Moving beyond outdated politics

Protectors of the environment have for decades called for a global carbon tax, and a penalty on those that don’t implement it. Without any result. But now an economist has been recognized by the Nobel committee for his work demonstrating this same thing. What a change when the message comes from a specialist, and maybe we will hear them a little bit better.

But it’s obvious in the end. Today we are not allowed to throw garbage out of the window. We pay a tax to deal with and recycle it. How can we imagine that we can put as much CO2 as we want in the atmosphere without paying something for the cost of it. We will look back in the future and say how is it possible to have had no price or tax on carbon for such a long time. We have to correct this old injustice. 

This week’s IPCC report has given us a clear warning to address a major threat to the very survival of humankind. I find it wonderful to have a common goal to federate all nations to work toward over the next decade, but reactions to it have unfortunately been polarizing. We absolutely need to move beyond an outdated politics that uses climate as a political tool, that suggests those seeking to protect the environment are out of touch with the real needs of people and more concerned about those abroad rather than those at home. This kind of politics is used by those who wish to return to their comfort zone of a politics-as-usual defined by right versus left. Ironically, these “dinosaurs” will hurt those vulnerable groups they claim to look out for. But it is they that are out of touch, refusing to recognize the ecological transition as an opportunity to make our society more equitable and our industry more profitable thanks to the modernization of energy infrastructures. Only this will allow to elevate the standard of living planet-wide, not trying to hook themselves in the past.