Editorial of the Razón de Estado program number  243

Forgers, deniers, skeptics, bandits, ignorants, tyrants, opportunists, on one hand; scientists, responsible and capable leaders, on the other, are profiles that apply, depending on the case, to the people in charge of governments and institutions from where world’s nations are affected, for better or for worse.

Today, we want to address the relationship between energy sources and climate change, and the role played by the characters described, who believe they are in charge, either by votes or by bullets.

What facts do we have?

We have been using coal, gas, and oil for 300 years. Without them, we would still be in caves. However, they are sources of pollution, damage the environment, and raise the planet's temperature.

In the last 30 years, especially in the last 10, we have seen an alarming increase, in quantity and impact, of temperature, tornadoes, hurricanes, droughts, ruined crops, floods, diseases, loss of biodiversity, rising costs, and suffering.

Scientists say that humans are the main cause of climate change. Others argue that it is just a cycle.

What’s evident is that it would help a lot if humans were to stop polluting with fossil energy.  

To achieve this, we face two challenges:

The first is that opportunists have mixed climate change with their ideological agenda, tyrants who kill and pollute want to continue using their oil, and bandits who govern in some countries are only interested in corruption. Deniers and ignorants follow their lead.

The second challenge is the cost and time it takes to transition to clean and renewable energy.

The International Energy Agency aims to reduce emissions, that is, pollution, to zero by 2050, and claims that 30 years later, the damage we have caused would disappear from the atmosphere.

We have the technologies to achieve this, but short-term political and economic interests seem to be an unbeatable barrier.

In the medium and long term, clean energy is the best and most honorable business that humans can do for its health, economy, and security. And the next generation will thank us for it.

It is also clear that to achieve this, we must address the crises in democracy, improve global leadership, and motivate citizens to participate in this debate.

Just as the human body can heal itself naturally when treated well, it would be naive and dangerous not to do the same with our planet. Shall we give it a chance?