If we claim to be serious about the environment doesn’t a personal environmental manifesto make sense? Are the poles melting? Is climate change natural or man-made? Actually we need to perhaps be more accurate and call it what it is — global warming not climate change. Do the scientists even know what they are talking about? Who is lying and who is telling the truth? Does any of it really matter? Is the end near? Are we too late?
Truth of the matter is I wish I knew. I wish I knew what is truth and what is false. I would love to say that I have put 100’s or even 1000’s of hours into this research and I am now an expert on climate change; I mean global warming. Perhaps someday I will, but at the moment my conclusions are simply my own based on day to day observations and some form of common sense.
I think it is important to disclose one piece of information from the get go: I am a tree hugger. I love trees and I want to see the world covered in trees. I also believe trees are a renewable resource and as much as I don’t like to see trees cut down that is not realistic. I would rather see trees cut down and replanted then some of the other things we do to our planet to access resources. Also, if a tree is 75 years or older than it should not ever be cut down but be protected and allowed to continue growing.
Can we at least agree on one thing
The climate is changing and the earth is warming. You can’t tell me the winters are the same as when you grew up as a child (for those who have been around long enough). Farmers in the south and tropics who for generations use to plant crops based on the wet and dry seasons no longer know when to plant their crops anymore.
If we can at least agree that the climate is changing and probably the next obvious question is who is responsible?
Five main responses come to mind for me.
- We all are.
- Does it really matter?
- It’s the natural evolution of our planet.
- Big industry.
- Jobs are more important.
We all are responsible. As a species we cannot possible pollute, destroy as much land and trees, water, and animal species as we have, as long as we have with not having devastating effects on our planet. Its simply not possible.
Consider how much resources a human consumes in a life time and how many humans have walked the earth from the beginning of time; particularly since the industrial revolution. Then think about how much time and resource the average human spends to compensate the planet for all the resources they use in their life time. I think it’s safe to say the average human being spends no time cleaning or fixing our planet other than taking advantage of current technologies. And I am thinking that recycling your bottles and cans does not really count.
And yes governments do financially contribute to some environmental solutions and recovery through our tax dollars. Thank goodness they do; that being said in my opinion, not nearly enough and a healthy society should not rely on the government to solve its problems because everyone knows how it ends when you put your hope in governments.
Does it really matter who is responsible? Good question; in one sense no because we all need to work towards a global warming solution today. That being said if certain industries are bad for the planet we should be investing as much resources into replacing those industries as soon as humanly possible. So we defiantly need to know who the big contributors are.
It’s natural evolution of the planets climate. Climate has been changing from the very beginning. Great; except we as humans currently inhabit the earth. Watching climate devastation during any given time of the year around the world is pretty scary. Considering the human and financial cost sitting around with our hands under our butts is probably not the helpful response. Do we roll over and die or do we actually do something to combat the natural evolution of our extinction? Because we can do something.
Big industry is responsible, not me. We are the consumers of what big industry produces and from what I think I am seeing with future technologies is that there are environmental solution to most of all our environmental problems.
Jobs are more important. Of course jobs are important. Are they more important than your child’s health? Are they more important than your future grand or great grandchildren ever existing? We have done enough damage to this planet that needs fixing and there is enough new technologies that should and could easily replace the jobs that are currently killing our planet. If we are to use the excuse that climate change is natural then you should be able to accept the natural extinction of jobs that are killing the planet.
How do we fix this?
Next question. How do we fix this? Good question and I wish I had all the answers (I really do). That being said; thank goodness ambitious and smarter people than me are working very hard every day on those solutions. Every day I see future solutions/products/technology articles in my Facebook feeds. But again recycling our bottles and cans is not going to cover a life time of our individual responsibilities of consuming the earth’s natural resources.
But there is one pretty good thing you can start doing off the top and like I said I am a bit biased on this solution. Start planting trees today and everywhere. I could write articles on how trees solve so many of the world’s problems. For the sake of this article I will mention but a few.
Trees create cooling shade. Trees provide protection for animals. Trees remove C02 from the atmosphere. Trees clean the air. Tree roots retain water in flooding and help hold the ground more solid against flooding and landslides. Trees are a renewable resource. Trees are beautiful. Tress are nature.
If you can’t plant enough trees to offset your human consumption then donate to any number of various tree organizations that can have these trees planted for you. You can start HERE.
Two pretty big arguments against fixing/cleaning up our planet and climate.
- The Canadian argument about how Canada is carbon neutral and countries like China or India produce far more environmental destruction to the planet. My first and immediate response is — so what? You and I are not responsible for China and India. We are responsible for Canada. I would far rather be an environmental leader for the world then in 20 years be a follower or at the bottom. While we point fingers and make excuses many of these countries are implementing plans to be the future environmental leaders of the world. As Canadians we should strive to be leaders in what makes humans great not make excuses or point fingers. And at the same time put pressure by example on the countries that are responsible for vast amount of environmental damage. In 20 years I don’t want those same countries pointing their fingers at Canada and how we failed to take responsibility for our own backyard. At this point we may simply be ahead of the pack due to the size of our country and lack of population. Lack of population is not as sustainable solution for the world or an example of leadership.
- Carbon taxes are a waste of tax payers money. I will admit I haven’t researched carbon tax and everything around them. And I wouldn’t be surprised if it is a total waste of tax payers taxes. I have one fundamental belief when it comes to taxes. That as Canadians our taxes should never ever go up by even a penny more as long our country stands. The government takes more than enough to solve all our problems already. The problem with our tax money is how much is wasted. Governments by law should be held accountable for how they spend our money. They are not.
If laws were in place to hold governments accountable and that our taxes went towards environmental solutions (among other things) and not towards industries that are bad for our environment we would probably live in heaven.
So in conclusion
The environment is priority, it is in every persons best interest. In 2019 we should no longer be investing in industries that are bad for the planet. There are likely enough jobs in fixing the planet and future technologies that are good for the planet. And everyone go plant as many trees as humanly possible. Leave the legacy of a clean planet for future generations to come.
Stay tuned for for some personal projects I am planning.
Until then you may be interested in this blog post here
