Our world is in a scary place right about now. No, I’m not
stoking fears about technology or political extremism again.Literally, planet
Earth is starting to look like a scary place to live. Wildfires and hurricanes
are getting more severe and common.
Biodiversity is going down as more species die out. Even
locally, I have noticed our weather getting weirder and weirder. Of course,
weather and climate are not the same, but the fact that Connecticut weather has
been feeling more extreme and erratic is no coincidence.
Basically, we are going to exterminate our species if we
don’t fix something fast. We may hold on for a while, of course, but the next
few generations may be some of the last. That being said, with all of the
innovations humans have come up with to proliferate themselves, I do have some
faith.
If we have any hope for long-term sustainability, it is in
the advancements in science and technology that might reverse the damage we
have done. Of course, the planet can repair itself on its own, but it will not
do so fast enough without our help.
From this perspective, it is important to take action to
slow the rates at which we are killing Earth as much as possible. We need the
all the time we can get. Unfortunately, the system by which our planet—or at
least, the western world—is run is against this by nature. That’s right, our
planet is being destroyed by corporate greed, propped up by ignorance and
allowed to survive by the incompetence of our elected officials.
Plainly put, capitalism cares only about profit, environment
be damned. There are a plethora of examples of how short-sighted we all have
been in allowing this. Amazon may be a modern marvel, but one-day shipping
forces near-constant emissions from trucks delivering packages back and forth.
Nestlé, one of the top producers of water bottles globally,
has been hated for years for their commitment to waste. And I haven’t forgotten
the impact that oil companies like BP have had on our oceans and land even
before their products are bought and burned.
Make no mistake, we are all complicit in this. The reason
that companies do this is because they know we don’t care. In our cold,
calculating system, they are just doing what’s optimal for business. One could
easily place the blame on human nature, then, for being so driven by greed and
order.
Grocery stores probably have as much plastic as food in
them, but it’s not the more sustainable markets that are raking in the revenue
from us. We all want to believe we’re environmentally conscious, but personal sacrifice
is difficult to popularize.
Blaming the individual also seems wrong, though, as many
have pointed out. Any one person’s ability to effect change is
small—consumerism is too ingrained in our society. The solution, then, is that
we need people to make these hard-but-smart decisions for us.
This is where the government should come in. I have
previously spoken about how government does not need to be at odds with
development and business. In this context, however, I am saying they should be.
I don’t care how bad the growing pains will be for people, companies and
society. We need to do better, and that starts with more regulation coming from
our government.
If we don’t expect the average person to do better and we
can’t expect private groups to pull their weight, it falls on the public sector
to fix this mess. The future of the human race depends on it.
Does this mean that we should immediately go back to the
stone age? Of course not, but sacrifices have to be made, especially in the
first world. Whether that’s by carbon taxes, incentives, refactoring of our
system or some other scheme, I don’t care. If companies have to shrink a bit as
a result, all the better. If the individual is shifted with some of the costs,
get used to it.
Well, fix problems with inequity and then get used to it.
Whatever changes need to happen to save ourselves from climate change, local
and national governments need to take more action now, even if it is unpopular.
Trust me, future generations will thank us for it—at least, if we get that far.
We depend on the Earth so we better start taking care of it.
Every day we are given the option to make positive change for the future of our
planet. Don’t ever let someone tell you that one person can’t make a
difference! The truth is that for centuries it has always been the action of
one person that inspires the action of many.
Be a leader in your community and do what you can to reduce
the misuse and overuse of our natural resources. We are not entirely to blame;
we inherited a polluted Planet Earth and are seeing the consequences of the
decisions made by previous generations. Luckily we have all the tools we need
to ensure that our children can grow up in a cleaner, safer planet than
ourselves!
Making a difference for the future of Planet Earth doesn’t
have to include huge life changing choices!! Some of the most important things
are simple lifestyle changes that, if we can all commit to, will create a huge
reduction in our ecological footprint.
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