this post was submitted on 19 Sep 2024
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Sure, there's plenty that could be done, but chances are nobody that has the power to affect change is going to start taking substantial action on it until things get absolutely catastrophic. I imagine we'll some sort of environmental 9/11 moment, something like a major American city gets flooded and rendered permanently uninhabitable, and then suddenly everyone will be like, "Holy shit, this is bad, like bad-bad." And then we'll start seeing actual serious action on it. Before that though, it's something that will see half-hearted action or non-binding resolutions or platitudes or wishy-washy carbon offset schemes, but little that actually forces companies to stop polluting. We see more forceful action taken against environmental protesters than against corporate polluters.
It's certainly true that politicians and the owning class oppose environmental action very strongly, but that doesn't make it hopeless. We, the working class, are the basis of their power and wealth; we concretely have the power to force them to cooperate or topple them entirely. Clearly, the enviromental movements aren't that strong yet, but they are getting stronger and the decaying environment will provide a basis for accelerating their growth as more people like you and I begin to take these issues seriously.