Reading 'The Wrong Kind of Green'
The article is here: http://www.thenation.com/doc/20100322/hari
Wow... this shook me up. I heard the author interviewed on democracynow.org and am deeply disturbed by the implications. Beyond the scandalous accustions of the mainstream US enviromental organizations, its shocking how the worthwhile responses to the looming climate changes we support as Greens are being so effectively neutralized. The science does not enter the mainstream political or mass media discourse. I look out my window at the steady stream of cars, read about the expansion of the tarsand mining and the steady increase in electical demand. Considering the inertia our industrial society has, I wonder if the necessary 40% reduction in carbon emissions needed to keep atmospheric levels at 350 ppm is even a remote possibility.
Most of the forecasting available is about the probable changes to the climate in the high artic and the tropics. Very worrying changes yes, but what about what will happen here in the temperate parts of North America? Will the forests of the west coast dry out and burn? Will the prairies change? Will the east coast suffer more violent storms? What can we expect and what can we do to prepare for it? These are worthwhile questions for a national polital party an it seems we had better start talking about it.
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Time to plan how to deal with a messed up world?
Given the lack of response by the major countries (China, India, the USA) when it comes to net pollution I think it is safe to say there is virtually no chance of keeping carbon at the 350 ppm level anytime in the near future. We all hate that it is the case, but I cannot see anything changing anytime soon. And that isn't even factoring in Canada or other nations that are going with the attitude of 'we are too small to change it so screw it'.
So, the challenge will quickly become how to deal with the mess that is coming? What will be required to cope? How will the world change in the next 50-100 years due to run away climate change?
Our water resources will become extremely valuable, as will the massive amount of land we have. The NW passage will open up and the US/Russia/etc. will refuse to recognize our authority over it (expect oil spills and other environmental messes up there that cost a fortune to clean up, if they ever get cleaned up). Hurricanes and other weather storms will hit more often, with our winters and summers seeming to be reversed at times.
So, how to deal with it? Not easily. The billions it would cost today to prevent change will change to trillions to deal with the effects. Much like our health care system which blows a fortune helping people in the hospitals but spends extremely little to keep them out of the hospital. Until people see the problem in a way that they cannot avoid they will avoid it.
Lets hope I'm wrong but start figuring out policies to help deal with the mess that is likely (sadly) coming.
John Northey
Wellington-Halton Hills