For the last couple days, my email box has filled up with dire warnings that we need to "to take a stand against the greatest threat our planet has ever faced.” At first, I thought it was another email about Britney Spears or Michael Jackson -- or a chain letter on how angels will bless me by sending it on to 327 of my closest friends.
I was wrong, though. "The greatest threat our planet has ever faced" is apparently global warning. Greater than Adolph Hitler, greater than AIDS, greater than that asteroid that is headed this way determined to open a new galactic highway where earth once was.
So, what are we to do to counter "the greatest threat our planet has ever faced?" Are we to march on every capital and overthrow the tyranny that walks amongst us? Are we all going to throw away our PDAs, SUVs, iPods, GPSs, HDTVs, and other high-falutin' electronic gear? Do we advocate returning to a life style of the golden days of the Great Depression?
No. We are to "use the simple action of turning off the lights for one hour to deliver a powerful message about the need for action on global warming."
This has all of the hallmarks of a Dick Cheney practical joke. Whoever came up with the idea must be the same fellow who created the name when the Canadian Alliance and the Progressive Conservative Party combined: Canadian Reform Alliance Party. Great name until someone spelled out the acronym. Turning off lights as a symbol of enlightenment? Great joke.
Don't get me wrong. I am as worried about global warning as anyone. We are supposed to be wise stewards of God's creation. But you don't do that with hollow Pharisaic gestures just to make yourself feel better. Have we really become so mentally unempowered that we have stopped taking responsibility for our own choices? We make choices every day about our environment and how we treat one another. Rather than telling other people that they need to make correct choices, we need to start making those choices for our own lives.
Maybe I am getting on my high horse because I do not have any lights to turn off tonight. I do not use lights very often in my house. (There is enough ambient light in my community for me to navigate through my house at night.) I do not have television. I seldom use my computer between 8 and 9. It is a bit like asking a pauper to contribute $1,000 to the church building fund.
But I have a solution. I promise not to open my refrigerator door for an hour tonight. There, I feel better already.
5 comments:
Funny, but you must know that you are going to get buried with angry Greens. I tried to talk with a friend about this and she just got mad. Blog on.
Mary Jo
I worry about global warming (el calimiento global), but having seen Al Gore's movie, I suspect that that particular train has already left the station. The Kyoto treaty (which the U.S. didn't ratify nor observe) had a goal of getting CO2 emissions to 1990's level. Other efforts also seek to dial back emissions to a similar, happy era. Yet even 1990's emission level was producing rising warmth. This is a trend that has been developing since the days of coal-fired steam power, and which accelerated in the 20th century, as fossil fuels went mass-market in a big way.
The sacrifices that it would take to actually reverse this trend won't happen. I can virtually guarantee it. So we keep upping the carbon in the atmosphere, and those of us in more northern climes don't actually mind the additional warmth. Until, of course, the sea invades our basements.
Thus, the central highlands of Mexico with their high altitudes look more appealing all the time to this ocean-side dweller. At least they won't be inundated.
At times I delude myself that I leave a small carbon footprint. After all, I live in town, and ride a subway to work. In the summer I ride a motorcycle (50+MPG). I turn off lights at home and around the office. I recycle. I have small-ish cars.
But it all goes out the window when I fly to Mexico City and back.
Oh yeah, I buy terra passes for my trips. But it's just a drop in the bucket. I'm probably worse than the suburban soccer-mom who drives an SUV, but never leaves town.
So is global warming real, or just another iteration in mankind's long history of declaring that "the end is nigh?"
Who knows? But I'm longing for higher ground.
Regards,
Kim G
Boston, MA
Good points, all, Kim. I am convinced that the better approach is to act as a good steward than to constantly worry about what others are doing. I keep my house at 55 in the winter -- plenty comfortable for the dog and me. But I worry, at times, that I am going to turn into the Weight Watcher monitor who told us that fat-free canned gravy tasted exactly like home-made gravy. If my perceptions slip to that level, I am not certain life will be worth living -- with either wine or bottled water.
Steve, And do your winter visitors manage the 55 degrees at your home? Brrrrr!
Alee'
Alee' --
As you may suspect, I am not inundated with winter guests. For the sake of their comfort, I will turn the thermometer up to 62 or 65. The usual question is: "Should I wear a sweater, or a sweater AND a coat?"
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