Sue’s Views: Cranking out those carbon emissions
This pleb will not be giving up her carbon-fuelled vehicle (circa 2004) anytime soon to hoof it to work some thirty-odd kilometres away.
The petulant face of a child with a furrowed brow and beady little eyes glares out from the TV screen squawking. The partner stirs from the coffin position he has adopted on the couch, cranks open an eyelid and mumbles “What the hell are you watching now?”
It transpires I had inadvertently clicked on to one of the international news channels, in my haste to gain control of the remote, and holding forth in all her glory is one Greta Thunberg, the poster child for the effects of climate change. Now don’t get me wrong, climate change is a reality, and I do my bit where I can, but if madam Thunberg thinks for one moment that I am giving up my carbon-fuelled vehicle (circa 2004) to hoof it to work some thirty-odd kilometres away, then she has another thought coming.
Ditto, I would imagine for most people in South Africa. The child, for that is what she is, has no concept or even a grasp of how the rest of us poor blighters live in third world countries, and therein lies the biggest problem of all.
ALSO READ: Sue’s Views: Car wars
While she witters on about climate change from the comfort of her cocooned life in Sweden, the average man on the street in South Africa is dealing with a double-edged sword. The government, bless their little pure cotton Gucci socks, have bought in carbon tax which we pay for at the fuel pumps, but have offered no cleaner alternative in terms of cost effective transport. Better yet the carbon tax on fuel will go into the general revenue fund and not towards environmental expenditure, anybody else smell a rat here?
Buy an electric car you say, hmm let me see in South Africa I can choose from models priced from R 658 500 for the luxury version to a mere R479 100 a more modest ride… I’ll take two if you please. Add a dire lack of recharging stations and the unreliability of our national power supplier….”eish we are currently load shedding…sorry for you” and you pretty much get the picture.
Unemployment is rife, the economy is taking a nosedive and levels of violent crime and homicide are rampant but don’t worry Greta I will hang on to your every word.
As to the national presidents and corporate executives who have, according to news sources, lined up to be criticised by her face to face I can only but shake my head in wonder. No. little girl. it is time for you to go back to school and learn about the real world out there and besides, you awoke ‘he who shall not be disturbed from his kip on the sofa and takes over the remote control’ and that in my book is unforgivable.
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