In Seattle, a kid with blond hair had already written a theme song for it all: With the lights out, it's less dangerous/Here we are now; entertain us. Warnings about coming ecological and environmental problems leaked steadily from the mainstream press, but on page C-12 of the newspaper rather than A-1, or as feature stories in the "Environment" section of the weekly news magazine, and once in a while as the cover story. Time had run a "Planet of the Year" issue a couple of years earlier, and Rolling Stone followed with a lengthy cover story on the burning of South American forests to make graze land for cattle. The photos in the latter piece were devastating: cows stooped to eat meager patches of green in a blackened "pasture" where tree stumps were still smoldering. But mainstream ideology held, then as now, that Rolling Stone was "supposed to" cover Kurt Cobain and Nirvana, not Brazil's connection to Burger King.
Fast forward seventeen years, and the "lights out" policy is still in force. It has taken exactly one cold snap in the U.S. during the winter of 2008 for a huge number of formerly concerned—or about to become concerned—citizens to breathe a happy sigh of relief and say, "See? All that silly talk about global warming. What a crock. Tell it to my frozen fingertips." Three months of cold temperatures and steady snowfall above the Mason-Dixon line (and below it, too), and the mockery resumes. ESPN Magazine, March 2008 issue: "Global warming can't get out of the blocks. Snow. In Texas. In March. And no sign that Al Gore is running to pick up the phone when it rings at 3 a.m. telling us the ice caps melted and the basement flooded."34 This is the eyes-shut approach to life that Americans excel at. Only 16% of us show an interest in science news, the same percentage as those who follow international news (not a surprise, though, since only 43% inform ourselves about the wars our own soldiers are fighting)35. So we really shouldn't be expected to know that in Europe during the same winter, flowers bloomed in February and snowfall decreased by 75% from normal averages.36 Further south, normally temperate parts of Australia experienced month-long stretches of temperatures in the hundreds. But with the lights out, "global" temperatures only extend from California to Maine, and memories of the shock and awe Americans felt after viewing An Inconvenient Truth are reduced to a Rilke poem:
...Sometimes the curtain of the pupil
Slides open soundlessly - then an image goes inside,
Goes through the limbs' tense Stillness –
And in the heart ceases to exist.
Rainer Maria Rilke would have liked Kurt Cobain; my kids do, too. At the time of this writing, in a group of five ranging in ages from 17-24, two ask that all "depressing" discussions of the environment be held out of their hearing. One responds by simply ignoring even the most reasonable suggestions for recycling materials and conserving natural gas, electricity, or water. (She rides the city bus sometimes, though, which is at least a partial +1 Offset.) One assures me that "they'll come up with some technology to fix the problem." And one stands in the freezing waters of Lake Erie in late November with like-minded young citizens to protest the steady drying up of the largest bodies of fresh water on the planet. (Right View, Right Intentions, Right Speech, Right Actions.)
She's the one with the halo...
This isn't to suggest that the other kids—young adults—are completely wrong. They just understand, in a very human way that almost seems rational, that with the lights out, it's less dangerous. In fact, the one who blithely ignores reality by living in the 1950s is only continuing the toddler's game of peek-a-boo: if she doesn't look at the problems, then the problems can't find her. Safety through abstract reasoning.
Given these messages and hundreds more like it, a young man about to graduate high school can't be faulted for putting his faith in technology. When he was little, the TV commercial said that the circus was coming to town, and surely enough, the circus rolled in. The TV said a new Pokemon game would be on store shelves Saturday, and when the weekend arrived, there it was as promised. But BMW is promising a car that runs on something for which no infrastructure exists, and Saab had to discontinue its ad campaign in Britain because the facts didn't hold up,37 and while California did invest in a recharging-station infrastructure for GM's first electric car, the state was left holding an empty bag when GM terminated the vehicle's production. As for hydrogen, which is pulled from natural gas or split from water, we need natural gas for heating, cooking, clothes drying, and fake fireplaces in hotel lobbies. And water? Well, it's drying up everywhere. Taken a walk lately on what used to be Lake Michigan? Lake Superior? Lake Powell? The Aral Sea? The Jordan River? Lake Mead, which could be completely dry by 2021? 38
Water is no longer a given—unless you happen to live in a seacoast area. When the polar ice caps melt completely and Greenland truly turns green, those regions will have great potential to achieve the "holy grail" of clean energy production by using wave power to generate electricity that splits the H from H2O. Water to make water; the whole equation radiates cleanliness. Unfortunately, all that seawater will come at a price, as the 15 million residents of Shanghai, China can already confirm as their city sinks lower into it each year. Residents of the sinking Marshall Islands can, too. And Tuvalans, who have to evacuate to higher ground in New Zealand. And the residents of Kivalina, Alaska, who are suing several dozen oil, coal, and electric companies to raise the $400 million needed to relocate as their coastal city falls into the sea. New York, Los Angeles, Tokyo, and Jakarta will soon be feeling wet shoes, too. 39-42.
