Author’s Note: This post is my contribution to Blog Action Day 2009.
My first thought on climate change:
Too. Much. Hype. On both sides.
And way too much fear. Fear of the coming apocalpyse. Fear of the economic impacts of legislation. Too much mental clutter getting in the way of action.
Let’s face it: People change. Values change. Technologies change. And whether climate change happens or not, in fifty years, our way of life will be completely different.
As humans, we grow or we die. There is no sideways.
After all, the human way of life is rooted in changing the world around us. So let’s not delude ourselves into obsessing over our carbon footprints. We walk on this earth. We will leave footprints. Our job isn’t to reduce the size of our footprints – our job is to make sure those footprints lead us somewhere worthwhile.
So let’s leave the hype behind for a while and look at climate change through fresh eyes.
Imagine …
For all the buzz around climate change, we don’t spend much time thinking about life after – or in spite of - a global climate shift. But unless we truly believe that a few degrees Celsius marks The End of It All, shouldn’t we at least consider the possibility that life will go on?
If there’s one thing you take away from reading, I hope it’s this: we human beings are pretty damn good at handling change, whether it’s technological, meteorological, or simply illogical. Perhaps climate change will force us to make some radical changes in the way we live, but I’m not convinced those changes have to be for the worse.
And if – just if – it turns out that climate change is neither our fault nor under our control, would we all run around screaming about the end of the world?
I doubt it.
I bet we’d buckle down and get to work building ways to come out on top of climate changes. I bet we’d say, “Okay, the world is changing. But it’s not the end. With enough imagination, ingenuity, and hard work, we can overcome this and come out stronger on the other side.”
Act.
Which begs the question: In the absence of fear, what exactly would we do about climate change? Here are a few of my ideas:
Innovate, not legislate. I honestly believe that setting emissions standards won’t fix anything. Instead of getting into useless arguments over what to reduce and by how much, why don’t we concentrate on developing technologies that make emissions obsolete? Entrepreneurs all over the world are making incredible advancements in efficient energy – and as awareness grows, even ponderous, powerful corporations are getting behind the effort.
Another problem with passing laws? They’re slow. They’re subject to years and years of legal wrangling. They have loopholes. They give companies an excuse to fight and bicker and drag their feet. In particular, legislation is a very inefficient way of getting large corporations to innovate. It backfires more often than not.
But when it becomes clear that green efficiency boosts a company’s image and bottom line, and when we as consumers lend our financial support to companies committed to true innovation – that’s when we get action.
Take the small steps. There’s a time and a place for big steps, for drama and fireworks. But successful movements live or die on the efforts individual people taking little steps forward. When it comes to efficient living, these little steps may be (thanks to Justin for a few extra suggestions!):
- Giving up the gas-guzzling horsepower you don’t need
- Wearing a few extra layers in winter instead of cranking up the heat
- Putting trash where it belongs
- Turning things on only when you need them
- Taking shorter showers
- Growing your own food
- Installing solar panels in your home
- Making it a community effort
These small steps may not add up to much, but they build the awareness and set the stage for the big steps that change the world.
Understand that there will be trade-offs. If we are committed to implementing cleaner, renewable sources of energy, we must be willing to make trade-offs. While they may work wonderfully as ways to reduce your personal electricity bill, wind and solar energy are a bit more difficult to implement on a large scale. For one thing, they currently require large amounts of land to be effective. And unless we plan to kick thousands of people out of their homes to find that land, we will eventually need to cut into natural habitats. Green energy still leaves footprints.
Personally, I support nuclear energy. Yes, there are risks: the need to store radioactive waste and the possibility of a nuclear accident, for example. That’s a trade-off. In return, we gain a source of energy that produces almost no air pollution, cuts our carbon emissions, and has already been proven to work. And despite the theoretical risks, the fact remains that nuclear power plants have an amazing safety record when compared to other types of power plants.
I believe that if we are careful, and if we respect the power that we’re harnessing, there’s no reason why we can’t make good use of it.
What Do You Think?
Where do you stand on climate change, sustainability, and the green movement? What’s good about it? Bad about it? How would you tackle the thorny issues of efficiency, energy, and politics?
18 Comments on “Footprints, Imagination, and the Art of Sustainability”
says:
THANK YOU! I live with an enviromental scientist, we both agree Global Warming is a bunch of bullocks.
That said there are still good reasons to go green. Good stewardship of the earth, personal independence through creating your own power and food, cleaner running engines, no more dependence on oil, and perhaps a smarter design for cities.
The thing that most of us forget about legislation is that all legislation is eventually backed with a gun. Never make a law that you would not have someone shot over, because someone will eventually be shot over it.
