I think you're clearly missing the point. Y-2-K? That thing where they did a lot of work and fixed the problem before the year changed to 2000. That potential problem where people acted on the warnings to fix the problem. Are you serious? THEY FIXED THE PROBLEM BEFORE IT HAPPENED. The fact that nothing happened actually disproves whatever you're view is about climate change, reducing pollution.
An absolutely ludicrous analogy. Oh look they fixed the issue and nothing happened, that must mean there was nothing wrong in the first place. Seriously? Are car airbags a big hoax as well?
Rose coloured glasses in use perhaps?
If you look at where the carbon tax, carbon abatement, carbon credits businesses etc have been rorted, misrepresented and fraudulently claimed then the Y-2-K example is directly relevant.
Post Y-2-K there were a number of inquiries etc that found a large proportion of 'preventative spending' or forced upgrades had no actual need.
For example, a large number of software program upgrades were not required but software companies advertised widely along the lines of avoid the potential business calamity - upgrade to latest version now. With two large commercial software packages (global not just Aust sourced software) there was absolutely no Y-2-K reason to upgrade. Yet the scare campaign saw most businesses suckered in globally.
Just like with the climate-gate scandal (google it if you've forgotten) where the data was deliberately falsified by the 'top scientists at one UK University centre of Excellence , threats made against any scientists who questioned its validity etc - the same happened with the Y-2-K.
There were a number of inquiries launched into the rorts, lies etc however with the emperor's new clothes many of the dupes were not game to admit they wasted millions without proper due diligence. Remember the claims that the GPS system was going to fail? Planes would fall out of the sky - so don't fly on Dec 31, 1999? The alarmists got the headlines. Many small businesses adopted the wait and see approach and found no problems the next day despite the doomsday claims.
Sure in some systems there was a Y-2-K issue but it was not every system. Similarly a large proportion of the alarmist claims are blatantly without any substance. Remember the Climate Change Commissioner (was that his taxpayer funded title?) Tim Flannery going out on a multi-media campaign saying that Sydney's dams would never again be full? Within 12 months they were over flowing.
The claims about no glaciers left in the IPCC report was traced to an undergraduate student who made the unsubstantiated claim in a paper they wrote. Its retraction did not get the front page headlines though did it? Why not?
There is a clear problem with pollution (real pollution such as that caused by shifting huge CAPITAL intensive (not labour intensive) industries into developing countries with issues of corruption +/or low to no environmental emission controls. Have a go and do some searching on China's new coal fired power plants in the last few years. They have been adding more in one year than we have in total!
Then there is the source of a large proportion of their coal - low calorific value brown coal. That is real pollution and has a proven adverse impact on both people and the broader environment.
Apples & Oranges
Product faults leading to safety recalls are not in the same class as alarmist claims although apparently GM alllegedly tried to portray it that way for years until the recent revelations that they knew of the issues for years.
The carbon tax issue at one extreme is portrayed as a King Canute exercise and at the other Joan of Arc.
As always the truth lies somewhere in between - extremism is rarely right.
