I went vegetarian but like a good steak. Is climate change my fault?
Matthew Caro is a civil engineering student at the University of Canterbury and has a strong interest in climate change and the energy transition. OPINION: I like steak. Medium-rare with chips and garlic butter. Flyings good too. It gets me to uni faster and cheaper than any alternative. Ive bought two cars that guzzled petrol for a few months before I had to painfully wave them off to the wreckers. I have even opened my window while my heater hummed along. So, I ask you again: Is it my fault? READ MORE: * The public wants urgent climate action until bike lanes pop up * Should we still travel the world when we're ruining it? * Climate change drives Waiheke Island grandmother to bike to Wellington This big, messy bind we now find ourselves in. That tears communities apart and strikes the world over. That will one day drown whole nations while roasting shantytowns. Is it my fault that climate change is happening? No, I wasnt on the English railways during the second industrial revolution nor on the fracking fields of Texas during the disastrous boom and bust. I havent cut down any forest, and only poured a tiny amount of concrete. But. I am a consumer. A large one at that. Each day I hand over my hard-earned money to companies that spew out carbon dioxide and decimate our natural habitats. And if its my fault, is it yours too? Are you sitting in the back of the cop car with me? At 21, I know I am not the only one of my peers thinking about it. I went vegetarian for 18 months, equally for environmental and health reasons. I see a flexitarian diet on the horizon, am attracted to the ideals of minimalism yet dont pay for carbon offsets when I travel. And if Im not responsible, who is? Past generations, businesses, government? Its a question I dont think we will ever find a simple answer for. So, where does that leave us? Wrestling with the tense question of who then is responsible for the consequences? During UN COP conferences and climate summits, developing nations rightfully point out that although they endure the harshest of impacts from climate change they are the lowest polluters. Even in wealthy nations, inequality exacerbates the divide in the carbon footprint between the haves and have-nots as it widens, like so many other divides. If there is something to be thankful for it is that the science is brutally clear. It first rang the warning bell well before the damage caused became irreversible. It is now up to us to decide on the share of blame and responsibility. To identify and work with these parties. So we can hold them accountable. And make them pay. Even if that includes me.