With regard to Climate Change, we keep hearing people say “we must do something now before it’s too late”. But “too late”, for what?
Sadly, it’s about 20 or 30 years too late already. Climate change is already here and will not be stopped in the short-term. And it doesn’t matter who or what has caused it. As an example, a major super tanker will take about 2 miles or so to completely change course, 180 degrees – such is the momentum in the size of the vessel. But if the captain never begins to change course, or leaves the bridge because he says it’s not his fault that they’re off course, the ship will just get further and further off course. As the old saying goes: “If we keep on doing what we’ve always done, we’ll keep on getting what we’ve always had”. In this case, we’ll keep on getting an ever declining environment.
And so a major focus for our governments and society should be to urgently and creatively plan for a very different future way of living on our planet. IN ADDITION, to working towards a sustainable society so that the situation won’t get worse for our children’s children; or it might even be our children’s grandchildren.
Sadly, our children are going to get the harshest environmental punishment. The momentum is too great to change that.
But at least if we can begin to acknowledge the truth of our climate situation, then we can work on alternative futures.
My guest on Stories & Sustainability on March 4th, John Cameron, argued that our biggest threat is running out of oil, far more than Climate Change. And I agree, that far too little attention has been given to that topic.
As John discussed, the only way we have of coping with the forthcoming oil crisis is, once again, to focus on creative, alternative future ways of living.
If you have any comments, or suggestions as to what those futures could entail. Please share them with us.
