PATRICIA REMY – Two terms these days make me froth at the mouth.
One is “a wake-up call”.
The other is “the political will”.
How many frackin’ wake-up calls does it take for Pete’s sake? And “the political will”? How can it be focused to take on the strictures which will be an inevitable consequence of climate change? We can’t even agree about wearing masks and getting a vaccination.
Floods, fires, and droughts out west, storms and floods down east, exponentially accelerated warming in the Arctic. Sure, we in the Great Lakes Basin live in a climatic Goldilocks zone. But we got a taste of what others are going through more frequently in May’s derecho. Yep, lotsa wake-up calls.
No panic, say some. We have the green technology to save us.
Drawdown, published in the same year as the direst warning of IPCC until then in September 2017, lays it out. Drawdown demonstrates with facts and figures 46 proven strategies, methods, organizing principles, and teachings on how human civilization could become carbon-neutral before the average global temperature increases by more than 2.5°C. The knowledge is there. “All ” that is missing, is, yes, you guessed it, the political will.
We, the inhabitants of the lands along the St Lawrence and circling the Lakes, will have to brace ourselves. Persons displaced by climate change will flock to our cozy corner of the world. Will we share our space or build a wall? I prefer the former strategy. It’s about time we thought about it in detail, though. You know, had a plan.
Here’s the really sad, sad thing. If we were at war, there would be a plan, pronto. Let’s say that Czar Vladimir decided to roll through Alaska and avail himself of the resources of our North. (Mind you, it might be The Donald coming in from the south.) The government, banks, and corporations would suddenly cooperate. The population would get behind the defense of our beloved country. People would accept measures, some not so comfy, to stave off the enemy. e.g. Rationing gas and water. Planting potatoes on the lawn. Buying locally.
Climate change will be even more devastating than any war, especially if we accept the fallacy that building more nukes will supply us with clean energy. And yet, here we sit, me too, I’m right beside ya, like the frog in the proverbial pan of warming water.
Please, Canada, let’s get our act together. [I guess this was another attempt at a wake-up call??!! Sheesh.
