Kulturkampf

[benji]

Every spring, when it starts getting hotter, I wait and wait and wait before I turn on my AC for the first time of the year. I tell myself I'm not a pussy. I can handle the heat. I just need to acclimatize. Waiting is good for the environment and my wallet. Then I eventually cave and realize how much of a dumbass I was for needlessly enduring the heat for a few extra weeks.
So I can understand the delusion the Europeans are going through. They've been telling themselves the same things ever since the last glacial period.

But seriously, climate discourse in the EU is kind of insane. Like here is the Guardian talking about virtuously suffering to better tackle climate change

It's really turning into a left vs right thing which is just so incredibly dumb. And while the left is worried about bumping the CO2 output by a small degree you got other countries just giving zero fucks all around.

Reducing CO2 output remains a noble goal but when you got people literally dying while Europe is far from the worst climate polluter... it just seems like self sabotage.

Canada had the same discourse a few years ago after the Vancouver heat dome and deaths front that and it was the same thing as you're seeing from the left Re:Europe— a bunch of well off people with air conditioning in their cars and homes lecturing (poorer) people without that air conditioning is bad actually.

Weirdly you don't see the same discourse about heating homes, and we even open "warming centres" for homeless during extreme cold. Think of all the emissions you could save if you just let them freeze to death.

You also won’t see anyone moralising about heating homes even though it’s overwhelmingly done by directly burning gas. AC with electricity, mainly and increasingly generated by renewables? Better to die.

We’re getting AC installed in our house this year.

Maybe instead of slurping up right-wing propaganda that denies well known science you guys should understand that all of this is a reflection of systems that allowed the circumstance of heat problems to be possible and focus your attention on how we create systems where problems from the temperature is not even a possibility. And at this stage of capitalism slowing climate change will just maintain the unacceptable genocidal status quo, we need to move towards climate abolition.