Opinion on climate change
Everyone should be on the lookout for an upcoming month that is not the warmest ever recorded. Hope springs eternal, and we need to stay cool while praying for better climate policy. Continue to do everything you can, and support efforts to promote human-friendly climate. Hope is not a strategy, but it does keep us moving forward.
“Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free” is the first verse at the bottom of the Statue of Liberty in New York harbor. Apparently we are shutting the door to being the shining city on a hill, and becoming the torture garden for any who dare to come here seeking asylum. There are many who say that we have lost our way, and have become a pillar of selfishness on a planet that we have pushed to the limit of being able to support our species. We do little to lead the world in addressing the climate problem we have helped to create, and we allow our country to become the land of the cruel.
The elections of 2020 at all levels of government will be pivotal to the future of our species. Will the promise of America be maintained, and the growth of freedom worldwide continue to grow? Everyone aged 8 and over in the USA will have an important role in answering that question. I plan to spread the word about the importance of our learning, thinking, and voting in every way that I can. I have heard a lot about the greatest generation and I believe they earned that reputation. I hope today’s Americans live up to our potential, and honor the sacrifice of our ancestors by making fear secondary to hope.
There have been several recent storms that have demonstrated climate chaos. One hundred and five hundred year storms taking place year after year, and weather records for heat and precipitation being broken consistently in recent years. What will it take for citizens to demand action from our government? It has become clear that we will not get affirmative action in the United States if our vote is not consistently in favor of realists, and believers of science when it comes to climate. Our government is not the problem it is a symptom of an unengaged population. Let’s hope that Mother Nature does not have to break our figurative jaw to convince us to take action now.
We have been hearing a lot of news about people from certain countries in Central America wanting to come to the United States. I have recently heard two versions of the reason for a surge of immigration to our border. First that climate change is creating shortages of food and jobs pushing people to migrate to opportunity in the USA. The second is that the New Mexican president welcomed people to transit through his country on the way to the USA with easy visas (according to a possible political rival and member of the previous Mexican government). Because how those who defend our borders and society are treating these immigrants; we need to know what are the real reasons for this recent wave of immigration. I think most Americans would prefer that we help people have decent lives in their own countries; first here in the USA, and down in Central America, instead of cruelty and chaos at the border.
The 2020 election will have a massive impact on the future of our country and the world. Will we remain a republic, will we fight tyranny, will working people get a fair chance, will we lead the effort to keep the earth human friendly? Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts is a fighter and has some thought provoking plans to lead the USA to a better day. She knows that she cannot do it alone. People power is required for real change – there are no messiahs, and dark money (extra votes for the unidentifiable power elites of various countries) must be eliminated from our politics.
I believe the issue of human induced climate change continuously hovers in the thoughts of a majority of our society. People may not speak of it, or admit that they think about it, but it is in our minds creating angst. A recent poll cited climate change as a reason that a sizable group of millennials did not want children. Population is a driver in climate change. I think the negative tone of our debate over immigration is driven in part by the idea that their are hordes of people looking to come to the USA and Western Europe to escape drought, and violence. There is no doubt that a looming and existential threat is growing.
I believe that there is hope in technology linked to our free markets creating viable solutions that do not include massive wars and die offs. Leadership (selected by an aware citizenry) will make the difference in whether or not we are heading into a long night, or a bright new day.
The search for identity can lead people to negative places; in fact the term negative identity is used for adolescents who don’t care about what being perceived as a good person. We live in a time when many people fear globalism, loss of status, and the weakening of the ability to determine the future (immigration, climate change, majority minority status). With all of the valid reasons to feel threatened we have national figures claiming that we should be afraid, and that we can go back to the past. It is not surprising that lost souls are turning to a negative identity that projects an image of unity and certainty for people who happen to be white. Let’s hope that the United States will be blessed with the strength and leadership to make our nation a place where good is stronger than evil.
As we go into this Spring it is nice to savor the season and it’s familiarity. As we experience climate change on our planet it is hard to believe others, but I hope you can trust your own senses and memory. Do there seem to be more more warmer days than you remember? Do natural disasters seem more powerful and/or numerous? Does the road along the coast seem tenuous or have a new bypass? We should all look forward to a brighter future for our posterity, but be active and educate yourself to help make it happen.
Many people have noticed the massive weather changes that struck Cities in the USA this week. One city saw a temperature change of over 90 degrees in a span of 2 days. I am sure that many people were pleased that temperatures warmed dramatically from sub zero levels, but what crops, pests, plants and animals? Major climate change is happening in front of our eyes. We must all do everything we can to socially, politically, and personally to limit the impact of climate disruption caused by human actions.
Ethereal Bulwark 