Of course, I'm not suggesting that no technology can work. In fact, there's so much tech research and development taking place on any given day now that no one can possibly keep up with it all.
====SOURCES====
34 Luke Cyphers, "The Ultimate Race: Who Will End the World First: Global Warming or Peak Oil?" ESPN Magazine, March 2007.
35 Michael Robinson, "Two Decades of American News Preferences." Pew Research Center for the People and the Press, Aug. 22, 2007.
36 Christoph Seidler, "Northern Europe Experiences Record Warm Winter." Der Spiegel, March 7, 2008.
37 Mark Sweeney, "Saab Ad Rapped Over Biofuel Claims." The Guardian, March 5, 2008.
38 Newsweek, "Losing Our Lakes." Project Green, Feb. 2008; "Study: 50/50 Chance of Dry Lake Mead in 2021." MSNBC/Reuters, Feb. 12, 2008.
39 Thomas Wagner, "Major Cities Warned Against Sea Level Rise." Independent Online, March 28, 2007.
40 "Shanghai Sinking." BBC News July 5, 2000.
41 Patricia Luce Chapman, "Central Pacific Islanders Watch Seas Rise." Associated Press, July 18, 2007.
42 "Eroding Alaska Town Sues Oil, Power Companies." Associated Press, Feb. 27, 2008.
Fast forward seventeen years, and the "lights out" policy is still in force. It has taken exactly one cold snap in the U.S. during the winter of 2008 for a huge number of formerly concerned—or about to become concerned—citizens to breathe a happy sigh of relief and say, "See? All that silly talk about global warming. What a crock. Tell it to my frozen fingertips." Three months of cold temperatures and steady snowfall above the Mason-Dixon line (and below it, too), and the mockery resumes. ESPN Magazine, March 2008 issue: "Global warming can't get out of the blocks. Snow. In Texas. In March. And no sign that Al Gore is running to pick up the phone when it rings at 3 a.m. telling us the ice caps melted and the basement flooded."34 This is the eyes-shut approach to life that Americans excel at. Only 16% of us show an interest in science news, the same percentage as those who follow international news (not a surprise, though, since only 43% inform ourselves about the wars our own soldiers are fighting)35. So we really shouldn't be expected to know that in Europe during the same winter, flowers bloomed in February and snowfall decreased by 75% from normal averages.36 Further south, normally temperate parts of Australia experienced month-long stretches of temperatures in the hundreds. But with the lights out, "global" temperatures only extend from California to Maine, and memories of the shock and awe Americans felt after viewing An Inconvenient Truth are reduced to a Rilke poem:
...Sometimes the curtain of the pupil
Slides open soundlessly - then an image goes inside,
Goes through the limbs' tense Stillness –
And in the heart ceases to exist.
Rainer Maria Rilke would have liked Kurt Cobain; my kids do, too. At the time of this writing, in a group of five ranging in ages from 17-24, two ask that all "depressing" discussions of the environment be held out of their hearing. One responds by simply ignoring even the most reasonable suggestions for recycling materials and conserving natural gas, electricity, or water. (She rides the city bus sometimes, though, which is at least a partial +1 Offset.) One assures me that "they'll come up with some technology to fix the problem." And one stands in the freezing waters of Lake Erie in late November with like-minded young citizens to protest the steady drying up of the largest bodies of fresh water on the planet. (Right View, Right Intentions, Right Speech, Right Actions.)
She's the one with the halo...This isn't to suggest that the other kids—young adults—are completely wrong. They just understand, in a very human way that almost seems rational, that with the lights out, it's less dangerous. In fact, the one who blithely ignores reality by living in the 1950s is only continuing the toddler's game of peek-a-boo: if she doesn't look at the problems, then the problems can't find her. Safety through abstract reasoning.
