Several European countries are trying to stop selling fuel-powered vehicles.
This is the case of Germany that announced this target by 2030, in order to reduce CO2 emissions (one of the main gases of greenhouse effect). Norway and the Netherlands aim for this goal by 2025.
The bet is now on the manufacture of hybrid and electric cars.
In the US, Mr. Donald Trump continues to claim that global warming is a myth that was invented to harm the United States. Since oil companies consider that demand for oil products is still high, they consider that climate change is not relevant.
Abraham Maslow, an American psychologist (1908-1970), in his theory of the hierarchy of needs, considered that motivation in people manifests itself to satisfy the most unmet needs, the most basic of humans. By hierarchy, at the base of the pyramid we have the physiological needs, followed by the social needs, those of self-esteem and finally those of personal fulfillment. According to him, it is not possible to satisfy one without the other, if not from level to level, from the bottom to the top. It makes sense, for example, if I have a lot of money and I can buy all the things I want but don't have clean water, health, love, etc. I am not happy, I am uncompensated. What is the point of having a better home if I don't have food to feed my family, or energy to warm me, or if I'm not safe?
In the case of the environment, to what extent is environmental preservation a priority for humanity? Is it a necessity? In my view, yes! Required, but do all people look at it the same way? How worried are people?
The fact is that, according to many researchers, environmental preservation is considered only as a tool to help in the pursuit of personal fulfillment (top of the pyramid). It seems a difficult thing to achieve and satisfy, so far away. Wrong! This level is imposed on man only after the other 4 based levels are satisfied. I think that is where the issue lies, the difficulty of drawing global attention to this serious problem.
Perhaps for this reason activists such as Greta Thunberg, among others, are trying to draw attention to the fact that this issue must be viewed from the standpoint of physiological needs, since without drinking water, without preserving the fauna and flora, the food chain and the planet are in total decay and implosion, so humanity will have its days numbered. Good thing they do! I fully agree. Human beings depend on the environment to meet their needs. This is the reality that Politicians and Capitalists do not want to disclose or see, to assume. This is a fragmented problem.
Fortunately, new generations are waking up and imposing themselves.
We have to look for the balance needed for sustainability.
Today the pyramid of Maslow must be viewed in a different way and must include environmental preservation from its base.
