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Global Warning - Jan 23, 2005 - Printable Version
- Flirting With Disaster
by Robin Buckallew
The news has not been good lately. Everybody has heard about the massive losses in the recent tsunami. In addition, there have been mudslides in the western United States that have deprived individuals of life and property. There was an oil spill in Alaska that continues to spread, killing animals and birds, destroying the water in the ocean, and in general making yet another stretch of coastline in Alaska a disaster, possibly one that will match the 1989 Exxon-Valdez oil spill. Then, the news comes alive with news of an enormous fire in Oklahoma City, at an oil company warehouse storing kerosene, ethanol and methanol. Fortunately, the fire was put out without destroying nearby homes, but the neighborhood had to be evacuated, and residents who returned to the scene may find themselves suffering ill effects from the subsequent air pollution. All sorts of reasons for all these news reports are being given, everything from blaming the victims for worshipping the wrong god to predictions of the coming end times. I find it unfortunate that we waste so much ink and paper, not to mention airwaves and hot air, on these disasters without ever asking the most relevant question of all: When are we going to sit down and rethink our own personal choices? What does it take before we will change our personal lifestyles? Now, one word of caution. I am not implying, stating, or otherwise suggesting in ANY WAY whatsoever that the tsunami is the result of our personal choices. I think it is important to get this straight up front, as there has been much misinformation spread in recent days by the conservatives that the environmental groups are mistakenly trying to link this to global warming. Anyone who even marginally understands global warming science and also understands the nature of tsunamis can tell you that there is no evidence that human activities caused the tsunami. The conservative commentators are simply committing a common error of logic - they are setting up a straw man that they can easily destroy. Neither I nor anyone else in the mainstream environmental movement believes the tsunami was in any way caused by global warming or any other human activity. It is a natural disaster that occurs at certain times and in certain places because of the totally natural forces that operate on the earth. I simply included it in this list of disasters because it is the top disaster on everyone's mind right now. That said, I will now proceed to the point of this column - our own personal choices, and how they affect the state of the world.
It has become commonplace in the mainstream environmental movement today to publish books haranguing those of us who request people to face their personal choices. The fault, according to some of the currently popular writers, is solely that of the corporations. We should totally absolve ourselves of any guilt whatsoever, and go about our business, knowing that if the giant megacorporations would just clean up their act, we would all be fine. I consider this talk irresponsible and dangerous. Not only is it not true, it is a facile answer to a complicated question. And it serves the additional purpose of stripping us of any power we as consumers might possess, and handing it over, lock stock and barrel, to the same megacorporations that are "to blame for everything". That is too frightening for me to contemplate. So, we must own our guilt, and accept our responsibility, and only thus can we empower ourselves to make a real difference. We no longer have to rely on a faceless "them" that do not have our best interests at heart.
First, let's start with the mudslide. Perhaps it might not be immediately obvious to any of us how our personal choices could affect a mudslide in a distant state. After all, mudslides are acts of God, caused by too much rain falling on loose soil and knocking it free, to slide down the mountain and bury a ski resort or a log cabin under a deluge of slimy, smelly muck. But mudslides are often lessened, or even stopped altogether, if the soil is held in place by the presence of intact vegetation. The roots embedded in the soil help to solidify the ground, and the trunks of mature trees will often act as a break for vegetation. Over the past century, many of the mountainsides in the western states have been clear cut (sometimes over and over), all the vegetation removed. This leaves the earth unprotected, so that when heavy rains occur, the mud will be able to slide down the mountain and bury the towns below. Literally hundreds of people were killed in similar mudslides in India during the 20th century, leading Indira Gandhi to institute a ban on clear cutting on mountains. In this country, clear-cutting is still occurring, because it is simply the easiest, quickest way to harvest a forest. And I will maintain that our personal choices can make a difference here, as they did in India. In this country, a great deal of the wood harvested goes for paper products. We all use paper, every day. Some of this paper is no doubt of great importance - the books we read, our magazines, our newspapers, help us to remain educated and informed. And in spite of the infamous amount of paper used to print one edition of the New York Times, this really is a very small amount of the paper that is used in this country (in fact, most newspapers and many books and magazines are now printed using recycled paper, which helps relieve the burden on the forests a great deal). The number one culprit in paper use is office paper. I do not doubt that offices do require at least some level of paper use in order to maintain productivity and efficiency; however, a great deal of the paper use is simply waste. Many offices create multiple copies of everything, some of which are useful, and some of which end up lost in a file for eternity never to be seen again. Simply reassessing what is truly necessary could cut down immensely on paper use. In addition, reusing paper (printing on the backs of discarded sheets, for instance) could reduce paper consumption. Also, perhaps not every joke that is passed around the Internet is worthy of being printed by every employee in the office to be hung on their bulletin board. In fact, some of these jokes are much more worthy of being retired than of being printed. Enjoy your jokes you receive. Laugh at them, forward them, memorize them, repeat them, but for everyone's sake, don't print them! You may think your personal contribution in this matter won't make that much difference, and it won't. But studies have shown that the best way to get people to act is to set an example. Soon, others will follow you. All of you together can make a very large difference.
