Climate change: ‘We’re all part of the problem’

It’s hard to imagine what kind of hippie caveman lifestyle one would need to lead in order to advocate for clean energy without being a hypocrite, writes Kenji Sato.

When I arrived in New Town on Thursday morning to cover the Extinction Rebellion protests, I found myself being scolded by some environmental activists.

“You’re part of the problem, you know,” one chided me.

“I’m sure you’re a nice man, but you work for Rupert Murdoch.”

Later that day when their publicity stunt was splashed over social media, the Facebook commentariate were quick to accuse them, too, of being part of the problem.

Some opined they were hypocrites, since presumably many of them drive to work in their fossil fuel guzzling automobiles.

In reply, some activists said they cycle to work thank you very much, only to be smugly informed that their bikes were probably made of some sort of hydrocarbon derived from petrochemicals.

Labor MP Brian Mitchell declared the protesters should be banned from public transport, since buses chug down their fair share of petrol.

Rhetorical checkmate.

REBELS: Three women and one man have been arrested following a protest in New Town. Picture: Kenji Sato

It’s hard to imagine what kind of hippie caveman lifestyle one would need to lead in order to advocate for clean energy without being a hypocrite.

You could walk everywhere, I suppose, but then you’d burn extra calories and need to refuel by eating a steak, thus implicating yourself in the carbon-intensive livestock industry.

Even if you were a vegan who only drank organic soy milk filtered through a hipster’s beard, Richard Flanagan would tell you that you’re contributing to the deforestation of South America.

The supply chain makes hypocrites of us all, putting us only three degrees of separation away from a tyrannical Middle-Eastern oil baron or Alaskan seal clubber.

I do not believe this game of “tu quoque” is a valid form of criticism, but there is one criticism that I do agree with: the sheer pointlessness of it all.

It’s hard to believe that chaining oneself to a road and annoying a bunch of truckies will change any politican’s mind or lead to any meaningful political change.

A cynic would say it is not meant to change anyone’s mind, but intended to signal their own virtuousness far and wide.

I would not go that far: I have no doubt the people I met on that day were completely sincere in curbing greenhouse emissions.

If we want to prevent climate change then we need to face the brutal reality: we’re all part of the problem.