The new normal

Let me make it very clear at the outset. I am not insensitive to the plight of those who suffered as a result of floods brought on by the series of weather disturbances that hit Cebu and other parts of the country. Neither am I trying to make a frivolity out of the calamity. If I say I commiserate with those who have to go through great difficulty in the aftermath of those weather disturbances, I mean it in all sincerity.

But there is something I need to say that I must apologize for in case it gets misinterpreted in ways other than what I intend it to mean. And what I need to say is this: When the floods struck in many places, I feel I am correct as to their cause -climate change and extreme weather. It was not plastic bags. When it rains these days, it just rains plain harder, hence the floods. And when it floods, the water is simply stronger and rises higher.

In a word, the wet season has gotten wetter. And the plastic bag has absolutely got nothing to do with it. So, to all those government officials who insisted they were right with their anti-plastic bag ordinances and I was wrong for insisting flood control does not work that way, the evidence to the contrary is all around for them to see, or swim in if they require further convincing.

It is not plastic bags that cause flooding. It is climate change that does. But reversing climate change takes longer and much greater effort. So government officials resort to cosmetic initiatives such as going after plastic bags, even if they know deep in their hearts that plastic bags do not clog up waterways unless people put them there.

But just as reversing climate changes takes longer and much greater effort, so does trying to change people’s attitudes. Trying to make people more disciplined and responsible takes longer and requires much greater effort. Besides, people also double as voters. It becomes a very risky proposition for politicians to try and make life more difficult for voters by making them do something that inconveniences them.

It is far easier for everybody if politicians just look for a scapegoat and go after plastic bags. Besides, going after plastic bags is like hitting two birds with one stone in the make-believe world of politics. Going after plastic bags gives the impression that politicians are doing something for the environment. And by making ordinances to do so, they give the impression they are doing their jobs.

But these things are, to borrow that famous line, all just sound and fury, signifying nothing. The floods can attest to that. The sooner government officials and politicians accept the fact that floods have become the new normal and that plastic bags have got nothing to do with their occurrence, the greater the chances of them actually being forced to find real and lasting solutions to the problem, rather than embark on cosmetic ones that are only good in getting them in the news.

The reality of floods as the new normal must be accepted. Looking for scapegoats like plastic bags must come to an end. Once relieved of these burdens, the path might yet be cleared to deal directly with what confronts people in a climate-challenged world.

The call of the day is great leaders with imaginative minds and a willingness to expend political capital, not embark on something ridiculous, like going after plastic bags.