Lately as I was thinking of my posts for this month I realized that I had not done many political commentary writings in the last few months. When I looked at my records I saw that I haven't written any political commentary since Blog Action Day which was in October, so a two and a half month break I've (unconsciously) taken but I'm going to get back at it.
There is an important place for politics and social issues in my life and being. I believe the adage that the personal is political. What my government does, what people with power in society do effects me. Their decisions can change the course of my life and that of the ones I love. That is why I write about what is going on in my town, country or the world. My intent is not to appear as an expert but to share information that I feel is important and to give others some resources to search out answers for themselves.
Chasing Domestic Bliss is about many things and I think that makes it hard to attract readers but I write from a deep place and one that is as complex as my personality. I can't compartmentalize myself or subdue my passions to exude a certain feeling that may attract more readers. So I hope that if my political rants are not your thing that you will just skip them and come back when you feel compelled to read. I am very grateful for everyone who posts comments and for the people that read here, this blog has come to mean a lot in my life and I am so grateful to have this avenue in which to share.
During the months leading up to the Copenhagen Climate Change Summit that took place in December of 2009 there was an electricity in the air that held hope for environmental activists. I first heard about it when listening to Treehugger Radio's podcast with Bill McKibben. McKibben turned a scientific discovery into a global movement with the website 350.org
The importance of this number is that scientists have determined that in order for life (humanity) to be sustained on this planet we can not exceed 350 parts per million of carbon dioxide. The science in more depth can be found here. 350 ppm is the safest place for the levels of carbon in our atmosphere to be and right now they are at 387 ppm. That means that climate change is happening faster and that is not a positive thing for countries living at sea level who face the possibilities of losing their homes altogether.
The reason that Copenhagen was filling so many with hope was that this was a chance for the leaders of the world to come together and create change. A global day of action was held on October 24th 2009, people from all over the world (181 countries) came together to say we need this dealt with, this is the issue of our times. But when the summit rolled around in December skepticism crept into me. As each day passed and I listened to the news I became more convinced that nothing was going to happen. Political maneuvers, jargon and the bureaucratic ridiculousness that grows like bacteria in most world politics took over and we were left with a non-legally binding accord and a bunch of men in suits shrugging on podiums. For more details of why the summit did not reach a solid agreement you can read more here.
I think the reason that I did not write about this until now is because of how pessimistic I feel about it. I prefer to share positive ideas and thoughts and look at issues optimistically. What makes me angry about this is that science has proven a number and people are still apathetic. There are even those who still question that climate change is even happening despite mountains of evidence. When I look at my son and think of the future I am sometimes paralyzed by the way we can all be so naive and take this earth for granted day after day while life as we know it gets closer and closer to extinction. I do some things to change this and I need to do more. What do you do?
4 comments:
Not trying to argue because I don't entirely understand everything in your post (to be honest... I do not keep up with the environmental movement), but could the falling out so to speak of the summit have been because so much of the scientific basis for global warming had been falsified for decades by the scientist? The research has been admittedly lost. Without research, there really can be no proof. You need to know how the data was gathered. Were the sensors placed in a rural area, a downtown area, both? A downtown area should by default be much hotter than a rural area.
The indonesian volcano that erupted in the 90s(?)put out more CO2 in that one eruption than humans could in almost a century.
It just seems to me that nature is a system. All systems usually work with little flaws. Mother nature naturally cleans up after itself.
Research actually has shown a decrease in temperatures in the last 10 years and as far as that goes the passage of time has shown that the climate goes through cycles... warmth, cold, warmth, cold, etc. You have to look at 1000s of years at a time to realize this. You really cannot look at something as small as 100 years and get a clear picture of Earth's climate history.
Global warming should pass as it has in other areas in the past.
In the middle ages, there was a global warming that caused Europe to have an explosion of humans births due to the ability to sustain crops which it can no longer due in some areas such as Ireland.
Just something to think about. Who knows what the real truth is?
Thanks for posting about this. I am admittedly way way behind in my knowledge of environmental issues. I know that something needs to be done, i am taking steps personally to change how I do things but as far as the bigger picture goes I fall short.
Regardless of whether the Mother naturally cleans up after herself, we can't sit back and expect her to clean up after our messes too. Mother Nature's system does not make allowances for our man made pollutions. Just like we tell our children they have to clean up after themselves after a full day of play we too have to be accountable for our actions.
Unfortunately in nature there is no "cleaning up" involved. When our world becomes unbalanced due to our actions the Mother moves to balance. Balance through drought, changes in weather, pestilence and so on. The least we can do is work toward reducing our foot print so that the act of balancing is not so severe.
In answer to your question, this year we will reduce our waste through composting, we are starting a garden and plan on choosing locally grown and raised foods. We utilize public transit and walk whenever possible which is almost always. Every little bit helps and doing a little bit more with each passing day helps more.
Hi One Pink Fish,
Thanks for sharing your view. I would encourage you to do a little more reading on the topic if you have a chance since the science is pretty firm that there is more changes happening faster now and that humans are making those changes. 350.org has some important info about it in the links in the article. The scientists falsifying information is a corporate lie designed to further the interests of big oil companies and the like.
Mother Earth doesn't stand much of a chance against corporate greed. But again that's just my opinion and I'm grateful for your comment.
Just came back to check up on others opinions.
I must admit though that the way I feel in regards to environmental issues & my actions are very different.
I actually do quite a bit to reduce my families carbonfootprint. I went to using cloth napkins and now can use a roll of paper towels for almost a month before replacing. I also have started recycling. We are making a compost pile this spring. I buy mostly organic. We even have stainless steel straws so that we are not wasting the plastic of other straws. There is so much more that my family does on the environmental front. And I must say that all of it was very easy. My family really hasn't even noticed a difference. That is except for me feeling better for helping to preserve nature and using healthier products.
You can checkout my blog www.sandersmemoirs.blogspot.com if you want to see my year long process of simplifying and reorganzing of my house in order to do the same throughout the rest of my life. I am hoping this is a new year resolution that will stick.
Thanks for such a wonderful blog. I love reading all of your post. Thanks for also being open to my opionions and not finding offense. I have found my views are often very different from many of the other bloggers I have met. I want to be a viable part of discussions. I just always worry that since we are reading the discussions and not hearing them face to face that my thoughts could be misinterpretted as agressive... which is never my intent.
Again, thanks for such a wonderful blog to read.
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