So I’ve been reading on TreeHugger.com the dire reports about how the ice will be gone from the Arctic by 2013, and how Greenland really will be green soon, have been reflecting on what it’s really going to take to solve this problem.
What we need collectively is, as Arnold Schwarzenegger, our governor put it, “action, action, action.” If you’re reading this blog, or any of the other much better enviromental blogs (see our blogroll) you probably already know that, and you’re making changes. To date, JB and I have done a few things here or there, including starting this blog, writing to our representatives, trying to drive and fly less, and buying some carbon offsets.
But I think it’s not enough. Don’t believe me? Here’s my simple logic. Let’s say we as a green-conscious community could, but individual action and influencing others, get 10% of the U.S. to totally reduce or offset their carbon emissions. I would think that would be a fantastic achievement - that’s 30,000,000 people, and we would have reduced the US GHG emissions by 10%! But if the rest of the country does nothing that’s way less than the 50% we need minimally, and the 90% that some scientists say we need.
At the scale that we need action, we need our government and our international institutions to act, and the way to do that is not by individual acts of conservation, but by leveraging the political process. What we need is a stronger lobby. Imagine if the 10% in my previous example joined an interest group fighting against climate change, and each person gave $100. That would be $3B dollars that could be used to support candidates and influence policy. Just by way of comparison, the NRA has something like 4 MM members, and an annual budget of $200 MM. Even without a truly strong environmental lobby, our congress just signed in a 40% increase in the Corporate Average Fuel Efficiency standard. But who fought for lower standards? The car companies. The unions. Lobbies.
So if we have the courage of our convictions, we need to move beyond small comforting individual actions, and think about how we can really move the bar. I think we need to group together, and make our voice truly heard. The politicians need to understand that if they don’t act, they will be punished. Let’s do it!
I guess the question is how. I’ll be posting more on this in the next few days, but would love to hear your thoughts!
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