Bombs and climate

(Nimue)

We know that planes are bad for the environment. War planes are not magically exempt from this. Bombs certainly aren’t carbon neutral. The human cost of war is far higher than the immediate horror of bodies on the ground. Thus far we have not been seeing a war, we’ve been seeing a genocide. War seems likely as a consequence.

America is currently seeing what should be once in a lifetime storms all too regularly. We’re in for more of this. The environment is not separate from any other activity. What happens in one part of the world affects all of us. We are not as divided as we think we are, not when it comes to the consequences of terrible human choices.

We cannot afford war. We cannot afford bombs, and military aircraft. We cannot afford destruction and carnage. None of us can afford this. It is our problem. We are all implicated.

We should be horrified by what Israel is doing. Our governments should have stepped up at the beginning to stop this, and had there been a refusal to arm Israel, it would have made a lot of difference. But, the UK government still sees the sale of arms as a legitimate business opportunity rather than a form of planet killing insanity.

The global south has spoken against the genocide, but too many of the world’s governments are complicit, and enabling slaughter.

The idea of sides is an illusion, a kind of human madness. There are no sides here – not really – not when you look at us as a species in a habitat we seem hell bent on destroying. We all live on the same planet, we are all in this together. We urgently need to start recognising that.

We should have stopped this genocide because it is genocide. That’s more than enough reason. If we can’t do that from a place of basic decency, then we really need to look at the impact this is going to have on all of us. A little enlightened self interest would go a long way. None of us can afford these bombings. None of us.

Speak up where you can.