Money something we will all sell anything for?

The saying “Follow the money trail” has never been truer than in the climate change debate.

The assertion is that climate change will end up costing us life on earth.

So how is this debated? This is the question. On the whole not as if the threat of a risk of great magnitude to all of us it worth paying attention to and checking out.

If we were a family of prairie dogs foraging for food while one of our members kept alert for predators and hawks then when the warning screech came instead of running as fast as we can for the safety of our burrow we are standing and arguing about whether the alarm call is right. We might be eaten before the debate is decided.

Wouldn’t it be better to race for the burrow and have the argument there?

We don’t do that. Why? For most of us our first response is to ignore or dismiss the warnings. We call the warnings alarmist wrong all sorts of things. Which they may or may not be but why is this our first or primary response?

Here is where I start thinking about money.

It is easy to understand why big coal miners don’t want a price on carbon. They don’t want to pay it. They are the primary producers of carbon emissions. They are corporations under Company Law. Their only purpose for being is financial profit for their shareholders. They are not there to worry about the earth or us or anything else. Just and simply profit for shareholders. At any price no matter if it even costs the earth.

Then there is Australia as a whole our Federal government our government here in the state of Queensland and all of us who live here. Where do we get our incomes from? Thinking money first and foremost we’d have to have our heads well and truly buried in the sand if we didn’t know that Australia earns most of our income from exporting carbon (in one form or another). We earn money from coal. We smelter aluminium. We fly tourists long distances on planes to come here. We make fertiliser from oil and drive tractors all over the land ploughing and harvesting crops for export. We operate huge mining plants to extract iron ore and other minerals then put it on trains and ships all consuming huge amounts energy to run and emitting huge amounts of carbon. The income filters through our tax systems into the hands of pensioners who spend it in local businesses; to salaries for public servants who get paid and then buy their local homes; as subsidies to families getting rebates for their children; as fees for contractors who watch every contract and grant. We are hard-wired to protect our incomes. Over and over we vote for income first and everything else second. Even if it costs us the earth. Even if it will deny our children any real chance of a future.

Then there is our personal debt our credit card debt our mortgages the debt for a car that was bigger than we could afford or an overseas trip we did not want to put off. We are vulnerable and exposed. If an easy flow of money shut down we would be like mice in a trap. Caught. Destroyed. Look how we are responding to the Global Financial Crisis. It caught many of us on the hop. Australia was very very lucky in having the resources and some good government decision to get us through relatively undamaged but people are being frugal. We are saving like we haven’t saved in many decades. We’ve learned a harsh lesson. Debt is dangerous. We are paying it down and not spending except on essentials. At the same time a price on carbon could make it harder to reduce our personal debt exposure. We will put our own financial needs first even if it costs the earth.

Then there are our shares and superannuation policies. We are not talking poverty or starvation here. We are talking about managing our personal wealth portfolios enjoying what we see as well-earned benefits. We feel proud of our skill and hard work in accummulating what we have. It allows us luxuries such as a new car our next cruise being able to help the children out with buying a home. We enjoy watching the figures grow of feeling that we are truly comfortably off. A price on carbon threatens this a little. We don’t want to look it in the face but some of our shares and superannuation is invested in those exact same companies that are the big carbon emitters and we know it. We don’t want anything that might affect their profits in any way. In some way we don’t fully understand we suspect that a carbon price might have an effect on the growth of our shares and superannuation policies. Maybe instead of $250000 in our nest egg we might only have $240000. That is not the point. We don’t know what effect it might have but we don’t want it to have any effect at all. Even if it costs the earth. Even if it costs our grandchildren any hope of a future.

Then there are our local businesses. Small businesses are doing it tough. The high dollar isn’t helping. Electricity and water prices are going up and up and customers are saving rather than spending freely. Consumerism is a bit out of fashion. We have to watch every dollar. We have to keep our eye single-mindedly focused on making our business work on delivering service to our customers on attracting them to spend. We can’t afford to think about anything else. Even if it is costing the earth. Even if it will make business survival a short-term rather than a long-term hope.

Our children some of whom increasingly like to think of themselves as “eco-minded” -concerned for the environment and the future when it comes down to the line want the consumer items that enable them to hold their own well with their peers. They want high-paying jobs. They want a car a gown for the ball the latest toy or phone or piece of imported technology (paid for with our carbon-emitting exports). The eco part of their value systems is almost totally detached from the consumer part of their value systems. The boy with the highest income and biggest car will still get the most beautiful girl. Even if it costs the earth and their own future.

Even if it costs the earth many of us will be putting money first right to the end. As the world becomes increasingly over-populated and pressure grows on all resources all food supply all water all energy supply black markets and profiteering will be the norm. The impoverishment of people in the worst-hit parts of the world will be an opportunity for others elsewhere to make more money. Oil and food prices are already being manipulated on global futures markets as supplies tighten. The goal is profit for the greedy not food for the people to live.

People accuse scientists of following the dollar with grants for carbon research. Some of this will be right. Money distorts and obscures and it means we have to think harder listen harder watch harder to work out what is true and what is not. The speaker on the climate sceptic global gravy train speaking tour is also doing well financially out of it. There are stories to spin for money to sell papers to win political seats and to make into TV shows.

Money makes the world go round they say. Actually money won’t hurt the world too much but it may hurt the people and species of the earth a great deal. It is our ultimate addiction.