I have been wondering about the evolution of the greening of our collective consciousness. I am no expert but there are some politically significant signposts that I believe have helped define our collective direction and delineate our sense of the shared consequences. I wonder how we got to where we are and where in the world we are going. What it is we have to be doing now to respond to the issues of climate change?
My personal environmental awareness, such as it is, started in the early ‘60s with Rachel Carson’s book Silent Spring. I next recall the impact of the report of The Club of Rome on limits to growth. Then we had the mid 70’s oil crisis that showed how vulnerable we were on energy sustainability. The next time frame was a long hiatus of any significant actions, at least in my awareness, until the UN meetings in Rio de Janeiro and the breakthrough Kyoto Accord.
The developed world then went into a period of unprecedented wealth generation, including the “dot com bubble.” That diverted our attention into such an intense narcissism in the developed, mostly western world, not seen since the days when we believed in the “Divine Rights of Kings.” The result, in part, was some monumental corporate breaches of trust, with personal examples of hubris and excess that have filled court rooms, and added to prison populations, all over the world.
The galvanizing event, to my mind, that raised the collective consciousness of the reality of climate change, was Hurricane Katrina and the devastation it wrought on the people of New Orleans. There have been greater weather induced disasters, before and since. None of them have had the kind of 24 hour “carpet bombing” world-wide, news-cycle coverage of Katrina.
Now we have the release of the “Fourth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change: The Physical Science Basis.” It accumulates 6 more years of data and analysis from intensive research by hundreds of scientist from all over the planet. It states, as unequivocally as science will allow itself, that global warming is real and has increased markedly from pre-industrial days due mainly to human activity.
The post-industrial “flat-earthers” and climate change “deniers” are officially debunked. We now have the quintessential and incontrovertible wake up call for humanity. We have heard the catch up call too, especialy for all the politicians and corporate “masters of the universe types!”
We cannot afford the luxury of hitting the “snooze button” one more time on these issues. We can no longer afford to fall back to sleep, yet again. We have to wake up and get up to speed. We have come face to face with a day of reckoning on how we are impacting the health of the planet.
The next significant, and still on-going, political event is the phenomenon of Al Gore’s book and film“An Inconvenient Truth.” I have seen it and heard Al Gore’s presentation live last May. It is impressive but what I saw was basically a PowerPoint presentation. That is a good thing because it is making the issues, concerns and the consequences very accessible to everyday people. Gore shows that this stuff can no longer be ignored or dismissed as some complex rocket science that is beyond the grasp of the average citizen.
I would not be surprised in the least, if Al Gore, this “failed” Presidential candidate, actually won a Nobel Prize and an Oscar this year. It is entirely possible. Nobel’s are very prestigious but if Gore wins an Oscar, then that will make a huge difference. It will make climate change populist. It will become a top of mind concern for many more people. It will enable the changes needed in our personal habits and behaviours to reduce and adapt to global warming become reality.
Sunday, February 04, 2007
Saturday, February 03, 2007
Climate Change 2007
If you see yourself as a citizen of the world and as an independent as well as interdependent free agent with a personal role and a responsibility for the health of the planet, you will want to bookmark this site and return to it often.
It is no longer a question of them and us or them versus us. It is now about all of us!
It is the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change site. Heavy reading but worth the slog!
It is no longer a question of them and us or them versus us. It is now about all of us!
It is the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change site. Heavy reading but worth the slog!
Candidate Obama's Dirty Little Secret...He's a Smoker!
Here is an interesting speculation on the “framing of an issue.” The front page of the Globe and Mail has a piece by Sinclair Stewart an“expose” on Democrat aspirant for Presidential nominee Barack Obama.
The Obama official campaign image of the “charismatic, youthful vigour and sex appeal that hasn’t been seen in their party (Democrats) since the days of John F. Kennedy” is threatened by some cognitive dissonance.
Why? Because Barack Obama is a smoker!
The fact that he smokes is front page news in a national Canadian newspaper! This factoid apparently trumps other potential framing characterizations of candidate Obama. For example, that he is serious black contender, experimented with drugs as a kid, the victim of a viral spreading of misinformation in fringe media and the blogosphere that had attended an Islamic madrassa during his childhood in Indonesia. And the misguided musings of “I coulda been a contender,” Senator Joe Biden’s comment about Obama being a “clean” black man.
The open question has now been stated. “Can a cigarette smoker win a presidential election?” The answer appears to be NO! Not in this day and age. “There will be people who are turned off because that’s a sign of addiction” according to American political strategist Jennifer Beylin. She goes on to say the real questions about Obama are “…is he electable (the black question?)…and…is he experienced enough?” (Youthful vigour is perhaps a two-edged sword.)
The article also frames the smoking issue aggressively. “Cigarette addiction, which not so long go was perceived as a mere psychological weakness, has suddenly come to signify a moral lapse, if not reckless endangerment.” A deeper context around smoking is expressed by McGill professor Jarrett Rudy. He frames the social values context of smoking in public places has come to be “…seen as a sign of aggression.” Rudy observes that “Smoking in public space makes them uninhabitable….To start smoking is an aggressive attempt to assert control over space.”
Times have really changed when a major question about a leading candidte for President of the United States of America is “Will America accept a smoker as President?” I wonder if that will be the question that will be the "value driver" for how citizen's actually decide who they choose to support. Will it become more dominant, even covertly, than the more obvious question “Is American ready for a black President?”
Isn't change interesting!
