If Even Awfully Weak Regulations Barely Pass Despite Such Extreme Weather…
Sure, the fact that the European Parliament did adopt the Nature Restoration Law counts as good news and a step in the right direction. However, despite the massive campaign in favor of this law and all of the recent records and extreme weather events that should act as palpable evidence of the climate crisis, what was actually adopted, barely, by an awfully slim margin, is a form that was severely weakened in multiple key areas, according to the desires of those who don’t give a fuck about the environment or even humanity’s future, even the near future, and would have rejected it otherwise. And it’s not like even its most ambitions form would have been anywhere near what is necessary at this point, considering the extent of the environmental damage and the severity of the crisis we have created and continue to worsen.
At least the fact that this form is not necessarily the one that will be implemented and the Council’s position is somewhat more ambitious offers some hope that some improvements may be coming, but this was a clear message that even more terrible “compromises” are required, even though, again, even the most ambitious proposals were already a huge distance from what is necessary. And, while its record isn’t quite as terrifying as that of pretty much any other part of the world, it’s not like the European Union ever proved that it actually cares for the environment and the measures that actually need to be taken, acting like a doctor who knows that the patient will bleed to death in two minutes but tells everyone to calm down and let them try to use the “feasible” method that should stop the bleeding in 20. Maybe. If it’ll work at all.
Worse, however, is that there is now an obvious backlash against even those awfully weak policies, and it comes from every level. Not that it’s surprising when environmentalists find themselves in a propaganda war but refuse to even show up on the battlefield. And this is far from the only way in which those who are on the right side refuse to use the tactics that actually work, nor the only issue to which this applies, even if the fact that their starting position is so much weaker and they have so much fewer resources, power and influence should make them see the necessity of adopting a “whatever works” approach where the ends justify the means and judgment should be passed primarily according to the end result, and in fact almost exclusively so when it comes to such major and urgent crises.