A Warm Opportunity

Adapted from article first printed in Kansas City Star, entitled "Improving Our Climate is Our Responsibility."

We can hope the Democrats will do better now that they control Congress. But have we learned nothing these past several years? To relinquish our responsibility as participating citizens invites catastrophe, regardless of which political party controls Congress or the White House.

The last six years, certainly at the national level, have been largely a failure as far as climate change and the creation of an energy policy are concerned.

Global warming is now before the U.S. Supreme Court: Twelve states are suing the Environmental Protection Agency for not doing what these states think it should be doing, namely, establishing limits on carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases that are emitted by new cars.

The EPA claims it has no authority to set any limits. Congress cannot avoid taking up this issue soon.

What the Supreme Court ultimately ends up deciding could influence decisions as far away as China and India, where one-third of the world's population lives, and where an environmental disaster is now unfolding.

This is about much more than what gases flow out of tailpipes or even the definition of global warming itself. It does, however, have a lot to to with how we might imagine our country 10 years from now, possibly 50 years from now, as well as the kind of planet we might like to live on.

The global warming debate has shifted on many levels. Even critics within the fossil fuel industry are acknowledging the possibility that global warming is real, well, sort of. There are still those who say climate change is cyclical; it's just getting a little warmer right now, that it's all perfectly "normal."

Others say we really don't know to what extent humans are contributing to global warming ... therefore, we need to study it a bit longer. We don't want to make any hasty decisions.

At the same time, there are climate experts who now believe it's already too late to stop or even slow down the warming process. We'd better learn to adapt to it; we'd better develop some drought-resistant corn, these scientists are telling us. And we'd better accept the idea that our planet may not be able to support six billion humans. Perhaps in the not to distant future we may only be able to see Miami Beach through a glass bottom boat, if ocean levels rise too much.

A few scientists have suggested such things as putting giant sun deflectors around the planet or shooting massive amounts of sulfur particles into the atmosphere to cool down the planet. Some of these projections and theoretical scenarios are genuinely unpleasant.

The not-so-simple fact is that we don't exactly know what will happen to the climate 50 years from now, let alone 100 years. It would be nice if nothing bad ever happens. I have two granddaughters who will likely be around for most of the 21st century.

In the meantime, an opportunity does present itself here in our own backyard. Kansas City has established a Climate Protection Planning Process, along with 250 other cities throughout the United States. A steering committee will make recommendations to the mayor and the City Council sometime in March or April, regarding energy use, transportation needs and overall environmental direction.

The next public meeting is Dec. 21. We can choose to make a difference. We can decide to have our voices heard. We can actually participate.

Margaret Mead, the famous anthropologist, once said, "Never doubt that a small group of people can change the world. It is the only thing that ever has." Peace.