{"id":411,"date":"2022-11-07T18:24:52","date_gmt":"2022-11-07T18:24:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/guncoupons.net\/?p=411"},"modified":"2022-11-07T18:24:52","modified_gmt":"2022-11-07T18:24:52","slug":"a-technologically-advanced-society-is-choosing-to-destroy-itself-its-both-fascinating-and-horrifying-to-watch-the-outdoor-journal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/guncoupons.net\/?p=411","title":{"rendered":"A Technologically Advanced Society is Choosing to Destroy Itself. It\u2019s Both Fascinating and Horrifying to\u00a0Watch \u2013 The Outdoor Journal"},"content":{"rendered":"


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By Christopher Wright<\/a>, University of Sydney<\/a><\/em>; Daniel Nyberg<\/a>, University of Newcastle<\/a><\/em>, and Vanessa Bowden<\/a>, University of Newcastle<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

As world leaders assemble for the United Nations climate change conference (COP27<\/a>) in Egypt, it\u2019s hard to be optimistic the talks will generate any radical departure from the inexorable rise<\/a> in global carbon emissions over the past two centuries.<\/p>\n

After all, before last year\u2019s Glasgow talks, experts warned the summit was the world\u2019s last chance<\/a> to limit global warming to 1.5\u2103 this century. And yet, a UN report<\/a> last week found even if all nations meet their climate goals this decade, the planet would still heat by a catastrophic 2.5\u2103.<\/p>\n

There were hopes the global pandemic might have shifted the world\u2019s economies from their fossil fuel dependence as lockdowns reduced energy consumption, and progressive politicians proposed alternative policy agendas<\/a>.<\/p>\n

But after borders reopened, our fossil fuel addiction returned with a vengeance. In fact, the International Energy Agency projects<\/a> net income for oil and gas producers will double in 2022 to an alarming US$4 trillion.<\/p>\n

As social scientists, this is both horrifying and fascinating to observe. How is it<\/a> that a technologically advanced society could choose to destroy itself by failing to act to avert a climate catastrophe?<\/p>\n

Our inaction is condemning today\u2019s children to life on a hostile planet.<\/span>
David Cliff\/AP<\/span><\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

We\u2019ve had decades to act<\/h2>\n

Like watching a slow-motion train crash, the world\u2019s leading climate scientists have for decades warned of the dangers<\/a> of ever-increasing greenhouse gas emissions.<\/p>\n

Political and corporate leaders knew of the threat more than a decade before it was key public knowledge. Back in 1977<\/a>, United States President Jimmy Carter was briefed on the possibility of catastrophic climate change. That same year, internal memos at one of the world\u2019s largest oil companies<\/a> made it clear that continued burning of fossil fuels would dramatically heat the planet.<\/p>\n

So why, in the 45 years since, has there been so little action in response? Why do we condemn today\u2019s children and future generations to live on a dangerous and hostile planet?<\/p>\n

We\u2019ve sought to answer this question in our research into business and climate change over the years, including our latest book<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The answer, we argue, rests on a prevailing assumption organised by corporate and political elites: that endless economic growth fuelled by fossil energy is so fundamental and commonsensical it cannot be questioned.<\/p>\n

We term this all-consuming ideology the \u201cfossil fuel hegemony\u201d. It asserts that corporate capitalism based on fossil energy is a natural state of being, one that\u2019s beyond challenge.<\/p>\n

How fossil fuel hegemony works<\/h2>\n

The concept of \u201chegemony\u201d was developed by the Italian intellectual Antonio Gramsci. In the 1920s, Gramsci sought to explain how dominant classes maintained their power beyond the use of force and coercion.<\/p>\n

He argued hegemony involved a continuous process of winning the consent of key actors in society such as industrialists, the media, and religious and educational institutions, to form a ruling bloc. Civil society would thus accept the prevailing order, dampening any threat of revolution.<\/p>\n

Gramsci\u2019s ideas help us understand the lack of action in response to the climate crisis. In particular, it helps explain the business sector\u2019s inordinate influence on climate policy across the world.<\/p>\n

\"Coal\"\/<\/a>
Fossil fuel hegemony asserts that corporate capitalism based on fossil energy is a natural state of being.<\/span>
Shutterstock<\/span><\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

For instance, a range of recent studies have explored the \u201cfossil fuel hegemony\u201d in countries such as Australia<\/a>, Canada<\/a> and the US<\/a>. These studies argue such hegemony comprises a coalition of corporate and political actors with interests aligned around carbon-dependent economic growth. This leads to limited progress on legislation to reduce carbon emissions.<\/p>\n

The hegemony has also extended to corporate-political activity seeding doubt<\/a> about climate science, lobbying against<\/a> emissions reduction and renewable energy, and the capture of political parties<\/a> by interests aligned with fossil fuels.<\/p>\n

This helps explain why environmentalists advocating to keep fossil fuels in the ground<\/a> are attacked by conservative politicians and right-wing media.<\/p>\n

They are presented not only as a threat to \u201cour way of life\u201d, but as deluded and dangerous radicals, or even terrorists<\/a>.<\/p>\n

There is another way<\/h2>\n

Of course, there are alternatives to the fossil fuel hegemony. It involves immediate and dramatic decarbonisation<\/a> of the global economy, as COP27 in Egypt aspires to achieve.<\/p>\n

But it also requires alternative economic models of \u201cdegrowth<\/a>\u201d. Degrowth involves<\/a> a planned and equitable contraction of rich economies, until it operates steadily and within the capacity of the planet\u2019s resources<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/a>
How long can fossil fuel hegemony continue as weather events become more extreme?<\/span>
Marcus Kauffman\/Unsplash<\/span>, CC BY<\/a><\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

This includes carbon trading systems with a rapidly lowering cap, fossil fuel extraction limits, worker autonomy and shorter working hours, and job guarantees with living wages.<\/p>\n

These types of policies rest on tax reforms to limit resource use and reduce carbon emissions, while promoting work sharing and limiting production and consumption.<\/p>\n

This also requires far more democratic politics than the current hegemony allows \u2013 one that challenges the illusion that economic growth can continue even as Earth\u2019s life-support systems<\/a> begin to fail.<\/p>\n

But the true test of the fossil fuel hegemony will be how long this image can persist as the weather becomes more extreme and climate activism grows.<\/p>\n

Because as more people acknowledge the reality of the climate crisis, those seeking to maintain the fossil fuel hegemony will need to work harder to maintain their grip on climate politics.\"The<\/p>\n

Christopher Wright<\/a>, Professor of Organisational Studies, University of Sydney<\/a><\/em>; Daniel Nyberg<\/a>, Professor of Management, Newcastle Business School, University of Newcastle<\/a><\/em>, and Vanessa Bowden<\/a>, Lecturer, University of Newcastle<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

This article is republished from The Conversation<\/a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n