When Will We Have Our Collective Lightbulb Moment? (If Ever)

Politicians listen to voters (supposedly) and companies listen to customers (via spending habits at least) so wouldn’t you say that it is us regular folks who will be the driving force behind a concerted effort to tackle climate change?

That may be the logical way to look at things but I often find myself wondering whether this is actually a good thing or a bad thing. I mean most people in this country (or any other developed country) are aware of the theory behind climate change and may even believe they are seeing its effects firsthand in the form of longer droughts, unusually cold springs (like this year) and invasive species of wildlife but how many actually care enough to change the way they live?

Not enough is the answer.

Even among my own friends with whom I try to talk about climate change now and again, the consensus is that there are more important things to worry about right now such as the cost of living, enjoying ourselves, leading a healthy life or simply experiencing the world in all its glory.

It got me thinking – can we realistically expect there to come a time when mainstream attitudes change?

To answer this question you have to look into your crystal ball and figure out whether times will ever get so tough for us that we consider action on climate change as a priority.

This would rely on us being able to directly link the tough times with the change in our climate which is not always an easy thing to do because of the gradual nature of the change. Sure food prices are likely to keep rising and our energy bills will do likewise but because it won’t all happen overnight, we’ll probably blame the companies charging us and the government for not doing more.

Will we ever point the finger of blame back at ourselves? Will we accept that it is we who have inadvertently driven up utility bills by not calling on the government to invest heavily in renewable energy and we who have contributed to new weather extremes that disrupt farming and force food prices up?

No, I can’t see this happening. We hate to blame ourselves for anything. You just have to listen in on a conversation for 5 minutes and you’ll probably hear someone moaning about somebody or something else. It’s always them and never us; it’s always their fault and not ours.

Well, this time we will all have to take responsibility. We are all to blame.

So to answer my own question – I don’t think we’ll ever truly have a collective lightbulb moment. And that scares me.

If the general population aren’t going to act then what impetus is there for governments and companies to change their ways?

Next time…a more positive tone…!

Steve (156 Posts)

I am chief writer and editor on Green Steve. Blogging since 2011, I like to delve into a wide number of topics to help people reduce their carbon footprint. You should follow me on Twitter here. And add me to your Google+ circles here.

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