We are all screwed

This is my little rant. Many current world leaders have very little interest in trying to fix or at least help the issue of climate change and possibility of mass extinction as a result of extreme weather and climate change. We as younger people and our possible descendants will have to pay for the mistakes of the corruption of those before us who currently have no interest but the prospect of turning a profit.
I shall give you also an example close to home. When the UK was deciding to leave/ remain in the EU the leave campaign made the claim that we send £350 000 000 to the EU every week and why don't we put in into the NHS. WHERE IS THAT MONEY NOW?!? False claims to get us to leave.
And SO many of them lie and i feel like i cant trust them and things are only getting worse. In a couple of years when i can vote i might as well flush it down the toilet as all of them say the same words in different orders in hopes of appearing different. We are in the messed up times. I am ready to just watch it all burn while I sit in what's left of the forests and laugh. Hehe.

WHERE IS THAT MONEY NOW?!? False claims to get us to leave.

As one last thing though, do you honestly believe the world is about to become an uninhabitable waste land from running your v8 a bit too much? Its one of the key reasons people have started to rubbish young peoples claims on climate emergencies and so on. Preaching the death of us all despite no appreciable evidence to support that. Its one thing to have worse weather (or better, depending on your location anyway) its quite another to list the apocalypse as a real outcomne.

It doesn't help either when all the suggestions about climate change make our lives worse and cost more instead of having better efficient technological solutions when they can be applied.

Is that true though? I cycle rather than drive. I'm fitter and brighter at the start of the day and I save a fortune in petrol not to mention the fact it is quicker to cycle than drive. Win win win.

We have also invested in insulation, the cost saving of which have paid for the original work and we now save money.

We also eat locally sourced food if possible. More expensive but better quality and careful planning means we throw nothing away.

Not really sure I accept that things have to get worse. Just different.

They don’t have to get worse, although try telling me cycling isn’t worse than my nice comfy cars when its 2c and raining heavy, but the kind of things we, and by we I mean governments, focus on today are more about optics than any meaningful attempt to save the world and that’s the major problem.

Quite agree on the cycling in the rain. But for me, making big changes is about lots of people doing little things. So if everyone who could (which is probably most people) cycled / walked / public transported to work / school once a week, that would make a massive difference and those who drove 4/5 times a week would face no traffic whatsoever because there would be a reduction in traffic and pollution by 20%.

I also think it is a bit disingenuous to suggest governments are doing nothing. True, we haven't had a functioning government for the last 7 or 8 years now, but prior to that, and no doubt when the next government comes in, much was being done and still is. 20 years ago, the majority of our energy came from coal, gas and nuclear. Now at least half comes from wind. We have also seen creeping legislation that has required houses and cars to be built to better standards and of course don't forget consumer power. People are choosing to buy more locally produced / ethically produced products. I note for example that ASOS, the home of fast fashion is seeing its share price freefall whilst Vinted, the home of second hand clothes seems to be able to do no wrong.

It’s all a problem of sustainability and feasibility. Yeah, we could reduce emissions by a lot if we all walked everywhere but the car is king for a reason, it’s the best, it’s the most convenient, its progress. Don’t get me wrong if everyone else decided to bike, walk or bus I would be ecstatic since I would have the best drives ever but I wouldn’t be joining you lol. To be clear I’m not some anti-environment crazy, my house is powered, pretty much fully, by my own solar energy for example but I’m not willing to discard progress in the pursuit of it, if anything my solar panels and batteries are progress since I haven’t had a power outage even when the rest of the area did.

Just to correct you I never said they were doing nothing, I said they focus on optics over results. Sometimes doing what’s best for optics aligns with what gives results. So, in the case of increasing renewable energy, that’s a good thing, its green and provides some measure of energy independence which is the more important imo. Providing it doesn’t destroy natural habitats etc I’m all for it. I’d just like to address your claim of 50% wind though, that’s just not accurate I’m afraid. Based on data from National Grid, ONS and the Gov Renewable accounts for around 35-40% of our total energy generation, and this includes biomass, “zero-carbon” accounts for around 55-60%, which includes nuclear. To keep this as short as I can I won’t go into everything but a simple way to look at it is, outside of the push for EV’s which really isn’t a long-term sustainable idea when you look into it, all “western”, for lack of a better term, governments have done is shift where on the planet the “bad stuff” comes out of, they haven’t reduced it. We have as a nation, but that’s because all the really dirty stuff we just get from some country that doesn’t care and you can see this in how global emissions are rising year on year. It’s a game of virtue signalling which isn’t really helping the planet, and it’s not good for our nations in the long term.

Exactly.
EX30 Ultra ftw.

It’s all a problem of sustainability and feasibility. Yeah, we could reduce emissions by a lot if we all walked everywhere but the car is king for a reason, it’s the best, it’s the most convenient, its progress.

"That was a thoroughly enjoyable experience. I must do that again." Because that is what I do say to myself every time I cycle in.

Maybe your a masochist.

They don’t have to get worse, although try telling me cycling isn’t worse than my nice comfy cars when its 2c and raining heavy, but the kind of things we, and by we I mean governments, focus on today are more about optics than any meaningful attempt to save the world and that’s the major problem.

Nah - I love exercise. It makes me feel good. I appreciate the same isn't true of everyone. My wife takes no pleasure from exercise.

Finally... it's just fun being outside, feeling the breeze run past your face, fresh air etc...

Bike tech is pretty basic at the end of the day and even a relatively cheap basic hybrid (the sort of bike you could pick up second hand for c£100) would be all you need for commutes/utility cycling etc... An expensive road bike is only worth an extra 2-3mph over a hybrid - that's the sort of difference that makes less than 5 minutes on a 20-30 min commute.

Yes there'd be excitement on a motorcycle or scooter too (I have a motorcycle license but not a motorcycle any more), but they're more expensive to buy, fuel, service, register, insure etc... My urban commute would be slower because I wouldn't be able to use cycle lanes or shared pathways to get to work & I'd lose the exercise too.

The cycle-to-work scheme isn't a tax dodge - it's a specific scheme set up under tax legislation to subsidize bicycles, because of the substantial health and wider benefits of increasing active travel.

Most bikes are rubbish and so are the roads and can't be considered a replacement to a car and they **** everyone else off. My eco suggestion would be a one or two seater vehicle that ran on renewables.


You would get that on a scooter or motorcycle.

p.s proper bicycles are also expensive and the poorest don't even benefit from the tax dodging cycle to work scheme.