I've read that it's very difficult to get someone to
understand something, when their job depends
on their not understanding.
That seems to be where we are on the subject of climate
change or global warming, or whatever you
want to call it.
For the majority of us struggling to grind out an existence
and earn our daily bread while keeping
a roof over our head, it can sometimes seem like a subject
best left to the experts, thereby
relieving ourselves of any responsibility to contemplate
what's happening.
Most of the world's economy is built on the use of fossil
fuels, and who wants to "cut their own
throat" so to speak, by supporting actions that may
impact our individual ability to earn a living.
But, there's a problem with that line of thinking. As far as I know, we only have this one
planet
that we all inhabit.
If the Eco systems are damaged to a point to where they no longer
support
life as we've come to know it, I don't think there's a giant
transport ship waiting to take us
somewhere else. (Not that those of us in the 99% would have
much chance of booking passage even if there were some way off “this rock”. Although, I suppose the
1% might want to take along a few of us to serve them...)
If you're only 10 years old, maybe all the "extreme"
weather we’ve been experiencing for the past
several years seems normal to you. If you've been around a while longer, I think
you can recognize that it’s not at all normal.
I'm not someone that enjoys winter, and while I do enjoy unseasonably
warm days...I know that there's something wrong when I get a 60
degree January day in Wisconsin.
There's been a fair amount of talk about "green"
energy and "green" products.
This has all appeared
to be more of a marketing campaign than real efforts to
fundamentally change how we operate.
I've always believed there won't be a fundamental change
until the current titans of the
energy industry decide that they have complete control over
production and distribution of whatever
green or renewable energy that could replace our fossil
fuels. In the meantime, it's in their best
interests to keep everything as it is now.
Except, keeping things as they are now, appears to be
marching us toward a tipping point where
there is no recovery.
Indeed some believe we've already reached it.
Now, I would love to tell you that I'm a totally green guy
with a small carbon footprint. But that
wouldn't be true. I'm
part of the problem. I do make individual
efforts to lessen my footprint.
And everyone should do what they can. But until renewable energy is widely
available, individual
efforts will likely produce very limited results – as is the
status quo.
It easy to feel powerless when thinking about this subject. And
I’m certainly not anywhere
close to being highly knowledgeable on this subject, nor do
I have all the right answers.
But similar to the financial crisis of 2008 - where one did
not need to be an expert on
Credit Default Swaps and Collateralized Debt Obligations to
instinctively know that something was
going wrong. You knew it was unfair to provide trillions in
bailouts to banks while millions of ordinary people were left to suffer. If you've been alive long
enough, you should have something nagging at the back of your skull to give you the sense that there's something up
with our changing climate.
For a much more informed take on the subject of climate
change, you can check out Bill McKibben,
founder of 350.org at http://www.350.org He is also a
regular at http://www.tomdispatch.com, so check out his latest there also.
And stay tuned for one of my new songs titled "Black
Gold", where I take a look at our addiction
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