Sometimes, the climate change movement and its various claims and requirements look like the Energizer Bunny on drugs: It just keeps getting dumber, and dumber, and dumber. Granted in many cases, especially at the street level - and by street level I mean "blocking the street level' - that's an apt comparison because the hands-glued-to-roadways types were clearly hiding behind the door when IQ points were handed out.
The people at the top, the people pushing this movement, are a tad smarter. But some of the ideas they push make one wonder: What the heck is wrong with these people?
Case in point: Pharmacists in Wales, as part of their professional training, are required to take "climate change and carbon literacy" training. Yes, really.
Pharmacists might seem busy enough doling out medications and getting to grips with the latest new treatments.
But they are now being expected to complete training in climate change and carbon literacy.
It comes as a body representing pharmacists say they already have too little time to complete existing training requirements.
Time? Who needs time? The Welsh pill-rollers have been told to get this done and, as they would say in Wales, cyflym. As a group they have been given until the end of next month - March - to complete this time-wasting and completely unnecessary training:
Training on the extra, woke topics have been introduced in Wales, as part of a 'quality and safety scheme' in line with the Welsh government's Net Zero Wales ambitions.
And chemists are expected to ensure the training is carried out by the end of next month to meet a target set by the Cardiff administration.
Community Pharmacy Wales has issued guidance to pharmacists, urging them to 'provide an overview of climate change and sustainability in Wales/the UK and the world'.
They must also 'evaluate the impact of climate change on health' and 'explore good practice in sustainability as a global citizen'.
Community Pharmacies Wales added: 'Pharmacy contractors can arrange for staff to access any training resource that at a minimum meets the learning objectives'.
"Chemists," we should note, is what they call pharmacists on that side of the Atlantic.
This isn't just unnecessary. It isn't just scientifically unsound. It's not just stupid. Well, it is stupid, but it's not just stupid. It's wasting the time of these essential personnel, it's taking them away from professional development training that is intended to make sure their skills stay up to date. It may even endanger some of their clients.
See Related: The London Climate Wars - How Scolds Are Harming the Brits
Here's the syllabus:
The course description states: 'Discover how climate change is putting the health of our patients at risk and explore the remarkable strides the NHS has made in leading the charge against greenhouse gas emissions.
'Learn how you can contribute and play your part in shaping a low carbon NHS that delivers exceptional care while safeguarding the health of future generations.'
And here's my question: To what end? What purpose does this serve? Let's set aside the whole anthropogenic global climate change argument just for a moment - if you have been reading my work for more than 15 minutes you know where I stand on that. But that's not the key point here. The key point is that this is an utter waste of time and resources. And, with Wales, like the rest of the United Kingdom, being a bastion of socialized medicine, that means that the British taxpayers are picking up the tab for this.
Think about how long you typically interact with your pharmacist. Usually, you don't even talk to the actual pharmacist; a pharmacy tech brings you your prescription, explains the specifics to you, and rings you up. If you're starting a new regimen the actual pharmacist may come talk to you about possible side effects and other risks and benefits, and make sure you know how and when to take the medication.
So, now, in Wales, they are presumably going to deliver a lecture on climate change and carbon footprints along with dispensing a client's blood pressure medication. How many clients do you think will sit still while the pharmacist starts off on climate fear-mongering? I'd get up and walk out, and I'd bet a pound note that many Welsh men and women would do the same. And what will these pharmacists do if someone starts asking them questions instead of just leaving - like, say, "Hey, can you explain the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum to me, and tell me what caused it and what ended it?" Most professional climate scolds, mind you, can't answer questions like that.
What's really bad here is that stupidity like this may well discourage young people considering careers from going into pharmacy work. The British National Health Service has had staffing problems in recent years, and lunacy like this will make matters worse.
There is an apocryphal observation often attributed to Albert Einstein: "Two things are infinite: The universe, and human stupidity. And I'm not so sure about the universe." Well, Dr. Einstein, you can rest easy on the human stupidity part of that, at least in the UK.
