Tuesday, October 15, 2024

State of the Climate

 


"We are on the brink of an irreversible climate disaster. This is a global emergency beyond any doubt. Much of the very fabric of life on Earth is imperiled. We are stepping into a critical and unpredictable new phase of the climate crisis."

Yet another dire prediction of imminent, existential, unrecoverable disaster has been published by experts. 

As the monster hurricane targets Florida and another unprecedented storm aims for France, as farm fields are alternately burned to a crisp, sucked dry, or flooded, as the U.S. southwest continues it's record-breaking heat cycles, we wander on, business as usual.

We HAVE to stop burning fossil fuels yesterday, yet no one seems to think that imperative applies to them. My well-off old people friends and acquaintances continue jetting or driving around the world for vacations, our supposedly "climate woke" non-profits, from public TV to the Sierra Club, continue to invite global flying, few people take the plea to use less carbon-intense means of local transportation seriously, few incentives or upgrades are being undertaken to help people change their transportation habits.

Kudos to Habitat for Humanity for their efforts to demonstrate that homes can be sealed and insulated rather than torn down. Kudos to Wisconsin Conservation Voters for helping people understand how to take advantage of Biden administration financial incentives to switch from polluting cars and appliances to clean ones.

But also, what is going on with Frack, baby, frack Kamala Harris? Why is Dairyland Power, recipient of a huge grant to "greenify" it's power production, still pushing for a new fossil methane plant in northern Wisconsin? [UPDATE - Dairyland Power has withdrawn its air permit! We may be winning this one.] Why does the school district want us to vote on a huge building plan before their climate action plan is finalized?

We are well beyond the stage where two steps forward, one step back is going to work. We need all steps forward now.

"As pressures increase and the risk of Earth's climate system switching to a catastrophic state rises, more and more scientists have begun to research the possibility of societal collapse."

All steps forward means personal action, including reducing our own carbon emissions AND relentlessly lobbying, at all levels of government and in our community, for quicker, more impactful change. It means voting for  whoever might be convinced you can't have meaningful climate action while you are overseeing record fossil fuel production. It means talking about it relentlessly with friends, co-workers, family members, neighbors, employers, and our community.

We may be cooked, but maybe our children can survive. But not unless we change things. Starting today. Starting right now.


Because






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