Climate delayers demand perfection from activists or seize the opportunity to shout hypocrisy. But individuals cannot fully align until the structural challenges of the climate emergency are addressed.
In recent years, it has become increasingly difficult for opponents of climate action to maintain a position of outright denial.
Some people do, but in such cases, such as Mark Lynas clarifiedwith more than 99% likely to agree that human-caused climate change is happening, many have turned to procrastination politics.
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At this point, climate delays are a familiar approach to opponents of the move. For the “procrastinators,” making big changes is just “too expensive.”
This argument is easily refuted by facts about the devastating environmental, social and economic costs of climate breakdown. But the politics of denial and delay never depend on reason or rationality. This is the ultimate expression of short-termism.
Against the backdrop of scientific consensus, emerging climate activism and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s (IPCC) regular reminders of the dangers facing humanity, there is a tactic favored by procrastinators, deniers and opponents of action — False charges.
Boasting hypocrisy is an easy “go” argument for those who want to use it. This is the “how can you possibly be taken seriously in the climate while flying?!” argument.Or Piers Morgan blasting George Monbiot for his stance on the need to reduce meat consumption because he was seen wearing Leather shoes and leather strap.
It’s a simple strategy. It demands perfection from those who demand and fight for change. It also conveniently personalizes a basic set of structural questions. It sidesteps the arguments being made and instead insists that those who make them should not be trusted or listened to because they are brazen hypocrites.
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But here’s the thing – we all live in an imperfect world. The nature of our economic and social systems means that it is nearly impossible not to engage in some high-carbon activities.
It’s fine for a few to decide to stay off the grid and get as close to the earth as possible, but if you want to affect change and drive real structural solutions, you have to become more actively a part of mainstream society.
Everyone who advocates for keeping fossil fuels in the ground or reducing meat consumption — or for that matter any other important aspect of tackling the climate emergency — is going to contradict themselves at some point. But the fact that someone flies twice a year doesn’t affect the accuracy of their argument.
