CLIMATE

How Much Carbon Dioxide Is Too Much?

Killing the propaganda that aiming for zero emissions is a fallacy

Caroline de Braganza
4 min readSep 15, 2023

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Our burning planet (Image by Avtar Kamani from Pixabay)

I’m cautious about expressing my opinion in the public domain, but today I couldn’t stay silent — consequences be damned.

The trigger

My morning routine includes reading the latest local news articles in my emails. One such story by the Daily Maverick was reporting on the third annual Southern Africa Oil and Gas Conference, which got under way in Cape Town on Wednesday, 13 September.

Our minister of mineral resources and energy, Gwede Mantashe — whom we affectionately call the fossil fool — said,

“Those who advocate for climate change continue to pit fossil fuels against renewable energies, and as a result downplaying the role of fossil fuels in the energy mix, while they exaggerate the role of renewable energies.”

Activists from Extinction Rebellion, the Climate Justice Charter, the African Climate Alliance and Project 90 by 2030 as well as individuals protested outside the Cape Town International Convention Centre (CTICC) while delegates inside discussed coal and gas plans in the pipeline (pun intended) for South Africa.

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Caroline de Braganza

Wise Older Woman (WOW). Poetry, essays, humor. Passion for mental health, social justice, politics, diverse cultures, the world and environment.