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
Create successful ePaper yourself
Turn your PDF publications into a flip-book with our unique Google optimized e-Paper software.
late-night thoughts about democracy S 75<br />
accountable. It is ra<strong>the</strong>r like Churchill’s description <strong>of</strong> genocide as<br />
“a crime without a name,” but on an infi nitely larger scale. 11<br />
O<strong>the</strong>r than those in <strong>the</strong> present willing <strong>to</strong> speak and act on <strong>the</strong>ir<br />
behalf, generations <strong>to</strong> come have no defenders. In contrast <strong>to</strong> <strong>the</strong><br />
fetus, <strong>the</strong>y exist only in prospect, but like a fetus, that prospect can<br />
be radically crippled or aborted by <strong>the</strong> indifference or dereliction <strong>of</strong><br />
<strong>the</strong> present generation. And in contrast <strong>to</strong> <strong>the</strong> individual fetus, future<br />
generations pose a collective challenge both <strong>to</strong> <strong>the</strong> law and <strong>to</strong> our<br />
capacity <strong>to</strong> make moral decisions. To do so, we must imagine <strong>the</strong>ir<br />
lives at a scale for which we are unaccus<strong>to</strong>med and must summon<br />
<strong>the</strong> wherewithal <strong>to</strong> act on <strong>the</strong>ir behalf as well as <strong>the</strong> intellectual acuity<br />
<strong>to</strong> know how <strong>to</strong> act effectively <strong>to</strong> defend <strong>the</strong>ir interests. Since it is<br />
within our power <strong>to</strong> grant or <strong>to</strong> withhold life, what can we do?<br />
Any posterity capable <strong>of</strong> making such judgments will regard<br />
<strong>the</strong> policy and behavior changes necessary now <strong>to</strong> limit and reverse<br />
<strong>the</strong> damage <strong>of</strong> <strong>climate</strong> change <strong>to</strong> <strong>the</strong>m as obvious and necessary.<br />
The real fault line in American politics is not between liberals and<br />
conservatives or between Democrats and Republicans. It is, ra<strong>the</strong>r,<br />
in how we orient ourselves <strong>to</strong> <strong>the</strong> generations <strong>to</strong> come, who will<br />
bear <strong>the</strong> consequences, for better and for worse, <strong>of</strong> our actions.<br />
Some say that we cannot know precisely what <strong>the</strong> consequences<br />
<strong>of</strong> rapid <strong>climate</strong> change may be and that we should not act until<br />
<strong>the</strong>y are known in great detail. O<strong>the</strong>rs, mostly devotees <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong><br />
faith <strong>of</strong> neoclassical economics, say that we cannot afford <strong>to</strong> act<br />
and must wait until we are richer still. There are still a few who<br />
believe that <strong>climate</strong> change is a hoax and prefer <strong>to</strong> do nothing—<br />
come what may. There are many, perhaps still a majority, who<br />
will say nothing because <strong>the</strong>y have not thought much about such<br />
things. But a growing number believe that we must act now.<br />
The long emergency will be a test <strong>of</strong> our beliefs, institutions,<br />
and character as a people. We all hope fervently that we<br />
and our children and <strong>the</strong>irs will come through what biologist<br />
E. O. Wilson calls “<strong>the</strong> bottleneck” with a more tempered but<br />
improved and more vital democracy. But I do not believe that<br />
<strong>to</strong> be even remotely possible without extending our boundaries