We're Taking Our Eyes Off the Ball Regarding Climate Change
by John Lawrence
It's all about war and oil. Climate change is taking a back seat to the peril of human existence on planet earth. It won't matter who wins the war in Ukraine if we forget about the constant dumping of carbon dioxide greenhouse gasses into the atmosphere. When we should be getting rid of oil consumption, all most Americans seem to care about is the price of gas. 2, 4, 6, 8 we don't want to mitigate. Mitigating climate change will take the cooperation of every nation on earth. Instead nations of earth are dividing into two dissenting camps. If the production and consumption of oil is to be mitigated, the world needs the cooperation of the world's largest oil producers. Let me see who that might be. Could it be Russia and the United States? And let me see who could be the largest greenhouse gas emitters? Could it be China, India and the US? India, by the way, the world's largest democracy, hasn't condemned Russia over the war. The BBC reported:
"India has had to walk a diplomatic tightrope over Ukraine in the past few days as it tried to balance its ties with Moscow and the West. ... Delhi continued with its strategy as it chose to abstain when the UN General Assembly voted overwhelmingly to demand an immediate end to the invasion of Ukraine. ... India's strategy has raised questions, particularly in the West, over whether the world's largest democracy should have taken a clearer stand. ...There are several reasons for India's quest to find a diplomatic balance over Ukraine. The most important are India's time-tested defence and diplomatic ties with Moscow."
So kiss planet earth good-bye insofar as human habitation is concerned. The cockroaches are willing and able to take over. It's almost a foregone conclusion as homo sapiens marches inexorably toward its own extinction. Right now is the time to convert to renewable energy post haste ... with all possible speed. Instead we're squabbling over the price of gas and involved in a war which is destroying what fragile good will existed a few weeks ago. We're all concerned about where our oil production is going to come from instead of using this opportunity to get off oil consumption. But all good American middle-of-the-roaders consider it too radical to take the emergency measures necessary to avoid the complete destruction of the planet for future generations. Instead they want to continue business as usual as if gradual measures will be enough. The time window for doing anything of consequence keeps getting smaller and smaller while greenhouse gas emissions keep bigger and bigger.