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I’m more than a little miffed with the insidious screw-the-environment messages in many advertisements, particularly on TV and the internet. In the wake of the recently released UN climate report indicating the planet’s climate status has reached code red, at least as regards human habitability, it seems particularly egregious to encourage further destruction.
Prime examples are ads for SUVs and pickups. They tout the off-road capabilities of these vehicles, festooning the screen with videos showing callous habitat destruction by the delighted occupants as they rip through fragile landscapes and tear up pristine stream beds. The power trip is amplified by dirt, dust and water blasting out from oversized tires as they churn along, indifferent to these ecosystems and their inhabitants.
The message from these advertisers? Go ahead, rip the crap out of the landscape so you can have a joy ride because, after all, everything is about you, your ego and looking cool! To persuade us that this is A-OK, they use a torrent of images and sounds derived from the neuroscience of brainwashing. Their motive? Greed, at any environmental cost. Money may not be the root of all evil, but it’s close. Think I’m just some grumpy old killjoy? Guilty as charged, and proud of it. The more of this sort of “joy” we kill, the better.
We Care?
Then there are the oil/gas industry ads, the one’s with a “we care” public relations pitch designed to whitewash their contributions (which are huge) to the climate crisis. They tell us how they are working on innovative technologies, largely unspecified, that will help Mother Earth cope with the new abnormal, rather than burn her (and us) to a crisp. You betcha. These nefarious blowhards knew long ago, as early as the ‘60s, that carbon fuel emissions were warming the planet. Their responses? Resist lower emission standards, throw money at politicians willing to prostitute themselves for their singular self-interest, and conceal their own scientific studies showing human-caused climate change is real and accelerating. As for the political powers that be, we still have taxpayer-funded budget provisions that afford financial subsidies to the fossil fuel industry. Duh.
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And don’t forget the purveyors of food made from dead animals. They sure make all that flesh look good, don’t they? But, behind the scrumptious visuals, corporate agricultural practices focused on putting meat, fowl and fish on our tables at every meal are major sources of pollution. Still, there’s big money in those bulging burgers, sizzling brats and chicken tenders. Never mind the fouling of land, water and air stemming from huge agribusiness farms that want us as carnivorous as possible.
Up to Us?
Next up are the seemingly well-intentioned messages about how it’s up to us, as individuals, to be good environmental stewards. I’m good with that, except for one salient thing. Only governments and industries can turn this thing around. Should we conserve energy and water, reduce consumption, reuse (more effective than recycling), minimize plastics, etc.? You bet. We should each do our part. But even in mass, those parts are no match for the big polluters churning out greenhouse gases and toxifying our soil and water.
The push-back from those behind these ads? They’re upholding individual freedom. Go ahead and drive your Hummer through an otherwise pristine landscape. What you put in your mouth is your business, even if our meat-obsessed culture exacts untold suffering on our fellow creatures and pollutes the planet. Don’t blame us (industry and government) for the climate crisis; after all, you went along with it. Of course, this “you went along with it” argument presumes we had better options to choose from.
They have the deep pockets and the political sycophants on their side. All we can do is vote . . . with our ballots and our bucks. Any business that encourages or rationalizes eco-destruction should be boycotted to the extent possible. Any politician, regardless of party, who opposes a full court press against the climate crisis should be voted out. These scoundrels have no shame. What they do have is too much of our acquiescence.
Let’s hold their feet to the fire they started that is now scorching this wondrous planet.
For more, visit philipchard.com.
