Down to the wire : confronting climate collapse / David - Index of
Down to the wire : confronting climate collapse / David - Index of
Down to the wire : confronting climate collapse / David - Index of
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S<br />
188 far<strong>the</strong>r horizons<br />
State-level initiatives in California and Florida, as well as <strong>the</strong><br />
Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative in <strong>the</strong> Nor<strong>the</strong>astern states,<br />
are changing <strong>the</strong> politics <strong>of</strong> <strong>climate</strong>. With <strong>the</strong> leadership <strong>of</strong> Mayor<br />
Daley and his deputy chief <strong>of</strong> staff, Sadhu Johns<strong>to</strong>n, cities like<br />
Chicago have developed aggressive <strong>climate</strong> plans (www.chicago<strong>climate</strong>action.org).<br />
Deployment <strong>of</strong> wind and solar systems are<br />
growing at 40 percent or more per year, taking us <strong>to</strong>ward a different<br />
energy future. A cap and trade bill will sooner or later pass<br />
in Congress, and maybe that will be enough. Maybe we can win<br />
<strong>the</strong> game <strong>of</strong> <strong>climate</strong> roulette at a pr<strong>of</strong>i t and never have <strong>to</strong> confront<br />
<strong>the</strong> nastier realities <strong>of</strong> global capitalism and inequity, or confront<br />
<strong>the</strong> ecological and human violence that we’ve unleashed on <strong>the</strong><br />
world.<br />
But I wouldn’t bet <strong>the</strong> Earth on it.<br />
For one thing, <strong>the</strong> scientifi c evidence indicates that we have<br />
little or no margin for safety, and none for delay in reducing greenhouse<br />
gas levels before we risk triggering runaway change. So call<br />
it prudence, precaution, insurance, common sense, or what you<br />
will, but this ought <strong>to</strong> be regarded as an emergency like no o<strong>the</strong>r.<br />
Having spent any margin <strong>of</strong> error that we might have had 30<br />
years ago, we now have <strong>to</strong> respond quickly and effectively, or else.<br />
That’s what <strong>the</strong> drab language <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Fourth Assessment Report<br />
from <strong>the</strong> Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change says. What<br />
is being proposed, I think, is still <strong>to</strong>o little, <strong>to</strong>o late—necessary but<br />
not within shouting distance <strong>of</strong> suffi cient. And it is being sold as<br />
“realism” by people who have convinced <strong>the</strong>mselves that <strong>the</strong>y<br />
have <strong>to</strong> understate <strong>the</strong> problem in order <strong>to</strong> appear <strong>to</strong> be credible.<br />
For ano<strong>the</strong>r, <strong>climate</strong> roulette is part <strong>of</strong> a larger equation <strong>of</strong><br />
exploitation <strong>of</strong> people and nature, violence, inequity, imperialism,<br />
and intergenerational exploitation, <strong>the</strong> parts <strong>of</strong> which are interlocked.<br />
In o<strong>the</strong>r words, heat-trapping gases in <strong>the</strong> atmosphere are<br />
a symp<strong>to</strong>m <strong>of</strong> something a lot bigger. To deal with <strong>the</strong> causes <strong>of</strong><br />
<strong>climate</strong> change, we need a more thorough and deeper awareness