The debate is over. It’s been over for some time. Scientists are unanimously telling us that human activity is propelling climate change. They are desperately trying to alert us to the danger. Only spokesmen for the oil companies disagree.
Recently the British Treasury released a 700-page study. It concluded that climate change will cost trillions, ie. the fiscal equivalent of a world war or great depression. Sobering news. Of course there will be human impacts from this grand experiment: floods, droughts, increasingly violent weather, rising sea levels and rampant disease will cause famines and population shifts. We have a serious problem.
So what’s a person to do? Get informed. The three largest contributors of greenhouse gases are: 1, power plants burning coal or oil; 2, deforestation; and 3, gasoline and diesel powered vehicles.
Consider, for each gallon of gas burned, 22 pounds of CO2 are produced. In our region cars account for 60 percent of greenhouse gas emissions. Buy hybrids. Use biodiesel. Support alternate energy including nuclear. Lose weight and gain health by walking or biking.
The simplest thing is to use our cars less. Avoid casual, unnecessary use and turn off the engine when not actually moving. How many times do we sit in the car, engine running, listening to the radio, talking to or waiting for someone, oblivious to the poison spewing from the tailpipe? Idling is bad for engines and our environment.
Pressure decision-makers. It is imperative that the U.S. leads, not lags, on this critical issue. Of 156 signatories of the Kyoto Protocol only the U.S. and Australia have refused to sign it. Australia has a plan and has been curbing their emissions. Europe’s CO2 production has gone down 14 percent since Kyoto while ours has increased 11 percent! Not good.
We are at a critical time. For the first time since 1947, the scientists who operate the “Doomsday” clock have advanced it toward midnight because of a non-nuclear threat, climate change.
While we idle, we face catastrophe. If we fail to act now, we face disasters that could have been avoided. We must manage this situation with the same determination that won WWII and put a man on the moon. Let’s do it!
Gary Piazzon
Coupeville
