You and Me, and Everyone We Know

“Some people deny climate change, but there are no ocean plastic deniers. The problem’s in plain sight.” ~ Susan Goldberg

“Where could it be coming from? ... It must be third-world countries dumping trash into the ocean.” ~ a co-worker, answering his own question regarding the Texas-sized floating bed of plastic in the Pacific Ocean

I tried to explain to my co-worker friend that every time he obtains a plastic bag, buys food in a plastic container, buys water or soda in a plastic bottle, or uses a plastic straw, there is some chance that the resulting trash will wind up someplace other than a recycle bin for proper disposal. This chance exists regardless of how much or how little we first-worlders try to do the right thing. But of course it’s then a matter of degree; we still need to at least try to recycle. Using less is still far better, no matter what. That straw may find itself on a street, in a sewer, down a stream, in a river, and eventually in the ocean.

Unfortunately, he was not listening. He was too intent on placing the blame elsewhere.

Is any of the blame attributable to the third world? Sure. How much? Who knows. But there are two things to keep in mind: a) they (the third world) learned it from us, and b) they (the third world) largely pollute and waste because of us.

Ultimately, it’s on us to do the right thing: use less, and recycle. And vote for people who will do the right thing as well. 

You and me and everyone we know.

Check out this National Geographic article on the subject.

Let's Try It

It has come to light that the reason President Trump reduced the size of Bears Ears National Monument was to make it possible for his cronies to drill for oil on these lands. This comes as a huge surprise to some.

When we elected Donald Trump, we collectively made a choice to move our government from one where ethics were paramount to one in which the opposite is true. Corruption is the word of the day now, and any ethics or morality that our country had has gone by the wayside.

Our previous president and even the ones prior to that did everything in their power to ensure that not only they, but everyone in their administrations adhered to the highest ethical behavior. When one is as corrupt as our current president, the environment suffers as much as personal integrity.

The connection is straightforward. If you have no morals, then what could possibly be wrong with giving federal lands to private parties who wish to exploit them for personal gain? Who cares about the planet when there's money to be made?

I think we collectively looked at the ethical behavior of past presidents and decided that we ought to try something different. Enough ethics. Let's try some corruption, we said. I and most others are sorry that we did, and I think that all the rest of us will be as well when the sun is just a bright spot in the nighttime.

It's a Trap Take 2

In 2016, I posted a little diddy called, It’s a Trap. This post will be from a slightly different perspective. I gave a Toastmasters speech on the subject a couple of weeks ago. This time, I have more pictures!!

With all of the hysteria, all of the fear, all of the phony science, could it be that man-made global warming is the greatest hoax ever perpetrated on the American people? James Inhofe, Republican Senator from Oklahoma.

Sen. Inhofe on the Senate floor, demonstrating with a snowball that global warming is a hoax

The concept of global warming was created by and for the Chinese in order to make U.S. manufacturing non-competitive. Donald J Trump, President.

Our President, who believes that it's the Chinese who created the hoax

It’s a Trap! Admiral Akbar, squid-like Star Wars character (he wasn’t technically discussing climate change, but I do like the way he said it).

Admiral Akbar of the Rebel Alliance

Since these important people believe climate change is a hoax, I thought I should do some research; check the facts. 

First of all, what are we talking about here? By definition, a hoax is something intended to deceive or defraud. I like conspiracy theories every bit as much as hoaxes. There is very little difference between a hoax and a conspiracy theory. By my definition, if you believe it, it’s a hoax. If someone else believes it, but you don’t or are not sure, it’s a conspiracy theory. The word, conspiracy also implies that several people colluded to deceive.

There are three principles of conspiracy theories: nothing happens by accident, nothing is as it seems, and everything is connected. They are unfalsifiable, and therefore a matter of faith rather than proof. A few of the most prominent ones are the assassination of John F. Kennedy, the Apollo moon landings, and the 9/11 terrorist attacks. Some others include vaccinations and a suppressed cure for cancer.

You may or may not believe these or any other conspiracy theories, but in the case of global warming, also known as climate change, it has to be a hoax. Why am I so sure about this? Our President said so!

It makes no difference that Senator Inhofe and President Trump have numerous friends in the fossil fuel industry, and that they receive large donations from them. That is not a factor. It also makes no difference that 97 percent of climate scientists agree that the climate is changing due to human activity. What do scientists really know anyway?

Those who believe that global warming is a hoax are known as climate science deniers. They have waged a campaign to undermine the public trust in climate science, hindering efforts to prevent further climate change and adapt to a warming planet. They have used the same tactics as the tobacco industry to spread doubt about climate science.

