Failure of Imagination

Climate change is so not interesting. First of all, nothing is supposed to happen until 40 years from now. Couldn’t somebody come up with a fix sometime before then? And there are the people that don’t even think it is happening or, if they do think it is happening: "hey, what’s wrong with a little more heat?" As well, you won’t catch any climate alarms coming from the media or any high public officials. Spread around some of that "Chicken Little" stuff and there goes the Dow Jones!

It’s almost as if our species is being given a test to see if we have the foresight and imagination to continue on. An insidious feature of this predicament is that, although the severity of climate change won’t be fully apparent until 2050, whether it is calamitous or workable depends on how much we lower our carbon output in the next 5-10 years. In other words, we need to cut back on our energy use by at least 50% in just a few years, and, right now, we’re not cutting back at all; in fact, carbon in the atmosphere is still increasing.

I was listening to an online interview of Janet Larson of Lester Brown’s much-respected Worldwatch Institute. After listing all the dire statistics, the commentator asked, " Do you think that we really have a chance of avoiding calamitous climate change?" The answer was, "Yes, but it will require an effort similar to what we did for World War II." The operant word in that answer for most of us was "Yes." We don’t need to hear any more about that "but" part. We don’t need to hear that, in WWII, all heavy industry, including the auto industry, redirected ALL their resources to making tanks, bombers, and all the needs for the war effort. We don’t need to hear that gasoline, as well as a host of other common items, was rationed, that all citizens were encouraged to grow victory gardens, or that practically all our people between 18 and 30 were enlisted directly or otherwise in the war effort. Can you imagine the entire world marshalling that kind of effort today in order to avoid climate change 40 years from now? Please do because that is what it is going to take.

One of the prime characteristics of Homo sapiens that supposedly distinguishes us from all other species is our ability to see ahead and adjust our behavior so as to avoid undesirable futures. We may not be able to account for the astounding lack of that quality in society at large, but as individuals we can certainly do our part to take steps in our own life and community.

Notice how many of us are the sole occupants in our 2000 lb. vehicles. Could we think before we drive? Would you be willing to accept rationing of your gasoline? Is your home as efficient as it can be? You can get a free energy audit to find out what can be improved. Call Michael Laurie at 567 5492. Would you accept rationing of your power if it meant that we could shut down a major coal power plant? How far does your food travel? Would you be willing to adjust your diet to feature local foods in season? Would you be willing to amplify that local food supply by growing some of it yourself? These challenges are not really that difficult if you consider that the lives of your grandchildren are at stake. It’s just so far away and hard to take seriously.

What we have now is a failure to act because we can’t imagine that things could ever be different. And why should we? The story we live by is the one of eternal progress: better gadgets, more stuff, more conveniences. You may feel that, if you bet against that story, you could end up looking as foolish as those people who gave away all their belongings in expectation of the end of the world.

You can frame it differently if that would help. Being more efficient is good in itself; it saves you money and stretches the resource. You may or may not believe that we are running low on fossil fuels, but you are likely to see them as finite. Maybe we have had our share and we should leave the rest for posterity. Perhaps, like me, you may think that a simpler, low energy lifestyle is just a better way to live.

Rather than upset the precious economic apple cart, our society would rather run it off the cliff with the hope that it would somehow sprout wings before it got there. We can do much better than that.

There couldn’t be a better time for an Energy Fair. Vashon Wisenergy is bringing it to you this June 30, Saturday, 10-3pm at The Island Lumber parking lot. Come see the state of the art in energy conservation and efficiency. Find out what you can do to lower your carbon footprint and save money at the same time. Stop by the Transition Vashon booth, chat with us, and peruse our library. Looking forward to it.

Correction: In my GMO article last week, among the things I suggest you do, I failed to mention the most important, which is to eat Vashon produce! You can’t get any safer than that.

Comments: terry@vashonloop.com