A complex, urgent situation faces us as citizens of the United States and more importantly the world. I ask you to read this message, then get the message out to all of the people who are important in your life. It is crucial that we spread the word about the situation that we are in so that necessary changes can begin as quickly as possible. The consequences of our failing to act will fall upon our children and grandchildren. When they realize what we have done to them, they will not think favorably about us!
Here are the main elements of the situation:
1) Our economy (and those of other nations such as India, China, Japan, etc.), focussed on continuing and escalating growth, is using up the resources of the world at an exponentially growing rate. These resources are finite and in many cases reaching their limits.
2) To sustain growth, we are incurring exponentially growing levels of DEBT. We are now somewhere between 45 and 75 trillion (!) dollars in the hole, and getting more so every day. (A trillion dollars is a stack of $1000 bills 67 and a half miles long). Who will have to pay this debt?
3) Continued economic growth of the type we have had in our lifetimes is impossible because it is driven by the burning of fossil fuels. We are now at what is called "peak oil". This means that petroleum and its products are now being produced at the maximum possible rate, and that from now on this level of production will decline. How then can the economy keep growing if we continue to rely on these fuels?
4) Burning fossil fuels is destroying our environment in a variety of ways. First, much destruction is done in digging it up (especially coal, which provides half of our electricity in the US, and a greater proportion in China and India). Second, burning it (esp coal) pollutes the air with soot, mercury, arsenic, lead, sulfur dioxide (acid!), and radioactive materials. Many people die every year from the effects of coal soot so that we may turn our light bulbs on, use our computers and cell phones, and heat our homes. Third, burning fossil fuels produces carbon dioxide, which accumulates in the atmosphere and causes the earth to warm up. Just as an example, every time you burn 1 gallon of gasoline driving around in your car, you put 17 pounds of carbon dioxide into the air. If we look around, we can already see some of the consequences predicted from this warming (weird weather, more and stronger storms, melting ice, rising sea levels, droughts, floods, forests dying from bug infestations, so on). This is only starting.
5) Exponentially increasing world population (7 billion now, 10 billion within 30 years) means more demand for stuff which means bigger economies, which means more fuel burning, which means....
1) Our economy (and those of other nations such as India, China, Japan, etc.), focussed on continuing and escalating growth, is using up the resources of the world at an exponentially growing rate. These resources are finite and in many cases reaching their limits.
2) To sustain growth, we are incurring exponentially growing levels of DEBT. We are now somewhere between 45 and 75 trillion (!) dollars in the hole, and getting more so every day. (A trillion dollars is a stack of $1000 bills 67 and a half miles long). Who will have to pay this debt?
3) Continued economic growth of the type we have had in our lifetimes is impossible because it is driven by the burning of fossil fuels. We are now at what is called "peak oil". This means that petroleum and its products are now being produced at the maximum possible rate, and that from now on this level of production will decline. How then can the economy keep growing if we continue to rely on these fuels?
4) Burning fossil fuels is destroying our environment in a variety of ways. First, much destruction is done in digging it up (especially coal, which provides half of our electricity in the US, and a greater proportion in China and India). Second, burning it (esp coal) pollutes the air with soot, mercury, arsenic, lead, sulfur dioxide (acid!), and radioactive materials. Many people die every year from the effects of coal soot so that we may turn our light bulbs on, use our computers and cell phones, and heat our homes. Third, burning fossil fuels produces carbon dioxide, which accumulates in the atmosphere and causes the earth to warm up. Just as an example, every time you burn 1 gallon of gasoline driving around in your car, you put 17 pounds of carbon dioxide into the air. If we look around, we can already see some of the consequences predicted from this warming (weird weather, more and stronger storms, melting ice, rising sea levels, droughts, floods, forests dying from bug infestations, so on). This is only starting.
5) Exponentially increasing world population (7 billion now, 10 billion within 30 years) means more demand for stuff which means bigger economies, which means more fuel burning, which means....
Basically the three E's (Economy, Energy, Environment) and their interdependence are entwined in a situation of some urgency, requiring immediate attention by our government and those of other nations. This will only come if WE insist upon it; if our voices become more numerous and louder than those of big business, in whose pockets our politicians sit and whose short-term economic bidding the politicians do. We can shout loudly via the internet. PLEASE send this on to people you care about, whether or not you agree with all of it, because they may agree with it and join in the chorus.
In a future posts I will give you some resources that you can look at to start educating yourself in these matters (assuming you are as ignorant and confused about it all as I was!). A great place to start is "Crash Course" by Chris Martenson, which you can find on YouTube.
Congratulations Nickel. This is the way to create that spark that has a chance to create, at least, a local tipping point for that searched-for number of people who can Save Our Planet by taking up the cause and spreading the word for people to take A Look at the Problem and get involved in the conversational exchange. The resulting product that emerges could be earth-shaking and earth-saving and prevent a collapse of civilization. As momentum builds, I will speak as loudly as I can.
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