Went to see Sorry to Bother You (highly recommended) at Home last night.

There were the usual advertisements.  One, with a green background, proudly said that Home had made sure all its staff had undertaken Carbon Literacy “training”, and that (therefore) everyone really Cared about the environment and stuff.

Literally a minute later, there was a long, elaborate advert for… Emirates Airlines.

I mean, it’s almost as if Carbon Literacy is a meaningless tickbox exercise that enables organisations to greenwash and then continue exactly as they were before/is convenient to them.   I know, I know, crazy talk.  I mean, look at the many magnificent and transformative successes of carbon literacy.  Who could forget that time that a former Executive Member for the Environment became an MP.  And did the Carbon Literacy training and got the certificate.  Then, when the vote about whether to expand Heathrow came along, this person – no names (okay, Jeff Smith) – voted… for expansion.

It would not surprise me in the least if the clowns at MOSI who decided it would be a good idea to let themselves be used by Shell to pump out pro-fossil fuel propaganda have undertaken carbon “literacy” training too.

In ten years time, when the shit is really hitting the fan, people will be saying that they were always hardcore, and had always made brave and principled decisions on the climate emergency, doing a Neil Young every single day.  We will have more on our plates to worry about than those lies and self-delusions, but the truth, now… well, we could see it, if we had the courage.

But courage, like common sense and a sense of urgency, is in very limited supply, and absent entirely in Manchester’s political and cultural “elite”.