There is no such thing as a climate lockdown
Contrary to what you heard on TV or on Facebook, there is no such thing as climate lockdown. Here is why.
It isn’t a real thing
No elected official is suggesting we have a climate lockdown. That hasn’t stopped some commentators from fear mongering.
The idea comes from a May 2021 segment by Laura Ingraham that combined the idea of COVID lockdowns and people wanting to take action on climate change.
The idea didn’t stick with Ingraham’s audience, which is why she didn’t mention it again.
The New York Post revived the idea in an opinion column in September 2021. It also didn’t stick.
It doesn’t stick because it isn’t a real thing.
No one wants another lockdown
No one liked the lockdowns at the start of COVID. After they stopped, the public didn’t want to go back. They won’t want to do another one.
Despite last year’s lockdowns, we still put more carbon in the air
Not only did the COVID lockdowns not dent any impact we have in driving climate change, we actually increased the amount of carbon we’ve put into the air.
While it’s true that carbon emissions dropped at the start of the pandemic, after the restrictions loosened and the world tried to go back to normal we went back to business-as-usual for putting carbon in the air.
If we did attempt a lockdown, it wouldn’t work
Locking down wouldn’t stop the demand for electricity, making things, and transporting things, which amount to ¾ of the problem, something we point out on our “Understand Climate Change in 90 Seconds” page.
The science is pretty clear about what will work:
- Switch over to clean energy.
- Switch over to electric cars and vehicles that can run on clean hydrogen.
- Keep making and using energy efficient technology.
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