Mitigate, adapt, profit, cook

I keep seeing the Liberals and other climate change deniers talking about how it would be more profitable to have an ad hoc approach to the climate change that doesn't exist, in case it happens. Which it won't. But if it does, it would just require a bit of cleverness from business (their stock in trade) to come up with something extra cool that would solve the problem we don't really have) And then there would be profits for everyone (much like the underpants gnomes).


Which sort of misses the point a tad. Well, several points really. And several tads I suppose. What is a tad anyway? And is it in any way related to a chad or The Chad? These are the sorts of issues I think about. Pathetic really.

If these people have biological adaptation in mind, they need to be taken somewhere secure and quiet. Species adaptation to environment change is very slow and exceedingly brutal. Maybe we'll start seeing Foreign Legion hats with 'Adapt or Die' printed on them. They could have 'Mostly Die' on the back to save the sensibilities of tender hearted people.

Anyway, the more specialised a species is (requires a specific ecological niche) the more endangered it is likely to be when the environment changes, especially if it changes quickly. Also, species that rely on a network of other species for their survival, like all top predators, are particulalry at risk when the environment changes. Who would the top predators be in this world then? Lions, tigers, bears, sharks ... humans.

Most businesses only flourish during stable times. There's always the exceptions of arms dealing, pubs and brothels but your tender young entrepreneur tends not to go well when the excrement impacts the rotating air distribution device.I suppose I'm rambling towards the idea that managing climatre change (because we cefrtainly aren't showing any sign of stopping it) is unlikely to be achieved by clever entrepreneurs. Rather it is more likely to achieved by repressive war time bi-partisan bloody mindedness. But we can't see the problem creeping up on, because it's really creeping up on our kids and grandchildren.

Those quiet leafy suburbs

Ah those quiet leafy suburbs that will never be England, mainly because they are on the opposite side of the world! We lucky few who pretend to be in a green and pleasant land (for the definition of 'harsh' go stand on the top of Uluru). I don't know why I imagined it would be quiet here. We are a few blocks from Burke Road, one of the major north south roads of Melbong, and a few blocks more from the Eastern Freeway, an east west artery. Even though we are in a little gully, we aren't deep enough for the sounds to travel overhead. But the really noisy thing is, because this is a (relatively) nice place to live, lots of people want to live here, but not in old houses, in new houses. Sadly this requires demolition and then building, so there are always trucks and trucks and trucks and hammering and banging and electric tools screeching as another quiet mini mansion is hastily erected or someone's family home is scraped off the surface of a block.

Mind you, we did the same thing, so I can hardly expect my complaints to be taken too seriously. But the house we had removed was absolutely full of asbestos - a death trap, literally. So I like to think we did a good thing there, since to remove all the asbestos we would have had to remove all the inner walls and ceilings and there wouldn't have been much left. Better to build a new, energy efficient, green sort of a house. How easy was that! Not at all. Most of economic life is against it. To call it a conspiracy wold be too strong because that requires coordination and that's not the building industy's long suit (or possibly en suite). Rather, people are pushed towards using products that are cheapish and within the capability of the builders. And builders and other trades are usually way too busy to spend their time learning about new products or ways of doing things.

For example I nearly had to insist my builder sack his plumbers because they were so resistant to change. I wanted to put in plumbing to collect whole of house grey water. Talk about a commotion. Can't be done. Rules against it. Etc. Perhaps I was just before my time.

Mad Monk

I was trying to remember who Christopher, Lord Moncton reminded me of.

 

That's right!

The late, great Marty Feldman!