Thursday, November 21, 2013

Don't Ever Give Up



It shouldn't be so hard to save the world.  That's what I thought leaving an event about communicating climate change recently.  I saw what I've seen for a long while -- good, earnest people racking their brains and bodies trying to get people to care.

Talking about what to say, how to say it.  Should we be combative? Should we tie extreme weather to climate change? Should we even use the term 'climate change'?

All the time we're talking, the world continues to burn.

People talked about successes, because you have to try to stay positive, but it was all about more "regular" people -- still not a huge amount -- finally agreeing with the peer-reviewed results of 99% of climatologists.

How do we go from that to people actually doing things right now?

The urgency is not getting through to the public.  To see clean energy as the answer.

Frankly, I don't like the odds of salvaging anything from this nosedive.

Maybe Duncan Meisel of 350.org summed it up best.  He said it's simple:  there are bad people who are making a huge profit by destroying the planet.  They are the enemy.  They must be targeted and stopped.  Now. 

Are those fossil fuel companies really going to leave the reserves in the ground that scientists and economists say has to happen to avoid the point of no return?  Not on their life.  That would require steadfast adoption of clean energy, which they are sworn against.  They will protect their profits because profits are king.   

Pretty soon it won't be a fight anymore.  There will be that guy who thinks he won standing there smiling waiting for the cheers.  There will be no cheers.   We all lose in this game.

I don't want to believe that's our future.  This planet is too incredibly beautiful.  

Divest.  Organize.  Vote.  Speak out.  Get arrested.  Don't give up.  Don't ever give up.

5 comments:

Unknown said...

You can change the world 1) if you change yourself 2) If you change another. I think you would be surprised how far the climate change discussion has come already and my 13 year old son knows a lot about it due to school. Keep at it.

Unknown said...

You can change the world 1) if you change yourself 2) If you change another. I think you would be surprised how far the climate change discussion has come already and my 13 year old son knows a lot about it due to school. Keep at it.

M.L. said...

Depressing, but true. I think it just feels too overwhelming to contemplate, especially to the ordinary everyday guy who has more immediate concerns, like cleaning debris off his yard or mudwater from his basement after the latest flood or superstorm. ugh.

M.L. said...

Depressing, but true. I think it just feels too overwhelming to contemplate, especially to the ordinary everyday guy who has more immediate concerns, like cleaning debris off his yard or mudwater from his basement after the latest flood or superstorm. ugh.

Mike Misner said...

Great comments, thanks for these. It keeps me going.