By Tony Hagen • editor@newjersey.sierraclub.org
Scorchingly hot temperatures got an early start this year. In Ewing, temps peaked over 90̊ F six times in June—way above normal.
We in New Jersey have always known the hot times were coming, but this year they caught us off guard. Decades ago, we were warned about global warming, but we’re only just putting up the first wind turbines. We’re making good progress with EVs and solar panels, though.
People are finding it hard to change their fossil fuel habits. How many of us would still be using plastic bags at the grocery store if New Jersey hadn’t banned them?
Some of us make partial moves in the right direction—baby steps. We eliminate plastic cutlery but reward ourselves with a short trip halfway round the world (and back) for a friend’s wedding.
Some people invested in the “magnificent seven” (Apple, Microsoft, Amazon, etc.) or did similarly well some other way. They now feel entitled to spend all that money, no matter what it does to the planet.
Others simply don’t know what to do with their time if they’re not shopping or burning gas.
Still others might feel there’s nothing to be done, as much as they’d like to help.
The business of America is tearing the environment apart, piece by piece. It’s hard to avoid stepping on a bug or running over a squirrel, so to speak, no matter what you do. Developers constantly build on open land until it’s all gone. Manufacturers take raw materials dug out of the earth and make consumer products, which end up in landfills.
If you happen to be a developer or a manufacturer or even a teacher, teaching kids how to be manufacturers and developers, you’re stuck in the hamburger grinder, no matter what. If your business is your survival, you’re not going to let it go that easily, no matter how much you care about birds and trees.
One might conclude that the worldwide trend toward ultra conservatism is, in part, a reaction to the environmental movement. People are tremendously fearful that change is coming. It’s dividing us.
As temperatures soar, people are going to bury their heads in the sand more deeply. It’s easy to do that in our modern world. Your houses and buildings are climate controlled, so is your car. You can watch nature shrivel up through your tinted windows, like it’s a Netflix program.
Before the Brits and Americans rose up to fight Nazism, there was a long period of inaction. This gave Hitler a chance to build up his armaments and expand into Czechoslovakia, Poland, and Austria. Many people felt that Hitler could be bargained with and that his war would not come to them. They were wrong
Many of us keep climate change on the periphery of our concerns. We are, figuratively, conceding Czechoslovakia, Poland, and Austria. Meanwhile, climate change marches on.
When we fully mobilize against this new terror, however, we won’t be fighting to restore peace and prosperity, so to speak. We will be fighting to preserve a piece of what’s left. What happens to our livable area, potable water, and sources of food is an open question.
Human nature being what it is, global conflict is a strong possibility. That’s why the sooner we start remedying climate change, the better, so that Mel Gibson’s Mad Max world doesn’t become our world.