Even though the European Union and Latvia have pledged to achieve climate neutrality by 2050, it turns out that a “group of pioneers” can be found in Latvia, whose members propose implementing measures so that, by as early as 2030, a certain Latvian city will not only be climate-neutral but even “free from CO2 emissions”.

This is not a joke or the message of someone who has escaped from an asylum, but one of the points in a party alliance's election programme for the upcoming local government elections.

Clearly and plainly: “We will implement measures so that in 2030 ... will be a city free from CO2 emissions”. Why the ellipsis? I do not wish to advertise this “group of pioneers”. It plans to win not only the local council election race in the town, but perhaps even triumph on an all-union (European, of course) scale, earning all-union recognition. A travelling cup, a flag, a certificate of merit, or a pennant would serve well as confirmation and a prize. Perhaps over time an association will form, including European and, later, global cities – “free from CO2 emissions”.

Reading this noble resolution and solemn promise of a city free from CO2 emissions, one is compelled to ask: “How, comrades, will you implement this plan?” Specifically, humans, animals, and plants consume oxygen when breathing and emit CO2 (only plants, including trees, absorb CO2 and release oxygen during photosynthesis). If the “group of pioneers” wins the election and wants to carry out this promise (of “freeing the city from CO2 emissions”), it means that in the coming years, all remaining manufacturing industry must be “removed” from the city (if any is left), boiler houses must be shut down, private house chimneys must be bricked up... In the final phase, all local patriots who are still left and deserve to be driven out must be expelled (if there are no jobs or heating, they will move out themselves).

Absurd! Nonsense! ...hopefully

Perhaps these promisers possess the latest technologies, known only to a few, which is why this Latvian city will be the first not just in Latvia, the Baltics, or Europe, but in the world to be free from CO2 emissions. Then, well... many things become clear and everything falls into place. Representatives of progressive humanity, scientists, and interested parties will flock there in streams to gain experience and purchase the “know how” patent. To the joy of the Latvian government, warming up the economy to mitigate the consequences of the Covid-19 crisis will no longer be necessary! The European Commission and Members of the European Parliament will come to learn how to do it quickly and simply, perhaps without huge (millions or billions of euros) expenses. Well then! An ambitious plan. Of course, such “achievements” are certainly worthy of a claim to some international prize.

One must assume the “group of pioneers” will not withhold their knowledge and experience from the leaders of other Latvian cities, and even more so, from the Cabinet of Ministers and the Saeima. The latter could, in fact, push not for a 30-year plan to reduce CO2 emissions and achieve climate neutrality, but to implement it all, in defiance of the backward union, in less than ten years, winning the all-union competition and placing themselves at the forefront of progressive humanity.

But... perhaps the phrase written in the political group's programme, “We will implement measures so that in 2030 ... will be a city free from CO2 emissions”, is simply a test of the voters' intelligence and, in particular, their understanding, because, after all, voters are often colloquially referred to as a herd of sheep. When speaking with those residing in the specific city, they truly looked at the questioner with astonishment, as if at a little person accidentally released from a psychiatric hospital or an extraterrestrial.

The city's “aboriginals” mention another very simple answer – stupidity. As simple as that! Currently, everything related to greenness is at the peak of political fashion, namely, the Green Deal, green economy, climate neutrality, and accompanying slogans, which often have no rational basis and which the current level of technology does not allow to be solved. It is the science fiction genre, but in order to please potential voters, they include CO2 emission reduction in the programme. In other words, bait to attract “green-thinking but little-understanding” voters. Perhaps the initial idea was slightly different: a climate-neutral city (capturing as much CO2 as is emitted, which, however, does not seem entirely realistic for a city either), but as the text was shortened, it ended up as it did. The leader of the political group and his “comrades-in-arms” (соратники) clearly DID NOT READ what they had written and did not think about how it would be understood.

Perhaps this is the best example of WHY, before choosing, instead of looking at the list of deputy and mayoral candidates, one should study what the relevant “group of pioneers” is promising. If a “city without CO2 emissions” is promised in local government elections, one is even afraid to think what they might promise for, say, 2040... Let's say, “the entire European country of Latvia free from CO2 emissions.” The spirit of socialist competition is still alive from the USSR days, and what matters is not just to keep up, but to overtake the whole world! Never mind that a country free from CO2 emissions essentially means a country without people, but if there are no inhabitants, then the country will not exist either.

If a group of people is prepared to promise an essentially unachievable idea just to gain power in a municipality, what might those same folk promise to get their hands on the levers of state government? In the past, people were educated by posters saying “Be vigilant!”. Today, it would be even more apt to add: “Read what those in power and those wanting power write in their short and long programmes! Run what you have read through your 'brain analyser', ask questions about how and when what is written will be implemented, and only then choose who to vote for.”

P.S. If you want to know which European city's elections this political group is promising such a “miracle” for, please carefully read the local government election manifestos of the respective country – Latvia. You might find yourself in for many more surprises than expected!