Chuck out the baby – we need the bathwater

Oh no, you are wrong there. The consumer market is not going to get less. In fact it is going to increase. It’s just the price of energy that is going to go up so people use less. To counteract this we are working towards and encouraging GROWTH. Without growth the entire economic system will collapse, so we have to have that.

THE world has been seriously polluting the atmosphere since man discovered that by burning fossil fuels he could create energy and wealth.

Imagine the world’s atmosphere like a bath. It is a finite size and will only hold so much water (CO2) before it overflows. There is a small plug hole, which can allow the water out safely and a tap that is constantly running. The incoming water currently exceeds the outflow and the bath is already approaching overflowing point. If it does, there will be a disaster which is irreversible and unstoppable. Unless something is done NOW, we only have a short time left before this happens.

The tap represents the pollution that is being added and the plug represents the only way of reducing the water level – namely the forests and other biological lungs of the planet. Currently the plughole is inadequate to cope with the water supply and prevent the bath from overflowing, hence the problem.

The solution is obvious, but unfortunately the control of both the plug and the tap are firmly in the hands of industry, the money merchants and politicians.

These people, make a public pretence of concern, but are actually primarily interested in maintaining or increasing their current market share, generating even more money or staying in power.

In all cases, this bodes ill for the planet.

The money market, basically the banks and stock exchange, want to see an increased flow from the tap, as they can trade in this commodity on the futures market. Carbon trading is already being touted as the ‘biggest thing ever’ to hit the stock market and the brokers are already exhorting the public to ‘take advantage of this bonanza by getting in early. It is worth a trillion dollars!’ There is no realisation that they are selling their souls, as a trillion dollars worth of money is also a trillion dollars worth of pollution ABOVE THE CURRENT QUOTAS!

Industry will be happy to comply as they know that in the final issue, as they are the buyers of these carbon credits, and in the final issue it will be the taxpayers who will be forking out this trillion dollars. Literally, paying for their own funerals.

Of course, all the governments are happy to fall into line, as it is industry that keeps them in both money and power. They generate ‘wealth’ and of course, JOBS – and with a touch of spin, this reflects well on governments, as these are the essential ingredients of their power base.

Spin did you say? Well, they do have to maintain the myth that they are looking after your future for you, although there may be a little extra cost attached for the Carbon Trading Schemes they’ve devised to save the planet. A few extra taxes and small increases in the price of energy and fuel, etc, and as you know, this will discourage use by the private consumers and lower the consumption and the money raised can then be use to compensate the polluters for their losses. This will obviously decrease our carbon footprint and save the world and by shifting all our excess fuel and manufacturing overseas, we can also shift the blame with it. The bath water may not lower dramatically, but we are on the right track. The tap has been turned down a little. Five percent, maybe?

A little confusing, you say? Why do we have to pay more if we are going to get less?

Oh no, you are wrong there. The consumer market is not going to get less. In fact it is going to increase. It’s just the price of energy that is going to go up so people use less. To counteract this we are working towards and encouraging GROWTH. Without growth the entire economic system will collapse, so we have to have that.

How you ask? No, it’s not oxymoronic, we simply print more money and increase the supply of credit. With this new source of money you can buy more goods – foreign, of course, and meanwhile we export more raw materials like coal and iron ore to cope with the demand. Yes, you can look forward to a rosy and prosperous future.

It sounds all very confusing. What about the plug? Aren’t you going to let some of the water out of the bath? Isn’t it true that there are not enough trees to absorb the current load of CO2 we are producing, and that is why we have a problem in the first case? The plughole is just too small?

There again we have a plan. Plantations! It will cost the taxpayer a little bit extra, but it will solve all our problems. Grow more trees. Millions of them. Everyone agrees. The banks, the timber industry, the stock markets, manufacturers, the paper industry, Ponzi, undertakers – they all stand to make huge amounts of money out of this. They can all trade in trees and most of them in futures, including yours, and just think of all the jobs it will generate. We get rid of all the unproductive forests and replace them with plantations. But why? Well, the timber industry needs the trees for their projected 50% growth over the next forty years, and you can’t deny that! The world’s population is increasing, and in the final issue, we all have some need for wood!

But don’t plantations need lots of water to grow, and don’t they put all the carbon dioxide they absorb back into the atmosphere in a short space of time? Surely the forests must be preserved as a carbon sink!

Carbon sink? No, we were talking about a bath. Now you can see why we’ve got to get rid of the baby – we NEED the bathwater!

Spin doctors — where are you?