by Sarah Lane

During these two weeks of the Climate Conference in Copenhagen, I think it is time to reach across the great divide between those who believe in climate change and those who don’t and link arms. So whether or not you think climate change is happening, whether you believe it is human made or caused by an angry God, little elves, or bad luck, whether you work for a coal plant or a bicycle messenger service, shed your need to be right and join in the broad movement to change the way we humans do things. All climate change hoax adherents, hemp and green tea advocates, everyone incensed or merely annoyed by scientists at the University of East Anglia, all Bill McKibben fans and, on the other side, cheerleaders for Joseph Olson, Sarah Palin, Jack Kelly, and Rush Limbaugh, listen up and sign on to making changes for the myriad sensible and excellent reasons that abound:

1. Carbon dioxide is bad for human health. Even if you think it’s not hurting our planet irreversibly, you can agree that breathing in carbon, whether dioxide or monoxide, is unhealthy. Even the EPA thinks so!

2. A culture of rampant consumerism is undesirable and unsustainable. Maybe you think more consumerism will get us out of the current economic crisis, but you have to agree that that mindset also contributed to the current economic crisis. People wanting more and more things and upgrading their things frequently and discarding mountains of their old things is not something that we can sustain, literally. At some point the space needed for things will exceed the space occupied by humans.

3. We need trees. Trees make oxygen. If we have no trees then we will either need to create some sort of synthetic oxygen for all of us to breathe (not yet possible, but keep your fingers crossed!) or we will suffocate.

4. We need water and food. Drought is increasing around the world. Drought reduces human access to water and food. Maybe you don’t believe that increased drought has anything to do with climate change. Fine. But there are things we humans can do to hold it in check.

5. Healthy oceans are nice to have. Maybe you don’t accept that climate change is damaging the oceans, but you might enjoy a tuna fish sandwich every now and then. And you’re not going to have too many more of them in your life if we don’t do something to improve the conditions of our oceans by reducing overfishing, reducing pollution, and reducing carbon dioxide’s impact on oxygen levels in bodies of water.

6. It is better to live in a world with other species. You might be someone who hates squirrels and pigeons or shoots raccoons from your back deck or wolves from your helicopter. But picture a world with no bees, no birds, no bears, nothing else but dogs, cats, and chickens and cows in pens. Is that some place you’d want your children to live?

7. Cows contaminate groundwater. So what if thousands of people could expire in a giant burp of methane gas? Maybe you don’t care or you don’t believe it could happen. Well, okay. But you certainly will agree that the contamination of groundwater that happens around massive feedlots is undesirable, especially if you’re one of the feedlot neighbors.

8. We can have too many cars. Maybe you don’t think we do have too many yet, but if population increases and large countries such as India and China continue to adopt the car lifestyle, then the number of cars in the world will rise. And at some point none of us will be able to get anywhere because of the gridlock. Not just a massive carbon dioxide source but a colossal waste of time too!

9. Changes in climate can generate droves of refugees. So you don’t think that increased flooding has anything to do with humans. You need to think that it’s just part of our planet’s natural cycles (hey, Noah had to deal with it, right?). But, regardless, flooding (and other catastrophic changes resulting from warmer temperatures) creates refugees. And refugees have an annoying habit of looking for somewhere to live. Eventually they will come looking in your backyard as well. The refugee problem will soon become everyone’s problem. And refugees need food, water, and shelter, but with some measurable climate changes currently happening we will have less of those things, and the problem will increase exponentially.

10. There are things humans can do to make the world better to live in. This is perhaps the best reason of all. If there were something you could do to ameliorate some of the effects of warmer temperatures or, better yet, to reduce or at least hold temperatures steady, wouldn’t you want to? If there are things we can do to enhance our health, to make the planet healthier and better to live in, to increase our enjoyment and appreciation of life, and to reduce human sickness and suffering, why wouldn’t we do them? Can’t we all agree to these obvious steps?

• Reduce our emissions of carbon dioxide: A world with cleaner air and water is better to live in.
• Protect forests: Trees help clean the air and water. They provide shelter and habitat.
• Reduce our reliance on cars: A world with fewer cars would create smaller, closer communities, which would feed small businesses, create stronger ties among people, and build a stronger sense of personal responsibility.
• Protect other species and their habitats: A world with other species is less lonely and more spiritually satisfying.
• Develop new sustainable energy sources: A planet that uses less energy and whose energy comes from nonpolluting sources (like solar and wind) is healthier and better to live in. And communities that engage in developing healthier, more efficient technologies will thrive economically and create jobs.
• Work to protect food and water sources across the globe: A world where most people have enough to eat, have water, and have shelter is more stable and secure. Also, healthy oceans provide jobs and food and habitat.
• Change the way we think and act: People who are motivated more by their role in a community, by art, by healthy lifestyles, and spiritual pursuits, for example, are happier and healthier than people who are driven by the desire to acquire things.

© 2009 ProgressiveKid

Image by Michael Pinsky, 2006, Creative Commons license.

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