Another major culprit in paper use is the ever growing market for disposable everything. Use it once, throw it away. This has become the mantra of the advertising industry. Of course they want you to use it once and throw it away, because then you have to buy another one. Using paper plates may save you some dishwashing, but these plates all end up in the landfill somewhere. And they end up using up precious commodities that mean a lot more growing in the ground than they do languishing in your trash bin. This also goes for all the paper packaging that you purchase with the product, remove, and immediately throw away without getting any use out of it at all. Most products in this country are packaged to excess. Simply looking for products that use little to no packaging can make a tremendous difference in your own impact on the earth. I know the argument - this takes time, I am busy, I work, I have children. Yes, I know. I sympathize, as I, too, am busy, juggling work, household, school, life (and, until he grew up and moved away, a child). But I try to remind myself every now and then that all this busyness, all this work, will be meaningless if I can't find a few moment to save that which matters to me most.
Now, on to the oil spills and the oil fires. We have all probably at some time other seen the images of the dead birds from the Exxon-Valdez oil spill of 1989. This recent oil spill (December 7, Alaska) will have similar pictures. Stories abound of the dead birds, the spreading oil slick. The news on the Oklahoma City oil company fire informed us that, if the hazardous materials had gotten into the nearby creek, and gone into the North Canadian River, it would have killed every living thing in the river for an unknown stretch. This is rather scary stuff. And we all know why oil spills happen - because giant corporations are careless and greedy. They don't keep their oil tankers in proper repair. They let drunk captains take charge of the boats. They don't have the proper equipment for cleaning up the spills. All this is true. Very true. But more is true besides. Oil spills happen because individuals make decisions that require huge amounts of petroleum to be shipped from where it is residing to where it is desired. YOU make that decision. I make that decision. ALL OF US have been to blame for the oil spills, the oil fires, the dead birds. Until we make the decision to find a better way, we will continue to have "natural" disasters (here, I put natural in quotes, because I see nothing natural about an oil spill resulting from technological advances demanding the long distance transport of petroleum products). The corporations are filling a demand. They are responding to your demand not only for gas and oil, but for gas and oil delivered cheaply. Keeping the price low without diminishing their profit often results in the cutting of corners - on safety issues, on environmental protection, on whatever things they can find to cut costs. Yes, the corporations bear a great deal of responsibility for the choices they make on how they keep the costs down. And there are possibly better alternatives in cost-cutting. But every time you get in your car, you are choosing convenience over safety, clean air and clean water. Automobiles are not an easy habit to break. And our cities are set up in such a way that the automobile is often necessary. But you can still make choices. You can alter your lifestyle to allow carpooling. You can check out the local bus or train system to see if it is an option. If you live close enough to the places you need to go, you can get a bicycle or a good pair of walking shoes. At the very least, you can buy a compact hybrid, and turn your SUV into a flower pot - no excuses, now, when is the last time you hauled anything larger than the groceries, or needed to go off road?
In short, these natural disasters you see occurring are not the sign of impending Armageddon. They are not a sign of the coming "end times". I will not say they are not a sign from God - I have no knowledge of God's thoughts on this matter, and would never presume to speak for him/her. How do I know they are not the sign of Armageddon? Because most of these disasters are the result of our personal choices, and the trajectory of disaster can be changed by altering our lifestyles. This will not be easy. Breaking an addiction never is. There are many hurdles to be leapt, many rivers to be crossed to arrive at a solution. I refuse to accept the answer of "it can't be done". Our earliest ancestors, with nothing but the crudest of tools and weapons, managed to thrive and spread throughout the entire world. If they can do it, there is absolutely no reason why we can't do it. All we lack is the will. So get out from behind the wheel, get off the couch, and get out there and make a difference. I'll be right there with you. We all need all the help we can get, and we must stick together in this fight.
And, while you're at it, keep this in mind (a parody from the pages of MAD magazine):
A fellow once said it cannot be done
But I gave a laugh and cried out,
That maybe it's true,
But I would be one
To give it a good healthy bout.
So I spit on my palms
Rolled my sleeves up my arms
In a second or two I'd begun it.
I started to sing
As I tackled the thing
That cannot be done,
And I done it.
(Apologies to William Carlos Williams)
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