I am hopeful that we will reduce greenhouse gas emissions in time to save ourselves, in part, Â because I have to be. I believe in Active Hope -- hope as a verb, something you do, not something you have. Â At the same time, I believe people have got to understand and believe what's at stake before they act. Last week, a neighbor who is educated (a surgeon) told me that climate change was at the bottom of his list of political priorities. I was speechless (this is Massachusetts, a liberal state, after all).Â
We need to know how dire our situation is. Here's what a group of climate scientists published today: Â They say we have just three years to get climate change under control if we are to save ourselves.Â
I have seen in visions that the U.S. will actually go from the denying climate dunces that we are today to lead the world in sustainability in the late 2020's. Â That's nice. But according to experts, it is too late to avoid catastrophic outcomes.Â
Are the experts right? Will there be some miracles?  Electing Trump was a  blow, we all know that.  But can we get through this anyway?  Curious what you think.
I'm optimistic, but I believe we need to see the catastrophe looming before  us if we are to avoid it, so this is website a dance between seeing what we are facing, and not getting so discouraged that we freak out and become immobilized.Â
I also saw that article (and another one about the prospect of most equatorial countries being uninhabitable by the next century). I would suggest that despite the official rejection of the reality of climate change by our elected government, industry is singing a different tune as they struggle to develop plans to deal with a changing world. I'm confident that the US will get solidly behind addressing this problem, but only after we face a climate crisis. In the meantime, I've replaced all of my lightbulbs with LCDs, use my bike or walk for short trips, and plant trees.
What science deniers don't or won't understand about a looming climate crises is that it will inevitably cost trillions of $ and will hit everyone in the pocketbook.Â
Thanks Paul. I appreciate your contributions. Â There is much we can do and more to do. Â Replacing the light bulbs is cheap (home depot has them) and painless. Using a bike is huge! Â I drive an old Prius - gets 60 miles per gallon. The new ones get 100 miles per gallon. Â I have friends who have electric cars and solar panels on their roof - hence totally sustainable transportation. Â But a bike is a much cheaper simpler way. Â
We started a vegetable garden, which saves on food transport fuel use. If everyone just bought one locally grown meal a week, it would save an astronomical amount of fuel emissions spent transporting food. Â Living in New England, we've stopped buying asparagus from Peru and oranges from Israel. Â We try to buy local and seasonal and grow some of our own.Â
When I lived in NYC in the 1980's they had a drought and water shortage. The Mayor told everyone to cut water usage. Over night, people cut usage by half. It was a miracle how everyone helped out and the results were swift and deep.Â