Political gains tax

Without catastrophe there can be no change.  Various things are exploited by the government or other political entities in order to press their agenda.  The facts need not support the claims nor be the entire truth, what is important is gaining belief to motivate your outcome.

If there were no "global warming" we would never have much reason to add solar or wind generation or improve recycling efforts. Though we are still excessively dependent upon plastics and other petroleum products, plus, where will our soon to be mandated electric cars obtain their energy other than more dirty polluting power plants.  Either is a zero sum game but its all hidden behind the "woe is we, save the whatever, feel good I'm doing a little bit of nothing" situation.

Much like one vote by one person has little value of itself, one person making certain that every bit of possible recycling is omitted from the trash is not really going to save the planet.  One person choosing not to buy Naive bottled water isn't going to curb carbon emissions by itself.  One person throwing their trash into a wastebin instead of upon the sidewalk will not prevent a refuse strewn neighborhood though one person toiling to maintain many square feet of it may have a real impact. The tax is our burden, the change to our lives that we pay for the outcome the political entity desires.

In those back rooms they speculate.  "Imagine what we could do if we got everyone to do 'this'" and whatever that is is up to those political powers.  They can justify invasion into our privacy without a warrant, help us feel good about the removal of HFCS (high fructose corn syrup) from our foods, make us believe that organic or non-GMO is the hot thing.  They can outlaw mowing of lawns, add security checkpoints at every street corner, force us to "willingly" carry tracking devices; submit our DNA to a database.

Sometimes science prevents a movement from becoming mainstream simply because real science does not validate it.  Vaccinations are important and are of minimal risk, they do not cause autism so find a different windmill to poke at.  In other things, historical fact or science is exaggerated or perhaps only part of the story is emphasized in order to succeed.  Humans do affect their environment but to a catastrophic degree it is highly doubtful.  We largely invent (or exploit) catastrophe because we only listen or act when it is dire and politicians know this very well.