THE eco loons are out in force once again, bringing mayhem to the streets with their childish protests.

Full of righteous zeal and empty slogans, these middle-class social justice warriors are far keener to parade their own supposed virtue than to offer realistic solutions to the planet’s environmental problems.

So great is their self-importance that they think their extremist, simplistic dogma gives them the right to hold our society to ransom, regardless of the aggravation they cause or the economic damage they inflict.

Extinction Rebellion, the unaccountable, unelected pressure group which has organised the current demonstrations, is not a serious green movement at all.

It is a hysterical doomsday cult which peddles a bleak vision of the imminent apocalypse if we do not submit to its wishes. “When I look at the sky, I see death,” says Roger Hallam, the co-founder.

In the same macabre spirit, the organisation recently held an event in Whitehall called “Blood Of Our Children” in which buckets of red paint were poured onto the road next to Downing Street.

Like a deranged fundamentalist religion, Extinction Rebellion trades in misery and fear, with suffering as the only route to salvation.

Filled with loathing for mankind, there is nothing compassionate about this creed. Its activists warn of climate change disaster, but their own policies would lead to chaos, meltdown and mass unemployment.

Essentially, they want to halt all economic growth, dragging us into a new Dark Age. Extinction is the only political movement in history that wants to LOWER living standards. If the protestors had their way, the present turmoil they have brought to London and other cities would be replicated on an epic scale.

Just as sickening as Extinction’s antics, which will last at least a fortnight, is the way right-on celebrities have jumped on its bandwagon.

As the protests began, figures including Stephen Fry and comedian Alan Carr expressed their predictable backing by wearing badges with Extinction’s X logo.

Spice Girl Mel B declared that she was, “giving all my support to these brave activists to make a better world for all of us”.

JUVENILE BUNCH

Such language just shows her cluelessness. What on earth is brave about this juvenile bunch with their self-indulgent street blockades? And their world would certainly not be a better one for Mel B, devoid of limos and jet travel. Indeed, the link between environmentalism and the celebrity circus reeks of foul hypocrisy. For most trendy stars, the green enthusiasm demonstrates their “woke” credentials but involves no sacrifices.

This week the supermodel Daisy Lowe proclaimed: “It’s time for change. It’s time for rebellion and I love being able to be part of it”. Does this change include ditching her expensive worldwide photoshoots and travelling by bicycle? Didn’t think so.

Similarly, comic Asim Chaudhry and actress Olivia Colman trumpeted solidarity with Extinction, yet both have taken part in promotional and safety films for British Airways. Like all major airlines, BA leaves a carbon footprint the size of an asphalt spreader’s boot, yet that seems to be no concern to Extinction’s celebrity cheerleaders.

Instead of glibly subscribing to the cause, figures such as Mel B should be aware of how dangerous Extinction Rebellion is. The group is a wrecker rather than a saviour. To advance its aims, it has three main demands.

First, it wants the Government, “to tell the truth about the climate emergency”. In other words, the state should become an agent for relentless, doom-ridden eco propaganda, with no room for any debate. In this culture of totalitarian scaremongering, anyone who challenges the green orthodoxy will be treated as a dangerous heretic — or “denier”, to use the jargon of the environmentalist witch-hunters.

Second, Extinction seeks the establishment of a network of “Citizens’ Assemblies”, which will become arenas for political oppression and the enforcement of the ruling code. These bodies will erode democracy, for it is unclear how they will be elected or what their powers will be.

But worse is Extinction’s demand that greenhouse gas emissions be cut to net zero by 2025, within seven years. The Tory Government has already set an ambitious target of reaching net zero by 2050, but putting the goal a quarter of a century earlier is both drastic and unfeasible. Such a policy would require a ban on flights, scrapping millions of petrol and diesel cars, and the disconnection of 26million gas boilers.

Homes could not be heated properly; supply lines would break down; hospitals and other public services would suffer continual power cuts.

FOUL HYPOCRISY

Gail Bradbrook, one of Extinction’s leaders, told the BBC that because of climate change: “Our children are at risk of not having enough food in a few years.” But her approach would achieve such food shortages much more quickly.
Embrace the future

What Extinction ignores is the enormous capacity of mankind to develop workable ecological solutions. The protesters think the correct response to climate change lies in going backwards through the destruction of industry and technology.

But the real answer can be found in the embrace of the future. We will protect the planet not be retreating into a quasi-primitive past, but by harnessing innovations such as cleaner forms of energy and biodegradable materials.

Despite the doom-mongering, significant progress is being made. In Britain alone, carbon emissions have fallen by 44 per cent since 1990, as energy efficiency improves and renewables replace fossil fuels.

The Greens love to moan about urban pollution, but they should recognise that no fewer than 12,000 people died and another 150,000 were hospitalized in the Great Smog of London in 1952, a toll that would be unthinkable today. Similarly, the Thames is at its cleanest for two centuries.

In its doctrinaire fury, Extinction Rebellion wants to overthrow our successful capitalist economic system. But it is that same system that could turn out to be the planet’s guardian.

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