If, like me, you watch old movies, you can't help but notice the amount of smoking that people used to do. In films today you rarely get a shot of a beautiful man or woman, looking fabulous whilst puffing away on a cigarette. How and why did this change occur?
Well, now, we all know that cigarettes are bad for you, the premature death of millions is undisputed . So smoking is now seen as a pleasant in the short term, but stupid in the long term, activity. It's not sexy anymore. Even increasing government regulations is not disputed as a right of freedom issue. Societies understand that less smoking is good and sensible.
Greta Thunberg, because she learnt early, is young and so unhindered by societies established norms, has taken it upon herself to highlight to everyone the stupidity of burning stuff and wreaking the planet. Her current message is that if people learn about climate change and its effects, they not be able to do anything but act wisely and will swiftly change their lifestyles. This may be a sound long term strategy but to achieve the rapid change in direction that is required, ie to change our entire civilization from one based on dirty fossil fuels, to one based on renewables that needs a completely different infrastructure in a few decades, I think her efforts are admirable, but naive.
People can't be forced to learn, they can ignore the truth, or choose to delude themselves with excuses not to change or simply not care about the world or the future. They can continue enjoying their current way of life regardless of the consequences to others. We have to be honest, we all act in our own self interest. We, on the whole, put our self first, our family or tribe second and the every one else last. Why should I pay for heat pumps in my house, or buy a new expensive electric car, or give up meat sausages or foreign holidays to exotic places, or pay higher taxes for renewable energy? Why should we all do what that kid with some funny syndrome says?
Greta and many others like her know that because the consequences of continuing to dump so much CO2 into the planets atmosphere will mean continually rising global temperatures and just by watching the news or weather forecasts, its becoming obvious that we have no choice, we have to change, we have to stop burning stuff. But how?
I think the change in smoking habits holds the key. We must make being green a sexy, high status intelligent lifestyle choice. Being a smoker is now seen as stupid, it may be pleasant in the short term, but in the long term it will kill you (it killed my Grandfather). It is anti social as it harms the health those close to you and shows you are selfish and don't care about others. Smoking is expensive demonstrating you are unintelligent as you waste your money on harming your self for a short term hit and don't use your money for better things. How many of these statements also apply to being non green? We need to socially stigmatise, fossil fuels, excessive consumption, wrecking the planet etc etc.
In the past comments in every day conversation often included "Are you still smoking, you aught to give that up you know". Today we need to hear, "you've still got a gas boiler!" or " you still driving an SUV, how naughty" Or "we don't have to take our kids on a far away holiday to have fun" or how about "I don't need to take Johnny to fantasy world in America, he knows I love him already" or " I love a man in an electric car, it shows he cares for me, my children and the planet". This may be crude but I bet it will be effective ( I nicked all these ideas from current adverts).
A top celeb showing people round their wonderful zero carbon home will also get people thinking about their own obsolete energy inefficient homes. So who could this be?
Once this trend is set in motion, others wont want to miss out and will switch. Companies will fall over themselves to align their products to a green caring intelligent selfless lifestyle. Change will be rapid and unstoppable once it gets underway.
To a certain extent this is already happening, but the process must be pushed harder so those in power truly believe in it. This will stop things like new coal mines being opened (as no one will invest in them). Nicotinoids being approved (as it will lose significant votes at election), or lack of investment in a hydrogen industry (Governments will want to show they are wise).
This can be done - the movies prove it.
