What If We Were Serious about Addressing the Climate?

Let us imagine we could feel the hot breath of threat, with the same vividness that the greatest generation felt with the threat of WWII. Could we rise to the occasion? How might that show up in our interactions and behavior? In contrast to the dislocations and disrespect of today, let us now imagine an actual working response.

In WWII there were common calls to action, there were ways to engage, and there was an alteration of money to show both urgency and limitation. There were ration cards and requests for all to supply bacon fat for making explosives in the war effort. Every community had a victory garden where neighbors worked together and learned, there was concern for morale. If we began to do that tomorrow, what would it look like?

As we recognize to our chagrin that the natural patterns of the seasons, currents, rains and flows are losing their accustomed ways, and they cannot continue harmoniously with these human disruptions, albeit denied by some. We should not be surprised that the ones making fortunes would want to deny their complicity. Yet can we quickly develop some way for our economy to cease making these disruptions, many of which are not visible to us at all. Rude as it is… uncomfortable even, we must admit our mistakes if we are to correct them.

A decrease in burning fossil fuels that inject evermore CO2 into the sky, is a decrease of seeming invisibles. The kids are in agreement on this. But it is invisible to many. Perhaps the recognition of clearcut forestry with half mile wide forest fire fuses, is easier to spot. The news seems to ignore these functional acts of forest arson, performed by planting easy burning, even-aged plantations that produce half mile wide, forty foot walls of flame, impossible to stop and igniting the west, while desiccating the soil, and adding the “dry”, to hot dry winds. That might be a start. But our media system is obviously broken. Each of us in our own way has to play our part, yet not for the simple four year push of WWII but for our foreseeable future. What means might engage us?

I propose the Money. We must do more than follow it! We must make it model the reality we face. We will need to reverse the age of infinite consumption; profit maximization, and dollar market dominance. If we are managing for…

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