Like a lot of Americans, I worry about global warming, with the worry running the gamut from "it's really hot and humid today, I wonder if...." to out and out existential dread. (Does Boston get flooded if the polar ice cap melts?)
Like a lot of Americans, I feel at least somewhat guilty about global warming, with the guilt running the gamut from thinking about how darn good we have it (as I linger a few extra minutes in that wonderful hot shower), to feeling supreme guilt whatever role I've played in helping move the world along its reckless and crazed path of over consumption and environmental depredation.
Like a lot of Americans, I do my micro bit, which runs the very narrow gamut from bringing my own reusable bags to the store, to buying a Sigg water bottle, to voting for candidates who at least give lip service to things green.
(I can't take environmental credit for not having a car. Yes, my car got great mileage, but I got rid of it not because I made a decision to walk everywhere, but because it was a big, royal, pain in the butt to keep a car in the city.
(Frankly, I love to drive, and have every bit as much "romance of the road" as do my fellow Americans. I just am not wild about cars, and I really despise keeping a car in the city.)
Like a lot of Americans, I feel that there is a distinct lack of leadership around the issue of global warming.
Sure, we demand that our politicians talk some sort of a mealy-mouthed talk, but when it comes to real action we seem to fall into a largely collective lull, from which we don't want to be disturbed by hearing about the true costs of doing something before we hit some catastrophic point.
We let ourselves believe that there'll be some technological breakthrough or "natural" discovery (fingernail clippings, when added to water, will get you 35 m.p.g., highway driving). That "the market", using the same colossal wisdom that has gotten us to the point we're at, will correct itself.
Miracle occurs there, then - when we really need it.
1Sky is trying to do something about all this by harnessing all the piecemeal mini-action (and fretting) into a movement that's demanding "bold federal action by 2010 that can reverse global warming."
They are proposing solutions that are:
...grounded in scientific necessity—they are the bottom line of what's needed to dramatically reduce carbon emissions while maximizing energy efficiency, renewable energy and breakthrough technologies. They also represent significant economic promise. By pivoting to a clean energy economy, we can relieve our dependence on foreign oil, unlock the potential of sustainable industry and usher in a new era of prosperity and green jobs.
No, I don't know all that much about what these solutions are, other than that they're:
- CREATE 5 MILLION GREEN JOBS in order to conserve 20% of our energy by 2015.
-
FREEZE CLIMATE POLLUTION levels now, then cut by at least 25% below 1990 levels by 2020 and 80% by 2050.
-
NO NEW COAL PLANTS that emit global warming pollution; invest in renewable energy.
But if you're looking for a place to focus your existential anxiety about global warming, they look like as good a place as any.
I'd never heard of 1Sky until last week, when I got an e-mail from my friend and former colleague, Todd Stone, whose college-senior daughter Kelsey, along with her friend Leah Gourlie, is biking cross-country to raise awareness of and support for 1Sky.
So here's a shout out to Kelsey and Leah (and a link to their blog).
When I was their age, my roommate and I drove cross country in a Karmann Ghia.
That was a long time ago - before we worried about carbon emissions or fossil fuels - and when environmental awareness was pretty much confined to concerns about DDT and littering on the highway.
Last time I looked, Kelsey and Leah were in Colorado.
You go, girls! May the wind be always to your back, and may all those roads rise up to meet you.
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