Shifting responsibility to consumers minimises the role of energy industry and policymakers, University of Sydney research suggests
Electricity generation is responsible for close to half of Australia’s emissions, based on 2021 International Energy Agency estimates, with transport and industry also major emitters.
In the context of the energy market, Van Laer said, storytelling should emphasise the role of companies and governments alongside individuals.
“At the moment, it’s not presented that way,” he said.
“It’s like ‘you, consumer, you can do this on your own and then we [companies] will fall in line.”
No, it’s not about blame. That’s playground logic.
It’s about action. It’s about what we can do. What we can do is both vote, do direct action, and be political consumers.
Drag ranked those three in terms of efficiency in effort to change. Voting is the easiest. Being a political consumer is the hardest. But it is possible to do all three.
The fossil companies want activists to waste our effort by doing 3 without doing 1 or 2. Do 1 first, then 2. But if you have willpower left over after 1 and 2, then stop giving money to megacorps.