to be the fastest growing part of our nation’s food economy; the last agricul- tural census found that the number of farms in the United States is increasing for the first time in a century-and-a-half. That’s good news and potentially great news, but small farming, co-ops and organic production will remain a small, marginal trend until the price of energy changes. The day that happens is the day that everyone finds their way to a local farmers’ market.
Helpful changes roll out, from bus and train commutes replacing cars to the rising popularity of densely inhabit- ed urban blocks, as cul-de-sac suburbia loses its appeal. Local storefronts natu- rally get the nod over big box chain stores, too, and so on.
The Key to Change
How do we make it happen? How do we change the price of energy, which is what almost every observer thinks is the only way we can make a real change in the physics and chemistry of the current global warming phenomenon, and make an effective difference in the short time allowed before the harmful consequences explode exponentially? If only everyday people could do it solely by making personal energy im- provements around the house, at work and in their communities—through such steps as switching to more en- ergy-efficient light bulbs and riding our bikes to work. Such changes are good to do, of course, and it all helps, but we don’t have a century to turn around our global situation. Which means we also need to engage in… politics. We need to put the pressure on our leaders now to change the price of energy now. Remember—they’re getting plenty of pressure from lobby- ists pocketing profits on the other side. Because of government subsidies and cartels, fossil fuel is the most profitable industry humans have ever engaged in; last year, Exxon Mobil Corporation made more money than any company in recorded history. That buys them a lot of power.
We won’t be able to outspend them, so we will have to do what people have always done when they have found themselves needing to take charge of their future: We must build a
38 Collier/Lee Counties
Scientific data shows the ocean becoming more acidic at an unprecedented rate as surface waters continue to absorb approximately a third of manmade atmospheric carbon dioxide emissions.
~ National Research Council, Ocean Acidification, 2010
Global phytoplankton populations have dropped about 40 percent since 1950, and scientists believe that rising sea surface temperatures are to blame. The microscopic plants both form the foundation of the ocean’s food web and gobble up carbon dioxide to produce half of the world’s oxygen output.
~ Dalhousie University, Canada, Nature, 2010
published reams of data showing that, “Any value for carbon in the atmo- sphere greater than 350 parts per mil- lion [ppm] is not compatible with the planet on which civilization developed and to which life on Earth is adapted.” It sounds like an unpromising banner to rally people around—too serious and too depressing, because we’re already well past the 350 mark. The atmosphere is currently at 392 ppm carbon dioxide, which is why the Arc- tic is melting. So far, we’ve racked up some successes; in October 2009, we held an International Day of Action that created some 5,200 demonstrations in 181 countries. That’s a lot—in fact, CNN called it, “… the most widespread day of political action in the planet’s history.”
Online images posted from those events banish wrong preconceptions people might have about who is and is not an environmentalist. Most of the rallies were orchestrated by poor, black, brown, Asian and young people, because that’s what most of the world is made up of. Six weeks later, at the 2009 UN Climate Change Conference
movement. Politicians won’t change because scientists tell them we have a prob- lem—they’ll change because enough people tell them they have to, or they’ll lose their jobs.
Building just this kind of movement is entirely possible.
Citizen Action Plan
Two years ago, a few concerned citizens joined me in launching
350.org, a wholly grassroots campaign that takes its name from a wonky scientific data point. NASA scientists led by James Hansen have
swfl.naturalawakeningsmag.com
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