The Obama official campaign image of the “charismatic, youthful vigour and sex appeal that hasn’t been seen in their party (Democrats) since the days of John F. Kennedy” is threatened by some cognitive dissonance.
Why? Because Barack Obama is a smoker!
The fact that he smokes is front page news in a national Canadian newspaper! This factoid apparently trumps other potential framing characterizations of candidate Obama. For example, that he is serious black contender, experimented with drugs as a kid, the victim of a viral spreading of misinformation in fringe media and the blogosphere that had attended an Islamic madrassa during his childhood in Indonesia. And the misguided musings of “I coulda been a contender,” Senator Joe Biden’s comment about Obama being a “clean” black man.
The open question has now been stated. “Can a cigarette smoker win a presidential election?” The answer appears to be NO! Not in this day and age. “There will be people who are turned off because that’s a sign of addiction” according to American political strategist Jennifer Beylin. She goes on to say the real questions about Obama are “…is he electable (the black question?)…and…is he experienced enough?” (Youthful vigour is perhaps a two-edged sword.)
The article also frames the smoking issue aggressively. “Cigarette addiction, which not so long go was perceived as a mere psychological weakness, has suddenly come to signify a moral lapse, if not reckless endangerment.” A deeper context around smoking is expressed by McGill professor Jarrett Rudy. He frames the social values context of smoking in public places has come to be “…seen as a sign of aggression.” Rudy observes that “Smoking in public space makes them uninhabitable….To start smoking is an aggressive attempt to assert control over space.”
Times have really changed when a major question about a leading candidte for President of the United States of America is “Will America accept a smoker as President?” I wonder if that will be the question that will be the "value driver" for how citizen's actually decide who they choose to support. Will it become more dominant, even covertly, than the more obvious question “Is American ready for a black President?”
Isn't change interesting!
Friday, February 02, 2007
What a Strange Day!
What a strange day inded! The headline in the Edmonton Journal today says “Earth on Road to Disaster.” The world’s leading scientists are about to emerge in Paris telling us they have discovered the source of the problem of climate change…and it is “unequivocally” us. It is the consequence our use of fossil fuels, agriculture practices and deforestation that adds to the problem of transportation and industrialization.
The integrated system that is the environment is found to be massively responsive to small changes in temperature and the scientists confirm that with language like “…almost imperceptible changes have huge consequences.” The scientific community is “saying human society has to change course.” Apparently “…we need 90% emissions reductions globally sooner than later.”
We are being told there is a need for a sense of urgency. One scientist is quoted is saying “We cannot sustain the way we live. We can for a decade or two, but the signs are that it is going to get really bad. There is zero indication that the rate of increase (of GHG emissions) is slowing down.”
We used to be told to think globally and act locally. That is still valid advice. However now we have to add to that affirmation and act immediately and think long term too. The narcissism of the Baby Boomers, especially in the developed countries, must undergo a complete transformation.
The key message from the scientific community on climate change is “It’s time for politicians to step up to the plate.” Sobering stuff for all of us!
Then I reach the Business Section. The headline there is “Imperial (oil) Rakes in Largest Profit in 126 Years. The profit is $39.5 Billion in 2006, up from a mere 36.1 Billion in 2005. I’m thinking, there are big changes coming fast and some serious mind altering “stepping up to the plate” that will have to be done by these folks as well.
We know that has to be done. We know how to do much of it. Much of the technology needed already exists. We cannot only be found admiring the problem and caught in the trap of technology hope. We have to fundamentally change how we live as a species. The real challenge is to figure out how we are going to have to adapt and then to do it. NOW!
The integrated system that is the environment is found to be massively responsive to small changes in temperature and the scientists confirm that with language like “…almost imperceptible changes have huge consequences.” The scientific community is “saying human society has to change course.” Apparently “…we need 90% emissions reductions globally sooner than later.”
We are being told there is a need for a sense of urgency. One scientist is quoted is saying “We cannot sustain the way we live. We can for a decade or two, but the signs are that it is going to get really bad. There is zero indication that the rate of increase (of GHG emissions) is slowing down.”
We used to be told to think globally and act locally. That is still valid advice. However now we have to add to that affirmation and act immediately and think long term too. The narcissism of the Baby Boomers, especially in the developed countries, must undergo a complete transformation.
The key message from the scientific community on climate change is “It’s time for politicians to step up to the plate.” Sobering stuff for all of us!
Then I reach the Business Section. The headline there is “Imperial (oil) Rakes in Largest Profit in 126 Years. The profit is $39.5 Billion in 2006, up from a mere 36.1 Billion in 2005. I’m thinking, there are big changes coming fast and some serious mind altering “stepping up to the plate” that will have to be done by these folks as well.
We know that has to be done. We know how to do much of it. Much of the technology needed already exists. We cannot only be found admiring the problem and caught in the trap of technology hope. We have to fundamentally change how we live as a species. The real challenge is to figure out how we are going to have to adapt and then to do it. NOW!
Thursday, February 01, 2007
Tom Olsen Goes to the Dark Side
It is with a heavy heart I had to remove the Tom Olsen Blog link from this site. But he has either passed on or passed away. In any event he has moved through the veil of post- journalism tears.
He will soon re-emerge (but not ressurect) on the dark side as part of Premier Ed Stelmach's Communications Team. Good for him ...and even better for Ed!
He will soon re-emerge (but not ressurect) on the dark side as part of Premier Ed Stelmach's Communications Team. Good for him ...and even better for Ed!
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