? I witness a strange animosity from the right wing white Americans toward Tesla cars. It is a strange phenomenon because these are usually the same people who like Elon Musk for his mainstream media bashing and Republican party leaning.

Just like patriotism stops right where income and taxes start, this redneck advocacy for the Chevy truck is also going to end right when it starts benefiting them financially. Market driven norms made it attractive to create more energy, which led to climate change. Market driven norms must make it attractive to create clean energy and live a green lifestyle. Vice sells more than books. It must be attractive to go electric and solar. Saving the planet based on

Courtesy The Express Tribune