I’m sure pictures like this are familiar to you: deforestation, burning oil rigs and nuclear meltdowns etc. These disasters will however affect the lives of everyone in the future, disasters which if we don’t stop now will only get worse and worse and more frequent. These disasters are caused not just by the big companies/organisations which are worth billions, but by us, the people who have come to rely on finite fuels and products that come out of mono-cultures in our everyday lives.
Monocultures have a devastating and long lasting effect on the habitats of countless species which had previously lived in whichever area has been changed, this causes serious crisis in the balance of the food chain and in the end the problems in the food chain will reach us and every other creature which as at the top of their respective food chain. I am ashamed to say that the idea of no chicken is something I’m very afraid of. The problem with finite fuels is just as, if not more simple than the problem with monocultures.
The word finite has the opposite meaning to the word infinite, so finite fuels will run out, (I’m trying not to sound too much like one of those condescending teachers that we’ve all had and hated) but then what do we do? If we run out of coal, oil and natural gases before we find a sustainable, logistically realistic solution to the finite fuels, then the answer to the previous question is very simple! Our entire way of life would collapse; we would not have the capability to drive cars, fly planes, and have central heating or air conditioning and most importantly electricity. If we lose electricity, the quality of life for every single person who currently has access to it in the world, will drop astronomically.
This all seems very doom and gloom, and for a very good reason, but you have to look at the root of it and look into why nothing is being done to stop the pending problems. The answer is AMERICA, as with nearly all the other big problems in the world the USA seems to be playing a central role in making it worse. The US government as ever don’t like us to know the full truth and there have been issues in the past, when they and big oil companies have funded scientists to go against all the findings we have for these problems concerning the environment. The reason why they do this is capitalism, which is simply a fancy word for greed, it’s at this point I feel like I should quote Fidel Castro “My idea, as the whole world knows, is that the capitalist system now doesn’t work either for the United States or the world, driving it from crisis to crisis, which are each time more serious.” This raises a very good point, the reason nothing is being done is because America, China and the Middle East wants to reap every tiny little penny they can out of the finite fuel industry.
In the UK, there is a problem in how we are being taught about these environmental issues (just as there is a problem in how we are being taught everything else, thanks to Michael Gove), instead of just being told all the horrendous problems facing those in Bangladesh and the island nations of the Pacific, we should be taught small ways in which WE can make a difference. Or in a more general sense we could be taught practical skills, I know shocking, people being active, what a crazy idea. I do think learning basic gardening/farming skills, something that the human race has and still relies on to survive is not a bad thing. Getting people interested in working in something like the primary industry has positive effects on the economy and back to the point of this article the environment.
In conclusion, I believe we should brush aside the surprisingly common belief that all people who believe in trying to help the environment are just hippies and tree huggers, and as a society (desperately trying not to sound too much like a communist or an idealist) do small things.
If everyone does something small like making sure to turn off their lights or getting an extra layer of insulation (I could go on) then as a country we would make a big difference. To quote Tesco, “Every little helps!”
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