President Trump intends to unleash a timber cutting spree within the U.S. and has already given oil companies permission to continue ravaging our environment with the instruction “Drill, Baby, Drill”. These follow the worst wildfires in U.S history with an estimated $250bn in damages in California. This was the gold medal crisis – 26 other recent events in the US each caused over $1bn worth of damage. As a “footnote” the American butterfly population has declined by 22 per cent recently. .
Meanwhile Toyota, formerly epitomised by its Prius model which seemed to lead the pack as a hybrid, has now emerged as the American car industry’s largest backer of climate denier politicians in Congress aiding 207 of their political campaigns. “Public Citizen”, a reliable publication, tells us that Toyota gave $1m for Trump’s inauguration to encourage his calamitous playing with climate disaster.
At the same time companies like ExxonMobil, Chevron and Shell have over decades been financing campaigns against the “polluter pays” principle and enhancing methods of corporate tax avoidance. This has kept the California state government short of upto $146m p.a. so policies to reduce the likelihood of fires have suffered.
Now the UK’s biggest oil company BP has announced an incredible about turn which, were it proposed by a political party would have all the media screaming for weeks. Previously they had planned to cut their fossil fuel production by 40 per cent by 2030; now it is to be only 25 per cent. Why? BP’s share holders’ investments have grown by only 36 per cent in the last 5 years. What percentage of us have had our incomes grow by that much in 5 years? But BP has to keep up with the competition: Shell’s investors have seen their investment grow by 82 per cent and Exxon’s by 160 per cent in the same period.
Meanwhile the grossly unbalanced wealth “distribution” in the UK is beyond comprehension. “Our” billionaires gained on average £35m per day during 2024 (Oxfam figures). Globally the billionaires made $5.7bn per day while 3.5 bn of the world’s population remained in poverty last year (the same figure as in 1990). Money dominates our world as never before. Should we not use some of this wealth to begin to progress morally and environmentally?
A two per cent tax on this individual wealth and windfall taxes on the companies would do so much to help with this poverty chasm. And how that tax money would encourage us to take some steps to soften the climate damage that lies so close “around the corner”.
A very recent study by 2 UK universities and Water Aid has identified the “whiplash” pattern which becomes ever more obvious. Over 40 years 52 per cent of major world cities have faced increasingly dangerous floods while 44% face more frequent droughts. I in 5 of these cities face drought or floods. One “minor” aspect, among so many others, is the effect of the floods on sewage systems. UK residents on the south west coast know all about that given our frequent beach experiences.
Do “we”, nationally and globally, saunter towards an ever more hideous capitalism which has what as its goal? And a climate madness that brings how much destruction even in the next decade? At present we tinker around the edges while our American friends give the tiller of state to Trump and the billionaires.
Is it to be the “doom” reaction? Too late for any improvement – and let incalculable “wealth” remain the apparent measure of success. Is it the activist reaction: peaceful demonstrations which are, surely, a constructive attempt to shame and inspire governments and people into helping ourselves to avoid the worst?
A mix of the two ( at least the doomers accept that it’s happening, unlike the inhuman deniers too scared to face reality)?
We are halfway through the decade which must be the turning point. Does no one else feel that there might just be a new form of revolution (a turning) in the air?
Jeremy Hall
Crockernwell
Exeter
