Toward a More Perfect Union: A Prescriptive Approach — Environment
IV. Environment and Energy
Environment
Despite the arguments of climate change deniers, climate change is a fact. It is real, it is ongoing, and it is critical. The oceans are already rising and threatening the habitats of millions of people. Severe weather patterns are increasing in size and frequency, and it is only going to get worse. Even if one discounts human activity as a cause (which is itself incorrect and wishful thinking) the need for us humans to try to do something about it is essential, since we are the only species that can come up with ameliorative solutions.
That is where our government is a critical component. Note that with only 5% of the world’s population, we produce at least 25% of the carbon emissions and physical waste planet-wide. The Bush withdrawal from the Kyoto accords was both wrong and stupid. The fact that our current administration ignores and/or denies climate change means that we are contributing to the ecological destruction without taking any efforts to diminish it. And yet, we have the scientific resources to find solutions if we would only take advantage of them.
Executive and legislative leadership has been lacking, yet that is precisely what is needed to make a common and meaningful effort to deal with climate change in an effective manner.
Scientists have identified at least six mass extinctions in Earth’s past, the most famous (but not the largest) one being the dinosaur extinction of about 65 million years ago. What should be noted about these extinctions is that most of them took hundreds of thousands or millions of years to run their course. In each case, a relatively small number of species of life forms survived and allowed life to flourish once again. Our own existence is a direct result of the extinction of large dinosaurs which cleared the evolutionary path for small mammals to evolve into the fauna that we see today, including primates like us humans.
But what we are doing now is another mass extinction, and one that is being accomplished in a few measly centuries rather than millions of years. Each year, we lose many times more plant and animal species to extinction than has ever happened previously, and the reason can be laid firmly at the doorstep of human activity. We are killing our mother planet, and we are in imminent danger of creating a mass extinction that may leave only ants and cockroaches to populate the Earth. This would be done either through pollution, changing the atmosphere, nuclear warfare, or a combination of all three.
Mobilizing our resources collectively to combat these problems is the only alternative, and such mobilization must come from government leadership. Other countries are working on this, but without similar efforts by the United States, the prospect for the world’s future is grim indeed.
We are putting carbon dioxide into our atmosphere at astronomical rates. For most of human history, the ratio of CO2 in our atmosphere was in the range of 200-250 parts per million (ppm). Since the advent of the industrial revolution and the widespread use of fossil fuels, that ratio has risen steadily and is now over 400 ppm. This ratio is rising quickly. Scientists estimate that at about 1000 ppm, life as we know it would become impossible.
Connected with – and due to – the rise in CO2 levels is the steadily rising average global temperature. This phenomenon is well-documented and has already started to threaten heavily-populated coastal cities like Calcutta, Venice, New York, and Miami. A by-product of ocean warming and expansion is the change in ocean currents. For example, the Gulf Stream, which keeps the British Isles easily inhabitable even though they lie at the same latitude as Newfoundland, would be disrupted, especially as Florida became inundated.
Analyst Richard Mathews says it well: “A true climate tipping point comes when we make a change to the earth system that says CO2 levels and temperatures will stay high even as emissions become low for centuries. That comes from things like albedo changes (earth becoming darker and absorbing more heat) resulting from melting ice caps, melting permafrost releasing methane, extinctions irreversibly changing ecosystems, and shutting down ocean currents. Even a temperature increase itself, by changing air moisture levels, can be a tipping point. Our world is on the verge of hitting a number of those tipping points. We don't know for sure when we hit any of them. We probably won't know we have hit them until long after it happens. Suggested numbers like getting CO2 levels back to 350 ppm or keeping global temperature increase below 1.5°C are based on maintaining a low probability of hitting a bunch of those tipping points.”
Hubert Reeves hits the nail on the head when he says, “Man is the most insane species. He worships an invisible God and destroys a visible Nature, unaware that the Nature he is destroying is the God he is worshipping.”
And what is government responsibility? The necessary first step is to reduce carbon emissions. This means weaning ourselves from dependence on fossil fuels: oil, gas, and coal. Our addiction to these fuels hinders our willingness to accept alternative energy sources such as solar, wind, water, and tidal surges. If we finally solve the problem of cold fusion, that too could be added to the mix. In any event, there are abundant sources of energy that are both inexhaustible and non-polluting. All that is really needed is for our government to support and fund research into alternative fuels. Instead, the current administration is actively working against this initiative by authorizing more – not less – oil drilling, both off-shore and on lands previously set aside as national monuments and parks, all while adding taxes to solar and wind energy projects.
Continued in Part 14 — Energy
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Return to Part 3 — Gerrymandering & Courts
Return to Part 4 — Congress
Return to Part 5 — President and DOJ
Return to Part 6 — Campaign Financing
Return to Part 7 — Lying and Ethics
Return to Part 8 — Sexism and LGBT
Return to Part 9 — Abortion & Church/State
Return to Part 10 — Guns
Return to Part 11 — Healthcare & VA
Return to Part 12 — Big Pharma
Go to Part 15 — Education
Go to Part 16 — Economics
Go to Part 17 — Unions, Safety Net
Go to Part 18 — Homelessness
Go to Part 19 — Trade, Tariffs
Go to Part 20 — Media
Go to Part 21 — War, National Security
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Above is the thirteenth of numerous submissions wherein I suggest ways our country, our government, and the world can be made better. I am an old fart in my 70’s and have seen much: the turmoil of the 1960’s; Vietnam (where I served as an infantry officer and was awarded a purple heart and other medals); the anti-Vietnam protests (in which I participated while still in uniform); Watergate, the rise of the right wing attack on the poor and powerless during and after the Reagan years; the continued wars in Grenada, Panama, Iraq, Afghanistan and pretty much everywhere else; the Clinton years, the invasion of Iraq in 2002 and the never-ending war since; the brief glow of sunshine during the Obama years; and now Trump. While my dog in this fight is getting long in the tooth, I still deeply care about three things: my country, my country’s honor, and the future we leave to our descendants. My personal history, other than military service, includes college teaching, computer support, hospital IT supervision, consulting, and now — in my retirement — substitute teaching.
I make my recommendations in all seriousness, recognizing that most of them are not immediately attainable. Nevertheless, if we elect people who share our values as our representatives at all levels of government, we can accomplish much.