Profit is going to kill us all.
If it’s not the fossil fuel companies raking in their billions while still poisoning the planet as the rest of us stare down the barrel of an affordability gun while winter creeps closer.
It’s electronic firms happy to keep churning out new phone model after new phone model with no obvious plans to make their products long-lasting, more repairable or recyclable and circular economy ready.
Read more: Five of top 10 July temperatures 'happened in last 16 years'
Then there’s the governments crying electricity grid stability after Russia invaded Ukraine and gas supply fears hit the headlines.
Meanwhile, fashion companies the world over continue to churn out fast fashion, despite its heavy toll on the planet.
Most don’t pay their worldwide staff a fair wage just so we can get clothes for pennies and don’t even get me started on the disgusting level of greenwashing that’s going on as they try to pull the wool over our eyes.
The bottom line is this. The world, our climate, nature and we are not coping - and big business and politics is doing the bare minimum to make us think they care.
If they did care, they would be rolling out renewables instead of still harping on about fracked gas as a ‘bridge fuel’ which is a line straight out of the fossil fuel industry’s playbook.
They would start heavily taxing fossil fuel firms to slash our energy bills - NOW.
Every home on these islands would be getting insulated to within an inch of its life to help us use less gas and oil to heat our homes as our governments make a quick switch to solar and wind power as well as heat pumps.
We would have an end in sight for peat cutting to save our bog lands and reduce emissions as well stopping the millions of tonnes of coal imports we get from countries like Russia and Colombia.
Our foresters would be turning their backs on commercial ventures that see our countryside covered in non-native pines to be cut down and sold.
Instead we would be talking about rewilding these lands to help ourselves so we’re not lumped with big carbon fines down the line for not meeting our climate targets.
And policy makers and officials would be doing everything possible to help nature which is, make no mistake, on the brink with the island of Ireland being one of the most ecologically depleted in Europe according to the Ecological Integrity Index.
But we’re not even close to where we need to be and temperatures are still rising as there’s delay after delay on real action.
I don’t know about you, but I’m petrified about what this winter will bring and whether I’ll be able to stay warm in my 1800s home with its stone walls and still eat well.
We’re being failed by Stormont.
We’re being failed by Westminster.
I just hope the masses start to connect the dots soon and realise every bit of it is linked, and by design is helping keep profits up and us down.
We’re cash cows to those wielding power and we keep being sucked in by the pretence they have our best interests at heart, when they clearly don’t.
What’s clearly lacking is the imagination and will to make a tangible difference to everyday folks like you and me - and business as usual is our biggest enemy when it comes to leaders making the changes we so desperately need.
It’s time they threw the lobbyists out and started listening to us.
Real change comes from the ground up - we just have to stick together and start singing from the same hymn sheet.
No matter your political views, we’re all in this fight together.
All new homes should be climate and heating cost friendly too
It’s great that Sinn Fein has a housing plan to deliver 100,000 homes in Northern Ireland for workers and families in the next 15 years.
Michelle O’Neill tweeted on Thursday: “People are entitled to homes that are good quality, secure, and affordable.
“We have a housing plan to deliver over 100,000 homes for workers and families in the next 15 years across urban and rural communities.
“I was delighted to visit a new housing development in Donaghmore.”
What I didn’t see was any mention about making sure those homes are climate friendly and designed to cut the energy - and therefore cost - of keeping their residents warm.
I revealed last week how the Department for Finance, which is still led by Sinn Fein’s Conor Murphy, missed a huge opportunity when it updated the building regulations in June.
Just to recap - they didn’t do anything to stop fossil fuel boilers being fitted despite the outrageous cost of oil and gas. Let that sink in.
Spotlight on Anna Kernahan from Fridays for Future
Instead of my weekly hero, this week I’m giving a guest spot in my column to Anna Kernahan from Fridays for Future who has something to say about the rainbow gas canisters on show during Pride celebrations last weekend.
“This year was my first time attending a Belfast pride march and I was lucky enough to be able to spend it with my girlfriend and her mum. It was their first pride too,” she said.
“After years of the march being cancelled due to Covid, it was incredible to see the people of Ireland coming out in their thousands to protest for equality, for love, and for acceptance.
“I felt safe walking through Belfast holding my girlfriend’s hand, whereas usually I would feel on edge that we could be on the receiving end of abuse, which has happened more times than I could count.
“It felt liberating to watch the unapologetic display of humans simply being humans in love, regardless of gender.
“However, this experience was somewhat tainted by the barely masked display of rainbow capitalism and blatant homophobia.
“We saw brand after brand advertising themselves with rainbow coloured logos, who will undoubtedly have changed these back to their usual colours by the end of the day and will have done nothing to truly help the lives of the members of the LGBT+ community.
“The number of homophobic signs, particularly concentrated around City Hall, were a stark reminder that although we have come a long way in terms of gay rights, there is still hate out there and we are far from equality. Pride has and always will be a protest.
“A protest of human rights, of social justice, and the spreading of unconditioned love.
“We cannot have climate justice without social justice and when it comes to climate action, no one can be left behind.
“When I saw gas companies sporting banners of rainbow coloured gas canisters at the march, I almost laughed in disbelief. This is the epitome of greenwashing.
“Gas and oil are not sustainable ways of fuelling our world and the longer we live in blissful ignorance, the more people will suffer.
“Belfast is increasingly becoming more and more open to the love of people regardless of sexuality, but we still have a long way to go. Let’s keep on this upwards trajectory and not let the bigots win. Spread love, not hate.”
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