We the people are the answers, but we have to start believing in our own power. We have to dare to do great things.
If you are really interested in green living and independence look up earthship.net look up the simon dale house, look up the air car, look up the XR3 Hybrid, do not accept 65 mpg as good mileage you can go to build it solar.com and find students that built a car that goes 1300 mpg. Learn to grow your own food, so that you don't have to buy unless you want to. The more independent we are, the free-er we will be. But don't just cut out every one else. Build a community garden. Make a fund for all the houses in your neighborhood to get solar panels. Whether global warming is bullocks or not there are great things that we can do now.
The legislators are just looking for more power, since when has higher government involvement meant a better solution? We are talking about an organization that has more incentive to be corrupt than it has to follow its ideals.
Sorry Jeffery you called out the libertarian in me. ^__^
says:
Haha, no need to apologize, Justin. It's all about passion, right?
And I'm a big fan of going green too – so long as that means being efficient and creative with the way we use the resources we have. Unfortunately, the closest I've come to growing my own food is a rather lame backyard garden where we grew this funky Chinese vegetable. At least it tasted good :)
I think the point I really want to get across is the possibility of a world where pollution is obsolete. Not just illegal, but obsolete due to the technologies we use. Sounds like a worthy future to me. In fact, I might do a little sneaky editing of the post to emphasize this idea *shhhh* :)
says:
You're garden is still further along than mine. I'm still getting
settled in. My point was that the answers are already here. Not just
the technology. We are the answers. The great things that we are born
to do are the answers. We have to stop making excuses for not giving
our all into everything we can become. I'll keep the edit between
you, me, and every one else that reads the credits.
says:
This was great. I've come across a lot of blogs yesterday and today that were somewhat skeptical about climate change.
I'm not sure that's what the organizers were hoping for. But having an honest diologue, and accepting that there's nothing to panic about is a good start.
says:
Whew! All this time I was worried about an apocalypse. But instead what's coming is an “apocalpyse”. ;)
says:
Hi,
some nice points, but also a couple of misleading ones. Climate Change IS HAPPENING PEOPLE. Almost every scientist on the face of the planet has concurred that it's on and that it very probably has been caused by us. Two weeks ago a scientific team returned from the North Pole, their prediction IT WILL BE GONE IN 20 YEARS. You can't tell me that is a natural occurance. In just over 100 years we will have changed the way our planet looks from space.
The saddest thing in all of this is that our parents and us have created a world which will render our children's life more difficult, more expensive and more unstable. There needs to be massive fundamental change in the way we lead our lives. How many people reading this blog still drive to work, alone in their cars every day? How many still use countless plastic bags whenever they go shopping? There is a great push in he UK to reduce your carbon footprint by 10% in the next 12 months I would encourage everyone to check it out.
Here are four easy ways you can make a definite difference NEXT WEEK :
1) have a car free day – don't use it at all for a day. It's not that hard, simply work out when/where the bus/subway/ferry/train/tram goes and jump on!
2) car pool one day a week – it's much more fun than sitting in traffic yourself + you'll save a bunch of money
3) go MEAT FREE one day a week. Production of meat accounts for 30% of all green house gasses and a meat heavy diet is one of the key factors in numerous cancers.
4) take your own bags to the supermarket, don't use their plastic ones.
Try any one of these, you'll see they're not that hard.
says:
No one is denying that the polar ice caps have melted a bit, or that we have polluted the air too much. What we are trying to say is that buying more stuff or “going green” as corporations and government would have you believe is not the way.
Going Green, is about changing your lifestyle. That means using natures resources when we need them only, to a limited extent, and maximizing on their potential.
says:
Sorry, but the appeal to authority (“almost every scientist on the face of the planet”) is not only bad reasoning, it is just plain wrong. Many credible scientists dispute that “fact” and are not a part of the consensus. Is it just me, or does a consensus have nothing to do with the creation of facts?
The doom hysteria of your “oh my god, we're all gonna die” remarks are laughable. BTW, the scientists in the consensus are disagreeing; we're doomed and it's too late, or let's change things. Yep, concrete scientific thought going on here. How about dropping the fear and the Algore propaganda?
says:
My comment was a reply to Matt. For some reason, it does not appear in the correct position.
says:
I'm not going to get into the global warming facts because everyone seems so sensitive and hard line about that. But here are some indisputable facts to consider:
-we do live on a finite planet, with finite resources, including essentials such as air and water
-nature evolved over eons into a finely tuned system that supplies the essentials and makes the planet habitable for humans
-humans are affecting the balance of those systems
-current trends of resource use and population growth are not sustainable
So it is obvious that changes must be made. I agree with earlier comments that the people have the power and small changes can make a difference. Many of us have already taken the steps we can. But others will not without more incentive. A cultural shift is a great thing, and certainly needed, but EXTREMELY slow without major crises.
