I am a big fan of the KISS method (Keep It Simple Stupid) for dealing with complex problems. Climate Change is certainly one of those and it is very easy to get lost in the details. Simply stated, Climate Change is going to affect every living thing on the planet, it is here and it is going to get worse if we don’t focus on reducing our emissions of greenhouse gases now(!).
I have on a number occasions in this blog space encouraged everyone to start doing their part in reducing your carbon footprint and will continue to do so. However, I am reading a book (The New Climate War by Michael Mann, PhD, a renowned atmospheric scientist) that reminds me that just reducing my own carbon footprint is not nearly enough. The other half of the needed battle (and I apologize for not talking about it so far in my blogs) is the need to do my/our part in demanding our governments legislate systemic change in areas such as the fossil fuel industry and others. I am, actually, a member of several organizations (World War Zero, Next Gen, Citizens Climate Lobby)that advocate/lobby for government action to address this critical area.
As I stated on my home page of Casa Earth, I/we believe that things are going to get a lot worse before enough people collectively raise their voices to demand change. The forces that drive political agendas are dominated by those in power which is derived from having money to influence politicians and unfortunately, in many cases, those people want to keep selling fossil fuels and maintain the status quo. That is not to say progress in not being made, and I do believe mankind will eventually get its act together but not before things get a lot worse and stay that way for the foreseeable future.
So please consider engaging with organizations that counter those who lobby to maintain the status quo while doing what you can to reduce your personal carbon footprint (this will change market dynamics and accelerate the change to more profitable low emission solutions – after all, it’s about the money, stupid!)
BTW, Dr. Mann’s book does provide a lot of information but is a bit heavy reading from my viewpoint and I am a strong advocate for the subject matter. So if you do want to expand your understanding of how we are daily deceived by those attempting to control our viewpoints around Climate Change, then by all means buy and read the book. Simply said, remain skeptical of everything you hear and follow up with personal research to validate things vs accepting at face value. I believe you will find we are in deep trouble and need to institute big changes or face the consequences.
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