Queen Elizabeth II was caught on a hot mic last week declaring it “irritating” that global leaders who talk the talk regarding climate change won’t walk the walk. It’s a royally accurate assessment. “I’ve been hearing all about COP,” the queen said, referring to the upcoming United Nations Climate Change Conference in Glasgow, or COP26. “Still don’t know who is coming. No idea. It’s really irritating when they talk, but they don’t do.”
The 95-year-old British monarch was referring to the fact that several nations had yet to commit to the conference. But her frustration, voiced by other royals as well lately, gets at wider concerns about the lack of political commitment in much of the industrialized world to solve a global threat brought on by industrialization.
The U.S. is a prime example. With one political party determined to ignore the threat out of fealty to big oil and big coal, America’s response at any given time is dictated not necessarily by science but by the most recent election. It has meant lurching policy changes: an Obama administration committed to progress on emissions, then a Trump administration committed to erasing Obama’s legacy and propping up fossil fuels, followed by a Biden administration that often seems determined to find middle ground. These might be generally good approaches in politics, but not when it comes to the very survival of the planet.
