So what’s all this about the climate change scientists cooking the books to exaggerate figures on climate change? Is this going to affect the imminent talks at Copenhagen over the next couple of weeks? How does all this affect you – the average citizen who wants to make a difference? The recently leaked emails, where a few prestigious scientists have apparently been exaggerating their numbers in order to get articles published, serves only to create widespread confusion and even more mistrust than we already have in our leaders. Who on earth can we really trust? Interesting that the hackers timed their findings just before Copenhagen- brings up a few little questions as to just who is behind all this. We are told so many lies, we are victims of mass media fear-mongering on a daily basis, we have very few political leaders that we actually look up to, that the whole subject can easily become a depressing buzz of rhetoric from which we, (myself included,) just want to turn away. The critical issue for me is this: whether or not you believe in man-made global warming, you cannot deny that this planet is in grave danger of being destroyed from every kind of man-made activity: from deforestation to mountaintop removal, from contaminated water & food supplies to air pollution, it’s absolutly undeniable that we’re in serious trouble.
The disconnect for many of us comes with the whole global warming/polar bear drowning scenario that we’ve been fed. It’s just too far away, literally and metaphorically, to really matter. Even if it does matter and we are to believe the worst case projections of Mr Al Gore and others – that many of our precious coastal cities are soon to be submerged under water, there’s an ever greater dis-connect, because – WHAT CAN WE REALLY DO ABOUT IT? We feel totally overwhelmed and powerless in the face of such catastrophic global disaster. It’s so much easier to drift into a haze of semi-denial and get on with one’s life. In a recent Pew Trust Survey, it was found that the environment was priority #20 out of 20 when most people were asked what they’re most concerned about. I totally understand why: Most of us are primarily concerned about how on earth we’re going to pull through this season financially, never mind next year, we’re concerned about the rising costs of health care, we’re concerned about our health – let’s face it, many of us are more concerned about starting and sticking to a diet in the near year, than we are about the outcomes of the climate talks in Copenhagen.
We are human and we’re programmed to survive. Our survival instincts primarily tackle what we can actually see, taste, tough and feel. That’s why the stepping-off point for living a Green life is almost always health. You or someone you love gets cancer, your child had environmental allergies, polluted drinking water has poisoned your community, and the list goes on. These are issues that you can do something about right now and that’s where Green living becomes exciting and empowering. You may not be able to do something today about the glaciers melting (if you believe they actually are,) you may not be able to make your voice heard this week in Copenhagen, you may not have the faintest clue about how carbon credits work or what on earth “Cap and Trade” is all about, however, you do have a deep gut instict about what a healthy environment looks, feels, smells and tastes like. As women, we are programmed to multi-task and to fix things and many of us are extremely adept and powerful. This is why I wrote Gorgeously Green because I know there’s an Erin Brockovich in every single one of us. There’s a deep and desperate need for a cleaner and safer environment. It’s our birthright to have clean air, food and water and whether or not you believe in global warming or not, you have to believe that there’s a cleaner better way for mankind to treat each other and this planet.
I will be follwoing the talks in Copenhagen with great interest. I will be listening to both sides of the argument. I will be following our President when he arrives there on December 18th. I hope that through the confusion, distrust and turmoil, the perils that our environment faces will have a spotlight and I know that whether or not climate change is real/man-made, that any changes made to reduce the burning of dirty fossil fuels can only serve to protect the health of our precious litttle planet. Read about the EPA’s recent warnings about how greenhouse gasses are a danger to human health. As far as the Hoax issue is concerned – SO WHAT! Even if it turned out that the whole thing was a big lie and that there’s no such thing as global warming, does this mean that we can really carry on living the way have done for the past 100 years? Does it mean that we can leap up and down and return to the conspicuous consumption of dwindling resources as never before? Can we pretend that pollution was a figment of our imagination and that synthetic chemicals aren’t killing us – HELLO, there’s work to do be done and we’ve barely scratched the surface..
There’s never been a better time to re-think the way we live. Every detail of our life can be scrutinized to see if there are better choices that we can make. I’m an optimist and I believe that when we’re motivated by love, we can and will make a massive difference.