Climate science denial is funded by the fossil fuel industry, including oil and coal companies and trade organizations. Their ultimate goal is to drastically reduce regulation of the fossil fuel industry, making the government friendlier towards them. I say, good for them! If the government isn’t here to help large companies profitably pollute air, land, and water, what good is it?

President Trump once again proved his genius when he withdrew the United States from the Paris climate accord last June. Every other nation on Planet Earth is wrong, and our President is absolutely right. How do we know this? He said so. So does Fox News, Breitbart News, and the National Review.

Did you know that there is a Flat Earth Society? They are science deniers too. Last year both Kyrie Irving and Shaquille O’Neil each affirmed their belief that the world is flat. (They later claimed to be joking about the whole thing, but we know better.) Now we must decide: is it the “scientists” who claim the earth is round that are perpetuating the hoax, or is it the people who believe the planet is flat? I think it’s the former. These are the same people who claim that burning fossil fuels releases carbon dioxide into the atmosphere and causes climate change. Ha ha.

Logo of the Flat Earth Society

I am convinced that global warming is a hoax. I even have a possible motive. The “scientists” are trying to trick us into polluting less and making the earth a cleaner and better place for our children. Don’t listen to them. It’s a trap.

More Damage

Bears Ears

More damage to the environment was done today. Our President decided to reduce the sizeof two National Monuments by two million acres. This action will make Trump’s friends, including the Koch Brothers and other fossil fuel interests very happy. Human beings, including the same Native Americans that Trump recently insulted, animals, plants and the atmosphere, not so much. Mining and drilling will begin as soon as this item clears the Republican courts.

At this time, it appears that the Republican Tax Increase and National Debt Explosion will provide the Trump administration his first legislative victory. The only other thing he’s been at all successful at is decimating the environment. This is just another step in the ecological train wreck that America has become.

In a previous post, I expressed the hope that the end of Trump will come sooner rather than later. Although the Russia investigation provides some hope for an end to the Trump administration, it can’t happen soon enough.

Shame

Photo credit: Institute of Physics

It wasn’t unexpected. But it was deeply disturbing nonetheless. A New York Times Editorial called President Trump’s decision to pull out of the Paris Climate Accord ‘stupid and reckless’; the nation’s dumbest action since starting the Iraq War. I would add the word ‘shameful’ to the list of adjectives.

The Paris Agreement was a triumph of the human condition and spirit. We human beings are facing the greatest threat to our existence since the possibility of global nuclear war, and prior to that, since we came out of caves for the first time. Global warming is something that we caused, and yet we have the knowledge and resources to correct it. The fix is entirely a matter of collective will.

That will is the only difficult part. But the hard part was already done. All America had to do was to stay the course. And that course was undoubtedly in the right direction. Trump has shamefully perpetuated the myth that climate change is a hoax; that this accord, and other regulations hurt the American economy and jobs. In fact, the exact opposite is true.

Paris wasn’t a panacea. It was merely a turn-around; the first step towards correcting our course. It was necessarily complicated, as any agreement among 195 nations would be. Only two countries, Syria and Nicaragua, failed to sign. Now we can add the United States of America to that shameful list.

Trump’s decision is blatantly political. Yes, it was a campaign promise. Trump has kept some, and he’s broken many. Never mind that many, though not all Republicans favored this direction, some even writing a letter to Trump to urge him to dump the accord. This was about appealing to his base. Steve Bannon, Vlad Putin, and many who voted for Trump in hopes that he would ‘put America first’, especially American jobs, will be happy. Human beings of the near future (read: our kids and grand-kids) who need to breathe the air, drink the water, and live off planet earth’s bounty, not so much.

In the near term, America’s already eroded world leadership is now much further diminished. Our economy, jobs, security and of course our environment will suffer.

We can only hope that Trump will be impeached sooner rather than later. His treason and obstruction of justice are coming to light more than ever. Even the Republican party, try as they might, will not be able to stop the carnage. The problem is that with this and other actions, he’s already done tremendous long-term damage to our environment. And he’s brought shame, more than ever before – and that’s saying something – on his, and our country.

People's Climate March, 2017

Gathering on the Mall before the march

Debbie and I marched on Washington! The event was the 2017 People's Climate March. In spite of sweltering, record heat - 91F on April 29 - we joined hundreds of thousands* of like-minded others, marching on Pennsylvania Avenue from the Capitol to the White House, where we surrounded the building. Too bad President Trump was not there. He was 'campaigning' in Pennsylvania.

The heat only put an exclamation point on the message of the day: that the climate is in crisis, and we need to correct our collective course. This article in the Washington Post summed it up quite well.

It was a profound experience. So much so that I could almost say it was a life-altering one. How much so? Time will tell. But one thing's for sure. I will keep marching, keep writing, keep fighting.

For more about why I march, please see my previous blog post, Legacy.