The financial incentive is already there for many measures, such as weatherization, because it pays for itself in a short time. Yet even with that incentive many still are unwilling or unable to take those small steps. For that reason we do need legislation to level the playing field, show true costs of the various options, and provide added incentives. I know getting good legislation is extremely challenging, but it can dramatically speed up the necessary changes.
And many of the changes being suggested to slow down climate change (waste reduction, efficient resource use, cleaner energy) have many positives and just make good sense, even if climate change isn't happening. If it is, I just don't want my kids or grandkids to witness the results of dramatic climate change (collapse of natural and cultural systems, mass human migration and starvation) and have them know we had very clear signals and selfishly did not respond.
says:
@Matt – Some good suggestions there, and I agree that being more efficient doesn't have to very hard. I've read some of the science behind climate change, but not enough yet to get into a debate about statistics and data, so I'll refrain from making any hasty comments :)
@Illham – Nicely put. It really is a lifestyle change – meaning something you have to commit to over a long period of time. Part of that is changing your mindset.
says:
I think that fear really is the most destructive thing in the entire climate change debate. Either global warming is happening, or it's not. Either the world will change, or it won't. I'll let the scientists figure that one out.
But fear-based rhetoric on both sides does nothing to move us forward. In that, I completely agree with you, Stormbringer.
says:
“And many of the changes being suggested to slow down climate change (waste reduction, efficient resource use, cleaner energy) have many positives and just make good sense, even if climate change isn't happening.”
I think this is HUGE. We spend so much time arguing over this policy and that policy and will it do more harm than good and does climate change even matter … and we get nowhere. You're exactly right, Sky – the changes we can and should make (being efficient, cutting waste, developing cleaner technologies) don't need climate change as a justification. They're beneficial in and of themselves.
says:
I applaud the cooling of alarm-ism and I do like the suggestions for lifestyle change. However, I suppose I may suffer from SIWOTI syndrome. There are so many lines of converging evidence that make it nearly incontrovertible that we are facing negative climate change…if you call the conclusions of climate scientists bullocks – you really haven't examined the evidence. The “Every Scientist” comment may be an appeal to authority, but try reading some of the intelligently written articles by climate scientists with loads of evidence and links to other sources and tons of evidence….And if you have any trust in the scientific method and peer review, whatsoever, you may not think it's bullocks.
Don't panic – but please don't minimize the facts. If you have any links to credible articles that site real sources and show that Greenland melting is not accelerating or that the oceans are cooling and not warming and that CO2 is not a greenhouse gas after all and that we are not pumping giga-tons of CO2 and other greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, please post it here so I can feel skeptical about climate change again.
says:
Almost every scientist once believed the world was flat. Majority belief does not constitute proof. Additionally we also just came out of an ice age 4 centuries ago. It takes a long while for the earth to get back up to a regular temperature from that.
says:
Depends on the marketing team. How long did it take to make Coca-Cola a household name? Movements work the same as products.
says:
Glad to share a resource. Here's a documentary that challenges global warming. http://www.veoh.com/collection/cerebral/watch/v...
And while I would not challenge the points you've brought up here are some points for you to examine. Where is the evidence that humans are the number one source of CO2 on the planet? When was the last ice age? How long does an ice age typically take to warm back up? Does the sun go through heating and cooling cycles naturally? What effect would these things have on the planet?
Whether global warming is true or not, how we live is still unsustainable. There are still more advantages to going green than to not. Lets just be careful to not become a force for politics rather than a force for good. Put thought and reason behind your decisions and examine evidence presented by your opponents.
says:
Jeffrey, This is an interesting and provocative post. I agree with the general thrust of your words and the comments, namely, that whether or not alarming climiate change is occurring, we do need to make changes in our energy use and our consumption and disposal of products,
However, I don't agree with the idea that legislation is not part of the answer. When I worked in the environmental area, specifically in hazardous waste management and clean-up of contaminated sites, it was clear that federal legislation in both areas was essential in bringing about responsible disposal of hazardous waste and clean-up of sites where hazardous waste had been dumped in the past. It's hard to imagine how innovation alone could address a Love Canal-type site or a cluster of childhood leukemia in an area where dumping of hazardous waste decades before had contaminated water supply wells in Woburn, Massachusetts.
In addition, legislation often motivates behavior change by imposing hefty financial penalties. The federal Superfund Act requires owners of contaminated property to clean it up. If they fail to do so, the governemtn can perform the clean-up and go after the property owner for treble damages. That approach tends to get a lot of compliance which benefits all of us.