I Challenge You to Find an Environmentalist Who Doesn’t Argue Against Sustainability
I just returned from another event by environmentalists. As usual, they promote climate most, mainly through emissions, but also through ESG and DEI.
As usual, they promote anything but sustainability. When they talked about circular economy stuff, they talk about mining waste streams, but not ending nonrenewable inputs. When they talk about plastic, they talk about increasing recycling rates, but not that its mere production creates pollution that we have no way of rending benign, not now nor in any plan on any meaningful level.
You get the picture.
They usually talk in bubbles that don’t challenge that they lack a vision to reach sustainability. Many of their proposals don’t help and often accelerate problems or at least distract from actually reaching sustainability by leading people to believe that not sustainable is sustainable. I don’t engage when they’re in such bubbles because they respond with talking points that they think win. As I wrote before, Environmentalists argue against sustainability with me.
The person I sat next to works on something related to sustainability at the UN. I mentioned that my book Sustainability Simplified starts by showing the UN saying we all have to become more sustainable then violating their words. She acknowledged the UN’s poor performance on sustainability (she might read this post. If so, I hope she lets me know if I misstated anything).
When I got to talking about fossil fuels being unsustainable, as best I could tell, she recognized they were, but then began the usual litany of today’s equivalent of the legitimizing myths that Thomas Jefferson said, augmented by John C. Calhoun, George Fitzhugh, James Hammond, and their peers: but I have to see family, but I want, but I want, me, me, me. I suggested that her actions affect others but she wants to fly, whoever pays the price be damned.
I defy you to find an environmentalist, climate activist, or the like who promotes sustainability, let alone themselves living sustainably. I bet you can’t find one. If you do, please share a link to their work.
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