*Just found out there were 200,000 of us!

We began the march at the Capitol - we're still gathering here

We're lining up. Look who joined us!

Debbie and I with our signs

There were gobs of us in the sweltering heat

The march ended as we surrounded the White House

Legacy

March for Science Cleveland                          photo Martins Krebs

Presidents famously begin to think about legacy - how they will be remembered by history - during their waning years in office. Most of the rest of us, not so much. But then again, maybe a little.

Those who are fortunate enough to be wealthy often plan to pass some of their riches to their children or to charity. The gesture can often be altruistic. To take the financial aspects of legacy a bit further, many Conservatives and Libertarians are fond of saying that they don’t want to bestow future generations with the high public debt resulting from our wasteful public spending. I believe this concern is also laudable. In fact, there is much to be said for fiscal conservatism. Whether curtailed spending ought to come from reductions in military or domestic spending is another matter, but one left for another forum. The bigger question is this: if you don't want to burden your offspring with debt, why would you burden them with a poisoned planet? It seems to me that many of the people who are so very concerned about spending and the budget are not at all phased by the extreme removal of environmental regulations by our current President and Congress.  Isn't leaving clean air and water for our children the most important legacy of all?

A while back, in a post entitled, In What Universe?, I described how our President had rescinded a law to prevent dumping of coal waste in streams. I asked how such people (and those who support/vote for them) face their children and grandchildren (as well as other questions, like where is their human decency?). It was meant to be provocative, and got the desired response from a couple Facebook friends, some of whom would probably identify themselves as Libertarian. One who took issue tried to turn the tables, wondering how I would face my own kids after supporting the previous President, who had taken seven years before signing the order for the law in the first place.

My conscience is entirely clear on the issue. President Obama was not perfect, and in fact did relatively little for the environment during his first term. During his latter years in office, however, his environmental accomplishments were nothing short of spectacular. This article, from the Berkeley/UCLA School of Law, illustrates the accomplishments even further. Just for starters, the list includes:

• An international climate agreement, due to his leadership
• Improved fuel economy and generally cleaner cars and trucks
• Energy production pollution limits
• Clean energy investment
• And much more

I am quite proud of the fact that I supported President Obama, and I think we can all literally and figuratively breathe easier because of his environmentalism. That is quite a legacy. I wonder what the eventual legacy of President Trump will be?

I don't know whether it's yet proper to say that I'm in my waning years of own life (who knows, I may yet have a few good decades left), but I am beginning to think about how I am leaving this world for my children and grandchildren. I've actually often thought about how I may go about leaving the world a better place. Certainly there are as many ways to do this as there are people on the planet. Taking care of the poor, building a company that provides good jobs or simply loving someone may be some of the ways.  If you've guessed that my own hope for a meaningful legacy is for it to involve the environment in some meaningful way, you would be correct.

March for Science Cleveland            photo Veronica Dancer

Back, therefore, to the kids. Will they be better or worse off as a result of how I've lived my life? More importantly for them, and for all future generations (related and not): will the planet be a better place? I truly don't know. All I can do is try.

Try how? For one thing, I'm not especially well-off, so I probably won't be able to leave the environment (or the kids, for that matter), a fortune of any kind. I most likely won't even have as much time to volunteer, and/or protest as I'd like, although this, I believe, will be changing. It doesn't look like I'm even able to convince very many people to appreciate the environment and the planet, as I do - unless they already do.

But I can indeed donate at least some funds to the cause. And I can at least begin to protest, as I did at the March for Science, and as I will for the People's Climate March in Washington. Believe me, this protesting and marching stuff is entirely new to me. And although I'm probably not convincing gobs or people, perhaps a couple here and there will listen. Part of that, of course, also involves this blog, dontpoopinthepool.

Here then, as clear as I can make it, is my plan for an 'Environmental Legacy':

• Live my life as if the future of the Earth depends on it (it does, by the way). This means going out of my way to recycle, to not be any more wasteful in terms of energy, than I feel necessary, and to always make intelligent, informed choices regarding day to day environmental decisions.
• Continue to try my best to convince others to do the same. This will be, by necessity, in my own gentile way, because... that's my way. I think I may have some measure of influence over immediate family members, but others, not so much. I'll keep trying, however.
• Continue to try to convince people of the facts regarding the environment in general and the climate in particular through the writings of this blog. It certainly can't hurt. Once again, it's my way.
• I will march! I've already started, with my participation in the March for Science. It will continue at the People's Climate March in Washington. I've never been this much of an activist; in fact, I've hardly ever protested anything. That's all changed now. 

I don't know what the exact outcome will be, but this battle for the planet must be fought. And for our children's future, it must be won.

Poster for the People's Climate March