My earliest memories involve a love of nature, so getting a Biology degree and working in the field of conservation was an obvious path for my life. I had the privilege of working with top shelf ecologists, biologist, botanists, and others who were passionate about preserving and conserving the natural world. We dealt with things like biodiversity, habitat loss, ocean health, fishing practices, industrial agriculture/monocultures, population dynamics, water usage, carbon sinks, and a variety of other interrelated topics. Now all of that has been replaced with just one priority, carbon dioxide, and this new “environmental movement” is driven almost completely by corporate interests who stand to make billions, probably trillions, off the transition to so-called green renewable energy.

First off, green is nothing more than a color, and energy is not “renewable”. Energy is generated, and there is no way to generate energy without environmental degradation to some degree. Now some people argue that “these renewable energy sources are at least better than fossil fuels”, but they simply aren’t. The rare earth metals used to manufacture these electricity producers and their batteries are mined using some of the most harmful, polluting, and destructive methods ever devised (not to mention the literal slave labor used to mine cobalt in places like the Congo). Once extracted, these raw materials are shipped off (using fossils fuels), refined (using fossils fuels), shipped again (using fossils fuels), turned into the final product using massive amounts of electricity (again, fossils fuels), and finally installed on vast tracks of land thereby destroying wildlife habitat and vital carbon sinks (or in the case of batteries, continually recharged using electricity generated by fossil fuels). Then, after a short and inefficient lifespan, they are dismantled and usually disposed of in a third world country that doesn’t have our strict environmental laws since highly toxic waste is released as they biodegrade. So green. So renewable. It’s no wonder that many outspoken critics of “renewable” energy are people who worked in the industry themselves, taken in by the promise of saving the world and later realizing they had been duped.

What do the corporations stand to gain in all this? Instead of playing volatile markets, they simply create or invest in companies that mine/manufacture these products and then mandate their use to all of us. Many politicians currently ramming this technology down our throats have been exposed for having financial interests in these mandates. Bill Gates (who is part of the huge mining conglomerate Kobold) says that all of the lithium, cobalt, and rare earth metals on THE PLANET have to be extracted, and even then we will not come anywhere near our current level of energy production or transportation needs. Sounds like a lovely, environmentally friendly plan. Gates is also the largest individual land owner in the United States. How about planting trees and restoring wetlands to soak up some of that carbon, Bill? No, he’s not interested in that. He admits his lifestyle produces ridiculous amounts of CO2, but it’s okay because his private planes run on plant based jet fuel. Funny, I’ve never seen anyone shovel corn cobs into a jet. Of course, these plants must first be planted, sprayed, harvested, crushed, heated, and refined using massive amount of…you guessed it…fossils fuels. This is a scam, pure and simple.

If our overlords were truly worried about climate change and CO2, than why aren’t they taking the most basic steps to start reducing emissions? A group from the Harvard Law School reports that “each year, more than 100 million trees’ worth of bulk mail arrive in American mailboxes—that’s the equivalent of deforesting the entire Rocky Mountain National Park every four months. The production and disposal of direct mail consumes more energy than 3 million cars.” Well, that seems like a pretty simple fix. How about passing a law eliminating unsolicited mail? Or how about regulating wasteful packaging? Pay attention next time you open a box of food, vitamins, or practically any store bought item. How many tons of extra and unnecessary paper, styrofoam, and plastic are produced everyday by the very same corporations that want to regulate our lives? How much extra space is consumed on the delivery trucks? How much of the space taken up in the freezer sections of these trucks and ultimately grocery store shelves is just air in half empty boxes designed to make you think you’re buying more that you actually are? How much energy could we be saving?

Sure these ideas are relatively small in scope, but they suggest simple and easy solutions with zero negative consequences. So why aren’t steps like these being taken? Because they affect corporations. Because these aren’t serious people. Because this has nothing to do with protecting the environment or CO2 production and everything to do with financial gain. The squeeze is on, people. Don’t fall for this nonsense. Let’s get back to actual environmentalism so real solutions can be discussed and implemented that maintain our wild spaces for us and future generations. Rant complete.