Climate pessimism is not an option

November 27, 2021

Sifting through what the recent Glasgow meeting (COP 26: UN Climate Change Conference) wrought isn’t easy, and a lot depends on whether you’re an optimist or a pessimist because there’s plenty for both sides to celebrate or bemoan.  What’s clear, though, is that this is the moment when all good people must pitch in to keep the planet liveable for future generations.  We must do better than the officials that attended the Glasgow meeting on our behalf, who said many of the right words, whittled them down in writing, and probably do even less in reality.

 

Source: https://grist.org/cop26/the-progress-and-failures-of-cop26-in-3-charts

I believe that as members of the Sierra Club, the country’s oldest and largest grassroots environmental organization, we have a commitment to contribute our energy and, where our means allow it, apply our resources to this generational effort.  This is the moment when we simply must walk the talk and do what is required to save our future:

  • Individually we must reduce our greenhouse gas (GHG) footprints dramatically between now and the end of the decade.
  • As a group of citizens, “we must demand our representatives enact tough climate policies at the national, state, and local level at every opportunity, or replace them with leaders who will.  Because all our lives depend on it.” (LA Times editorial of 11/16/2021)

Reducing GHGs is not going to come cheap because, after 30 plus years of prevaricating, it’s going to cost plenty.  If you have the means, I’m sure you know what do already how to shrink your GHG footprint.  And if you don’t, send me an email and I’ll send you a laundry list of things you can do right now.  If you are on a tight budget, use your ballot to throw out the bums!  It’s not hard because they’re everywhere: on your HOA board, your city council, your board of education, your board of supervisors, and in state and federal offices. We are certainly not alone in trying to save humanity, we network with many organizations with the same concern.

Together, we are stronger!

¡Juntos somos mas fuertes!