Column: Earth Day |
This week, when I was walking my usual route from my house on Calion Road in El Dorado and, as I turned down Long's Blow Pipe Road (North Smith Street), I met a Brontosaurus. I guess it was migrating north for the summer. Just kidding. But a big, green, 6- to 8-foot dinosaur in the back of a trailer will catch your attention. Of course, I recognized it immediately. It came from a display on Shepard Street, and it is now resting comfortably at its new home a few hundred yards down North Smith Street, all decorated with a "Happy Easter." I especially liked the Easter bonnet.
Well, since Earth Day just popped up on my calendar, I think I need to forget about migrating dinosaurs, but I guess as I join the push to recognize Earth Day and try to be involved, it is just part of who I am, and it seems that joining the Earth Day push is the natural thing for me to do. I guess I have always been a joiner of good causes.
Yes, I can look back to when I was 10 years old and my mother said, "Where's my vacuum cleaner?" and I must have had a guilty look because she homed in on me like a hen on a June bug. She thought I might have something to do with it being missing. Well, my mother would have made a good detective because she immediately pounced.
"Richard! What did you do with my vacuum cleaner?" she shouted.
"Uh, I thought you were throwing it away ... It was on the back porch."
"Oh, my God! ... It was just sitting there to have a new belt put on! Go get it!"
"I can't ... I threw it on the truck during the scrap drive ... you know, I've been working all month to help collect scrap for the war, and that scrap truck is long gone."
Of course, my mother was somewhat upset, but since we had several family members actively involved in the war, she finally calmed down and just considered 10-year-old Richard was just trying to do his part. I think all of us, as Americans, have a deep inner desire to join in activities that we consider worthy, and collecting scrap for the war and Earth Day fit me perfectly. So how and why is Earth Day important?
So, what is step one? Well, the first thing we need to do is recognize that releasing CO2 into the atmosphere is causing the warming of Earth's atmosphere, which is the key to climate change, and that is caused by the buildup of CO2 in Earth's atmosphere. The increase causes our atmosphere to become warmer, and, of course, our American lifestyle is geared to adding CO2 every day. The fastest way to address the buildup of CO2 in the atmosphere is to stop adding more or at least reduce the amount. Many vital parts of our economy emit huge amounts of greenhouse gases: the way we generate electricity and heat for our buildings and industry; the gasoline we burn to power our cars, trucks, and planes; the refrigerants we use to preserve our food and cool our buildings; and the intensive manufacturing processes. We need to recognize that the adding of CO2 to our atmosphere is an absolute fact, and we must react to that as the cause of climate change, or the consequences will be grim.
Surely, this spring, with all-time high temperatures being broken almost daily, you have wondered if we are seeing record spring temperatures almost daily, what will summer bring, and what will those record temperatures bring in 10 years? Doesn't it make you want to join in the struggle to reverse what the experts are telling you your children and grandchildren will face? It seems the variety of small items that you can do is vast. Actually, it is a mindset that looks at our lifestyles, and if you want to join and contribute to the challenge ahead, you will view just an ordinary trip to the grocery store differently. You won't just use your own reusable bag to carry your purchases. You will have an attitude that will look at even the smallest purchases, such as aspirin at a pharmacy, as a "no bag" purchase.
Very simply, what I'm saying is that we need to not just use our reusable bags; we need to adopt a lifestyle mental change that overrides our lazy attitude of "I don't care." Once we accept that premise, we will be part of the solution instead of being part of the problem. With the climate changes already happening, the temperatures increasing, and the impending, looming natural disasters that are almost sure to happen, there will be a national push to enact legislation that will ban items such as plastic bags, etc. I urge you to join in what will be a worldwide push to reverse an impending disaster caused by the increase in atmospheric temperature. Be a part of the solution instead of being part of the problem.
Note the comment below from the president of MIT.
"There is room and reason for each of us to be part of the solution. I urge everyone to join us in rising to this historic challenge."
L. Rafael Reif, president, MIT