by @anarchyroll
Tackling environmental causes is as important as it is thankless.
There is nothing more important to the survival of the human race, than insuring that we have clean air, drinkable water, harvestable land as well as habitable temperatures and sea levels. Other issues are as important on micro/local levels. Some issues are artificially inflated to seem as important. The only other topic that carries the gravitas of capability of wiping out the human race is warfare…..and asteroids from outer space. But as long as Bruce Willis and Ben Affleck are alive, we’re safe.
Warfare and environmental issues parallel each other. Both can have truly global impacts. Both issues have resulted in global changes over the past century. Both issues are so complex it’s hard to wrap one’s head around them. Both issues are so important they are boring. Both issues change and evolve in a way inconvenient for twenty four hour news cycles. Both issues see new sub issues come up immediately after victories making celebrations both limited and moot.
WWI to WWII to Vietnam to Gulf War One to Gulf War Too to Al Qaeda to ISIS. Global warming to drought to famine to flooding to super storms. But it’s not just the big macro stuff. It is also the smaller micro topics. Terrorist attacks and poisoned drinking water reservoirs. Hostage crises to methane leaks.
People who care about the environment and know about climate change should still be rejoicing over the historic Paris Climate Deal that was signed in mid December. 200 countries signing an agreement with legal force to reach zero carbon emissions in the second half of this century is certainly worth a celebration. 2015 closed with the biggest victory to date in regard to the biggest macro environmental issue.
In the United States, 2016 has begun with a two micro environmental issues making the Paris Agreement feel a world away. The California Methane Leak and the Flint Water Crisis have grabbed attention and headlines usually reserved for sports and celebrity gossip. If the body count goes up, maybe either issue can be talked about as much as the weather.
A State of Emergency has been declared in California over the three month and counting leak of underground methane reservoirs into the air. 2,000 people have been evacuated from their homes with many more seeking relocation assistance in Southern California. A bonafied environmental disaster has struck the Porter Ranch area.
A presidential emergency declaration has been given to Flint, Michigan by Barack Obama. $80 million in resources will be given to city that has had its water supply poisoned via bureaucratic cost cutting. 100,000 people including schools full of children have been exposed to toxic drinking water for years.
Wide reaching and far stretching damage at a biblical scale. That is why environmental issues are the most worthy of the attention and resources of the masses and those in power. 200 countries came together in Paris knowing this. That economic bickering and small scale terror attacks mean nothing in the face of environmental crises capable of wiping out the entire human race.
Flint and Porter Ranch merely scratch the surface of the severity of negative environmental issue impacts. Poisoned air, poisoned water, and a poisoned atmosphere that will effect global warming. Each issue individually can lead to death instantly and severe pain, discomfort, and displacement. The negative consequences of the issues will be on a monumental scale at an unceasing length.
Environmental issues are real issues. Nothing soft news about them, they are very hard news second to none. Scientists giving speeches or scientific reports/studies being released don’t get the play or attention that war stories get. If it bleeds it leads in the broadcast news world. It is not wrong to care and focus on the casualties of war. But please remember that just because the destruction is immediate and sensational, doesn’t mean it is the most austere.
A gun can kill many. A bomb many more. But a poisoned water supply? Unbreathable air due to toxic gas? If an army or terrorist group poisoned the water supply or the air supply of two American cities, what would the reaction be? Does incompetence of a corporation or governing body make the consequences less grave?
The impact of environmental issues are immune to perception and/or plausibility. You can choose to not believe or not care about the methane leak in Southern California. I can choose to tell my social circle the effects on global warming of the methane leak won’t be huge and felt for decades to come. But the gigantic amount of methane leaking into the air, like the lead in the Flint water supply is immune from peoples’ perceptions and beliefs.
The same is true for battles and war. The people of Paris probably believed they were safe from ISIS. America perceived the constant conflict in the Middle East wouldn’t have any effect on the homeland before 2001. Perception and belief just don’t mean anything when it comes to the facts and events that are happening. It is how we react to them and what we do going forward to minimize damage and maximize the effect of the lesson(s) learned from the events.
The methane leak is happening, the water crisis is happening, global warming is happening. These are hard facts immune from political beliefs and personal perception. What are we going to do to minimize their damage? How are we going to maximize the effects of the lessons learned from these events going forward? The answers to these questions don’t just effect a community, a country, or a continent.
They literally effect the entire human race and the entire planet we inhabit. That is why environmental issues are the most worthy of the attention and resources of the masses and those in power. The answers to these questions will be difficult, inconvenient, expensive, and require massive sacrifice. Which is why ;
Tackling environmental causes is as important as it is thankless.