February Crocuses in Bavaria
The one who assures me that "they" will find "some technology" demonstrates what may be the most dangerous ideology to hold—but once again, it's not his fault. Look at what he sees: BMW runs a TV ad saying that its hydrogen-powered car is "ready for the world when the world is ready." Chevrolet shows children literally hugging an electric-powered Volt while a velvet-voiced emcee assures them that they're hearing "the sound of the future." Saab has a car ready to run on biofuel that reduces CO2 output by 30%. Dow Chemical announces that "nothing is more fundamental than the human element," and someone named mike17719 posts the ad to YouTube with the objective description that it "showcases Dow's commitment to addressing global economic, social and environmental concerns." (Sounds just like a regular guy-in-the-street comment, right?) Chevron, following the Dow model, runs a "Human Energy" campaign that begins with a breathless announcement—"Outside, the debate rages: oil, energy, the environment"—and ends with an assurance that we can "watch as [Chevron] tap[s] into the greatest source of energy in the world: Ourselves."
Given these messages and hundreds more like it, a young man about to graduate high school can't be faulted for putting his faith in technology. When he was little, the TV commercial said that the circus was coming to town, and surely enough, the circus rolled in. The TV said a new Pokemon game would be on store shelves Saturday, and when the weekend arrived, there it was as promised. But BMW is promising a car that runs on something for which no infrastructure exists, and Saab had to discontinue its ad campaign in Britain because the facts didn't hold up,37 and while California did invest in a recharging-station infrastructure for GM's first electric car, the state was left holding an empty bag when GM terminated the vehicle's production. As for hydrogen, which is pulled from natural gas or split from water, we need natural gas for heating, cooking, clothes drying, and fake fireplaces in hotel lobbies. And water? Well, it's drying up everywhere. Taken a walk lately on what used to be Lake Michigan? Lake Superior? Lake Powell? The Aral Sea? The Jordan River? Lake Mead, which could be completely dry by 2021? 38
Water is no longer a given—unless you happen to live in a seacoast area. When the polar ice caps melt completely and Greenland truly turns green, those regions will have great potential to achieve the "holy grail" of clean energy production by using wave power to generate electricity that splits the H from H2O. Water to make water; the whole equation radiates cleanliness. Unfortunately, all that seawater will come at a price, as the 15 million residents of Shanghai, China can already confirm as their city sinks lower into it each year. Residents of the sinking Marshall Islands can, too. And Tuvalans, who have to evacuate to higher ground in New Zealand. And the residents of Kivalina, Alaska, who are suing several dozen oil, coal, and electric companies to raise the $400 million needed to relocate as their coastal city falls into the sea. New York, Los Angeles, Tokyo, and Jakarta will soon be feeling wet shoes, too. 39-42.
Of course, I'm not suggesting that no technology can work. In fact, there's so much tech research and development taking place on any given day now that no one can possibly keep up with it all.
====SOURCES====
34 Luke Cyphers, "The Ultimate Race: Who Will End the World First: Global Warming or Peak Oil?" ESPN Magazine, March 2007.
35 Michael Robinson, "Two Decades of American News Preferences." Pew Research Center for the People and the Press, Aug. 22, 2007.
36 Christoph Seidler, "Northern Europe Experiences Record Warm Winter." Der Spiegel, March 7, 2008.
37 Mark Sweeney, "Saab Ad Rapped Over Biofuel Claims." The Guardian, March 5, 2008.
38 Newsweek, "Losing Our Lakes." Project Green, Feb. 2008; "Study: 50/50 Chance of Dry Lake Mead in 2021." MSNBC/Reuters, Feb. 12, 2008.
39 Thomas Wagner, "Major Cities Warned Against Sea Level Rise." Independent Online, March 28, 2007.
40 "Shanghai Sinking." BBC News July 5, 2000.
41 Patricia Luce Chapman, "Central Pacific Islanders Watch Seas Rise." Associated Press, July 18, 2007.
42 "Eroding Alaska Town Sues Oil, Power Companies." Associated Press, Feb. 27, 2008.
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1 comment:
Wow. Not only do you have some brilliant writing going on, you have also totally pimped your blog! Looks like I have some pebble snatchin' to do if I want to catch up......
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