VISIT THE OCCSN ACTION DASHBOARD TO URGE LOCAL GOVERNMENTS TO ACT AGAINST GLOBAL WARMING
What are you willing to do to stop global warming? What is each one of us willing to do, individually? To stop the catastrophic effects of climate change, worldwide greenhouse emissions must be cut more drastically and more quickly than any country is currently planning to cut them. If the United States had signed onto the Kyoto Treaty, that would not have solved our problems; it would have been a start, but Kyoto does not call for reducing emissions by anything close to the amount needed to avoid disaster. What we need is for the United States - the largest emitter of carbon dioxide - to develop a plan that is much more aggressive than Kyoto, and dramatically reduce its contributions to global warming within the next few decades. However, the federal government has refused to take any action at all, while need for it grows all the time. So how are we going to pull through this crisis?I will now provide a link to the OCCSN Action Dashboard, where you can urge cities to reduce their greenhouse emissions. Check it out, by all means - but the point I'm making in this post is slightly different from usual.
It may be hard, but we will all have to pitch in if global warming is going to be stopped. Maybe soon the federal government will do something meaningful, but politics in our country - largely controlled by corporate interests - is unlikely to allow the action of the kind we need. States will still have to do their part. Cities and counties will have to do their part. And individuals will have to help, too.
Are you willing to mow your lawn by hand, instead of using a motorized lawn mower? Are you willing to ride a bike to the grocery store, instead of driving in a car? Are you willing to take a walk outdoors for exercise, instead of walking on an electric treadmill? Are you willing to do all of this so that civilization - and the world - can have a future? I'm not trying to be like Al Gore, who stands up in front of Congress asking for change, but at home uses twenty times as much energy as the average American. I actually walk the walk, as best I can. I take public transportation; I use fluorescent lighting, instead of incandescent bulbs; I keep the thermostat low; I purchase locally grown food. I am doing what I can - and so are hundreds of other people across the country. But what we need is not action from hundreds of people, but millions. Global warming could be stopped without any action from the federal government at all. The question is: are you willing to do what it takes?
