Is it time for a climate lockdown?

by philg

In response to a virus that killed at most 0.2% of the population in a country that did almost nothing by way of attempted prevention (Sweden; a computer system automatically tagged anyone who tested positive for COVID-19 as having been killed by COVID-19, so 0.2% is the upper bound), countries around the world locked down their peasants, closed businesses, shut down health care (except for emergencies), and closed schools.

We are now faced with an “existential threat” to the entire human species, i.e., a 100% death rate (500X more deadly). Science tells that we are sealing our doom by emitting CO2, much of which is a side effect of humans moving around (28 percent of total CO2 emissions, says the EPA). Therefore, CO2 emissions can be cut dramatically if we make it illegal for humans to move around.

Given that climate change is a much more serious threat than SARS-CoV-2 and that none of the current rulers of the U.S. say that lockdowns and school closures were bad ideas, why don’t we have climate lockdowns right now?

Here’s how it would work:

  • peasants cannot leave the house except to go to a marijuana store (“essential” in Maskachusetts and California)
  • standardized food delivered by efficient diesel, hybrid, and electric trucks going from house to house
  • K-12 schools and universities run via Zoom (not “closed”, but “open fully”)
  • WiFi thermostats become mandatory and the government prevents them from being set lower than 80 degrees in summer or higher than 62 degrees in winter
  • shutdown of heating and cooling systems in offices, schools, and other buildings that become illegal to occupy

Let’s check the NYT to see if we have enough to justify these restrictions on the peasantry (elites can party on, of course). From July 10:

From today:

Updated every day:

(It’s not enough to exercise “extreme caution” anywhere in Florida because “danger”, with temps up to 125F, is omnipresent.)

How about their brothers, sisters, and binary-resisters at CNN?

120 million Americans, including, potentially, many valuable migrants, are at risk. What more do we need to justify a lockdown?

9 thoughts on “Is it time for a climate lockdown?”

  1. Please stop giving them ideas.

    (I know, I know – this has surely already even proposed)

  3. The idea that the response to the COVID emergency could be used as a template for the handling of the looming climate crisis is nothing more than a far right talking point.

    https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7320672/

    Also, your gas stoves are safe, no one is suggesting you eat bugs, Hunter Biden has been the tragic victim of a Russian disinformation campaign, and Epstein didn’t kill himself

    • Thanks for that paper, “COVID-19: Lessons for the climate change emergency” (November 2020). Less than a year into coronapanic and Science was already thinking about protecting us from the next big crisis!

    • Died in prison by suicide was a common fate for opponents of the Brazilian dictatorship. Here’s the NYT reporting on one: https://www.nytimes.com/1975/10/28/archives/brazilian-tv-man-held-as-communist-is-reported-suicide.html

      The Brazilian military said today that a television news editor committed suicide while in detention in Sao Paulo after having admitted to being a Communist party member.

      A statement by the command of the Sao Paulo‐based Second Army said Waldimir Herzog, of TV Cultura, the state‐owned educational television station, presented himself for interrogation on Saturday at headquarters of the combined security forces.

      He was left alone in a closed room to write out his confession, the statement said, and an hour later it was found that he had hanged himself.

  5. Yes, it’s time for docter fauci to take a leave from the Georgetown Institute of Virology so he can lead this new initiative.

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