All this is not to say that it's not getting warmer and that curbing our profligate environmental ways is not a commendable and necessary goal. But perhaps this movement is sowing the seeds of its own destruction -- even as it believes the human species has sown its own. There must be a limit to how many calamitous films, books and television shows we, and our children, can absorb.
It doesn't seem sustainable to expect people to remain terrified by such a disinterested, often benign -- it was so nice eating out on the patio! -- and even unpredictable enemy. (I understand we're the enemy, but the executioner is the weather.) Recall that the experts told us last year would be a record-setting hurricane season, but the series of Katrinas never materialized.[1]
This quote was taken from an Op-Ed piece in the Washington Post by a writer, Emily Yoffe. I was stuck not by the fact that the author doesn’ t believe that we are facing global warming issues, but by the fact that we shouldn’t be harping on it. So what if the whole planet is going to pot, I just want to play my fiddle. While I agree that too much fear can make people desensitized to the threat, (ie. War on Terror Alerts) but I hardly think we have reached that stage of awareness concerning global warming. There are many people who still don’t have a clue that global warming is even occurring, (George Bush, Dick Cheney, etc.) so it may be a little premature to want to call it day on sounding the warning bell.
The author’s main issue was with the children being frightened about global warming prior to making decisions about college. News Flash – if we don’t do something about the state of this world what you majored in college I think won’t really matter. Ms. Yoffe seems to be a global warming denier and doesn’t want anyone to spoil her bliss. So what if the temperature is a little warmer, the better to work on her tan. I know we are suppose to make lemonade from the lemons of life, but if we can avoid a few of those lemons; shouldn’t we? Our children need to be concerned about his issue, because if they aren’t raised with an awareness of the importance of this, they will continue down the rosy path to annihilation that the author seems to be content to follow.
The author makes a valid point that no one really knows what the weather will be like in the future, heck the truth is they can’t even forecast tomorrow’s weather. I can’t guarantee that if we do the things being proposed that we still won’t have problems, but I can guarantee that if we don’t do anything we will have some major problems. You don’t have to be a genius to see the writing is on the wall, it is as simple as cause and effect. Are we so naïve to believe that we can pollute the planet and there not be any consequences? This is not naiveté it is foolishness and dangerous. I make no claim to understand the inner workings of the planet and only God knows what the future will hold, but I do know that as part of being a resident of this planet and a steward of it I should leave as little of a footprint as possible.
For too long we have continued to live as if there were no tomorrow, passing our problems from one generation to the next hoping that they would be smart enough to figure it out. We should stop living as if the world just belongs to us, with no concern for those who will come after us. How can we on the one hand claim to love our kids and grand kids and want the best for them and yet we strap them with a crushing debt, a polluted planet, and a broken legacy. The time for selfish indulgence has to come to an end for the sake of our children. This me attitude will in the end condemn our children to a gloomy and possibly horrific future. We need to educate our children about this issue; we need to explain to them the mistakes we have made. There must be a fundamental change in our attitudes as Americans and as global citizens. I think this is what frightens and bothers the “bury your head” crowd is that it will require a change in the attitudes of what it means to be an American. Some would rather continue to live in the past with no consideration of the future, as long as their selfish wants are being met. If you won’t do it for yourself, do it for your children and your grand children…
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