This articulate teenager, presenting recently at the hearings of the Northern Gateway Review Panel, asks all of us a question we need to ponder in our hearts:
[vimeo http://vimeo.com/58767940]
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What will we answer, when our children and grandchildren ask us this question?
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Looking for a way to answer this question? Go to citizensclimatelobby.org – a grassroots group organized around creating the political will for a sustainable climate.
Isn’t that the crux of the matter. Most of us are not thinking. For example – I live in a very progressive area in Seattle. Many neighbors still have their X-mas lights on oblivious to energy issues and climate change. It’s the little things we do that make all the difference.
Which is why it’s so important that addressing climate change not be left up to individuals (no matter what Al Gore says). We need to put a price on carbon pollution, which sends a message that dirty energy is bad and clean renewable energy is good, and that will start our oil-based economy in completely different direction.
A pity the sound quality is so poor.
What will we answer, when our children and grandchildren ask us this question?
I don’t have any children. I keep asking myself: why am I more worried than the oblivious parents who surround me? Why do they ‘pooh-pooh’ me when I suggest (warning: irony alert!) that maybe it’s insane to drive their precious kiddiwinks to school because the traffic on the roads is so dangerous?
Humans. Pfft. Nothing more, nothing less than an explosively-growing extension of the Sirius Cybernetics Corporation, (AKA a bunch of mindless jerks who were be the first against the wall when the revolution came).
Oh, dear, I’m rambling again. Hmm… is that the time?
We all have days that we despair of the human race, but the truth isn’t quite so simple, P. We are capable of great acts of generosity and courage, too, as well as being extraordinarily creative.
We will need all these traits in the days ahead.
Perhaps if we were honest, this is what we would tell them:
“I don’t care about climate change, global warming – whatever. I’m 70 now and I’ve had a good life..It could be 30 years or more before it’s too hot here for humans and I’ll be long gone by then. Too bad for you kiddo! I’m too old to ride a bicycle, so I need my gas guzzler to get to the store. So what if the oceans are dying and the fish are disappearing – I don’t have to eat fish anyway. And so what if the forests are burning – I’ll just stay in the city. Who needs trees and parks – I don’t go camping. We have to keep burning coal and oil for as long as it lasts. When it’s all gone, it will be up to you to find something else (and good luck with that!) My investments are all tied up in fossil fuel companies, and the economy relies on those industries doesn’t it? So does my pension! As for alternative energy sources.- well those solar panels are just as ugly as those noisy wind turbines, and they’ll never replace oil and gas. I’m sorry there will be nothing left for you kids, but as I say – I’m old, and I’ve had a good life. Too bad for you!”
Excellent, Teresa – although if people actually sat down and articulated it the way you have, most of the population would recognize how wrong it is. The problem is, we collectively are stuck in denial, and use much of our energy pretending that things aren’t as bad as all the science (and our own senses) tell us.