The Virus and the Climate
We are told to trust science and the experts. Perhaps the Corona crisis will lead to a return to reason in politics. A commentary by Rainhard Kloucek, Secretary General of the Paneuropean Movement Austria.
Who still remembers the image? Beside Commission President Ursula von der Leyen sat a gaunt girl, looking into the cameras with far more gravity than the politician herself. These were the images used by the European Commission to present the Green Deal and its specific measures. The media propagated the image; the show supplanted the substance.
In so-called climate policy, the importance of science and the necessity of trusting it are constantly emphasised – even regarding the terrifying horror scenarios, some of which, thank God, have not materialised. Yet, no one has been able to explain the scientific expertise of a seventeen-year-old school truant.
Meanwhile, we face a completely different problem: a virus spreading at lightning speed – which also hits the economy, thereby contributing to a reduction in CO2 emissions. Suddenly, we are once again urged to believe in science and trust a political class that justifies its measures by citing these very scientific experts. The show has been reduced to the martial expression of the Interior Minister.
Measures are announced without hysteria. While some view them as excessive and others as too lax, the vast majority of the population – occasional panic buying aside – acknowledges them and, where possible, complies.
After years of ‘show politics’ – alongside climate policy, one must at least mention migration policy and the Euro bailout – the population has retained a significant degree of seriousness. They accept political decisions, even when they are not marketed with ridiculous imagery.
Indeed, we even believe the politicians when they say no one is working to establish a dictatorship. This fuels the hope that, in future, politics will once again be built on reason.
Featured image © EU 2020
