IKES BACK
Although endowed with unique gifts, human beings have made a terrible mess of things. Will we continue to act irresponsibly, taking nature’s bounty for granted—or will the planet “adjust” us out of existence? We have limited time to change our ways.
W
E ALL KNOW THE NARRATIVE— yet, astonishingly, much of the U.S. public remains skeptical or apathetic. The Earth IS getting warmer. That’s not a theory any more. It’s measur- able. Other species are disappearing
at never-before-seen rates. The oceans are rising, turning acidic and swirling with plastic trash. The fossil fuel indus- try, still calling the political shots, has become a menace to both land and sea, as they probe pristine areas in order to pump more short-term profi ts out of yesterday’s energy sources. The current political situation looks grim. Both of the presumptive presidential candidates for 2012 are poised to unleash exploitation of the Canadian tar sands, a move that environmentalist Bill McKibben calls “game over” for the environment. In one stroke, this action would release more CO2 than has been freed in the past 100 years, driving global temperatures to cataclysmic heights.
It’s too easy to abandon hope--to blame overpopula-
tion (ignoring per capita consumption, population’s dire shadow), to build fortifi ed seed banks and stow away ani- mal DNA for some imaginary future when human beings come to their senses. But these are stories of surrender, neither courageous nor realistic. They’re not worthy of the genetic miracle that gave us Leonardo DaVinci and Beethoven, Thomas Jeff erson and Martin Luther King Jr. and Rachel Carson. Why not choose the path of action instead? As Bill McKibben says, this will require both personal and politi- cal action. Sure, we can start by preparing for the worst— building homes and communities that are resilient. At the same time, however, we must demand sweeping changes politically—an end to fossil fuel subsidies, huge investments in renewables, strict regulation of polluting industries, mandatory utility feed tariff s and so on. None of this is impossible. It can begin with a single voice.
BY MATTHEW POWER, EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
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www.greenbuildermag.com 06.2012
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