The news on Climate Change is bad and getter worse. We have already passed some tipping points and are into dangerous territory.
There is no window of opportunity to make the changes that we should have made 30 years ago. No matter what is done now the result is still going to be ugly, we have lost too much time.
We are in crisis mode and if this community doesn't recognize that than no one will. We are supposed to be the reality based community with the best progressive minds able to make the changes necessary and yet there seems to be a non urgent spinning of wheels approach to the greatest challenge our planet has to face.
If you're waiting for some one else to solve the problem for you well good luck with that. That's not to say that we should stop lobbying and trying to help produce an international agreement, but right now it looks dim. I don't think the US can agree to any appropriate international climate change measures without the consent of the legislature (which of course is now divided). And what they will do anyway is legislate that we change our consumption.
This community needs to take the lead on this most important issue. If we can't develop consensus here as to the seriousness of this issue then where can consensus be reached? There is no one else. There have been opportunities for others to lead such as government and the media but so far crickets. We have to build a grassroots movement that will not stand for half measures..there is too much at stake. It is irresponsible to think that we will not have to change our lives. If we don't change our lives in the necessary ways it will be changed for us in perhaps painful ways.
The major areas that have to be addressed include transportation, housing and food because these are the things that most directly influence our daily consumption choices. In transportation we need to abstain from car travel as much as possible. And yes a Prius is a better choice but did you know that building a new car takes a tremendous amount of energy much better to try to go from a two car family to a one car family or try alternative transport such as scooters, bike or public transport.
Regarding housing, less is more and a smaller space uses less energy to heat and cool. You have a choice as to insulation which can make a huge difference. And you have a choice in location which can also influence your energy use. A walkable community with good public transport access gives you the option of going car free!
Transportation and housing decisions and changes can take some time, time that we do not have. So I advocate for the most immediate, easiest and most effective change that can be made and that is to reduce or eliminate meat and meat products from your diet.
There seems to be no way to sustainably raise meat given it's water and land usage and to think so just delays the inevitable decisions that will have to be made.
Already half of all water used in US goes to raising animals for food
Nearly half of all the water used in the United States goes to raising animals for food (“The Food Revolution” by John Robbins). It takes more than 2,400 gallons of water to produce 1 pound of meat and only 25 gallons to produce one pound of wheat (“Water Inputs in California Food Production” by Marcia Kreith)
To produce a day’s food for one meat-eater takes over 4,000 gallons; for a lacto-ovo vegetarian, only 1200 gallons; for a vegan, only 300 gallons (The Vegetarian Times Complete Cookbook)
Animals raised for food produce approximately 130 times as much excrement as the entire human population and animal farms pollute our waterways more than all other industrial sources combined. Run-offs of animal waste, pesticides, chemicals, fertilizers, hormones and antibiotics are contributing to dead zones in coastal areas, degradation of coral reef and health problems. (The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency)
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Raising animals for food (including land used for grazing and land used to grow feed crops) now uses a staggering 30% of the Earth’s land mass. (Livestock’s Long Shadow: Environmental Issues and Options, a 2006 report published by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization)
Seven football fields’ worth of land is bulldozed every minute to create more room for farmed animals and the crops that feed them. (The Smithsonian Institution)
Of all the agricultural land in the U.S., 80% is used to raise animals for food and grow grain to feed them—that’s almost half the total land mass of the lower 48 states (“Major Uses of Land in the United States” by Marlow Vesterby and Kenneth S. Krupa)
We have abused the Earth and are late making these changes and now we each have to pull our own weight and do what's necessary. These are my ideas, I would like to hear any ideas you have to help in making these decisions easier. Are you making any changes in your life that will help in this crisis?
Peace