There, I said it: Global Warming and all of its devastating effects on our planet and its people should not be our priority. Care to go deeper into this?
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I'll take this off the table. I am horribly aware of the potential poisoning of the planet. The ice cubes in our collective cocktails are melting quickly, and it will be up to us to do something about it. And I personally am willing to do whatever it takes individually and as a society to help. However, as a movement, we need to think about our strategy here. What does it boil down to? (sorry for the bad pun!) Change will happen through elections. And THAT should be our focus.
Lets talk stock of the situation. Lets first look at what we have on our side: SCIENCE. There is no doubt that Global Warming is occuring. Nearly all studies (at least the ones not funded by the oil companies) prove it. With truth on your side, what more do you need. Well, we have more: THE PEOPLE. Most people are terrified by and are very concerned about Global Warming and most importantly, share our view that it IS occuring. If you dig deeper into conversation with most older people, they will metaphorically give you stories about "how the weather isnt what it used to be" or for those from the northern regions, stories about how much snowfall they USED to recieve in the winter. Not to mention, it's hard to refute science! Dont forget, we have a nation of weather watchers. More than we realize, people are acutely in tune with whats happening DAILY with the environment. Most importantly, this very issue could be the olive branch in which we reach out to religious conservatives. We have this in common! We need to sow those seeds of cooperation.
If you have science and the majority of the people on your side, what more do you need right?
Lets talk first about who will we will probably NEVER have, other than a few enlightened leaders: BUSINESS. Change in business is dangerous, or as a teacher once so simply explained to me "money is a coward". Meaning, the corporations of the world always fear change or instability. Thier profitability and STOCK PRICE is tied to predictability of profit. Stability. It goes against all normal nature of what they do to call for drastic and dramatic changes such as we need, when they simply dont know quite where the chips will land. I personally think its a waste of time and money to try and convince them at this point. If businesses come to the truth on thier own, fantastic. They will be ahead of the curve and more profitable in the new post-glabal warming economy. But they need to come to us. We simply cant beat them over the head. They only care about one thing (for the most part): making money. Until it is proven to them that there is money to be made in a post-global warming economy, we wont have them. And they will not change..... unless they have to. And change on this issue will have enormous impact on the biggest of the big: oil, auto, etc..... but the change will open up opportunites for new business. Just as IBM once ruled the world, they were put under by guys working out of thier garages in California: Microsoft, Apple, HP, etc..... there will be VERY profitable companies that will rise from the ashes of these obsolete industries. But it will take courage on thier part, and the motivation will be money, NOT the environment. I hate to say that but its true! We have to understand that a CEO of an oil company has a fiduciary duty to make thier company profitable for thier stockholders. In other words, SELL OIL!! To call for anything except that, would simply be a deriliction of thier duties as CEO. They WILL NOT talk to us. Accept it.
Which brings me to the last and most important component of who we DO NOT have YET, at least in significant enough majorities: POLITICIANS. On every level, city council up to President of the United States. While there ARE many enlightened leaders in this country, we live in a democracy, for better or worse, where the majority of votes in a legislative body is the only thing that produce results. All of the ties to industry and lobbying from our older leaders further complicates the matter. We, as a movement have more pull with UNELECTED leaders (meaning candidates) to get them to commit to change, as the majority of the poeple want. Incunmbants, who are all entrenced regardless of party affiliation, have little incentive to listen to people like us who simply want to ruin thier little party of electoral campaign contributions. Unless by some unlikely twist of fate that Al Gore is elected President, this change will occur from the bottom-up. New leaders. New vision. If we have a role in getting them there, hopefully we will have a role in keeping them thier and hearing our points of view. Keep in mind who will be fighting against: industry, oil, auto, organized auto labor, etc..... in other words, some of the most powerful institutions in this country. There are few intersections in this country that do not have at least one gas station. That is REACH. And you thought Starbucks was everywhere!! Just think of the number of gas stations and related businesses withing a few miles of your house. This is a losing battle. If we fight in on thier turf, on thier terms, we lose. Know the enemy. We will not win a shouting match. How can we change that? ELECTIONS!!!
Which brings me to the point of my diary: We own this issue in the minds of the voter. But I feel Global Warming, in and of itself should not be our priority. ELECTING people who see it the way we see it should be the priority, as that will be the only way to create change. I see diary after diary about the ice melt in the arctic, temperature rise, species extinction rates, etc...... YES, you are all right. But we are talking in an echo chamber here. We ALL AGREE WITH YOU. Change will come with new leaders in this country. it is the ONLY way. We need to start to evaluate each candidate for any office with an "environmental SAT" score. Get them on specifically on record on thier thoughts, and hold them to it. Answers questions on the environment could be used to give them a score for voters to quickly and easily evaluate where they stand on OUR issue. This strategy is often used by the right, to track support for issues such as abortion, taxes, etc..... and its time we stole a page from thier playbook. And if you find a candidate that you like, support them!! If you belong to an Audobon Society or any local environmental cause talk to your LOCAL candidates about thier views, and ENDORSE who to support for election and why. Make it an issue in all campaigns!!
In closing, our priority should simply be to ELECT people who will help us to facilitate the change that we all know is needed to deal with Climate Change. Of course, global warming should be our priority. It should be among our biggest priorities. But we need to understand the role we can play in bringing about change. It is a political one. We need to speak a little less to each other, and alot more to the world around us. If you are tempted to write a diary about Global Warming, write it about why any incumbant or candidate for house or senate candidate (or any elected office) deserves our support or disdain. Or even better, write a letter to an editor in the "real world" and reach out of our bubble. Look for environmental "Macaca" moments.
The most powerful force of our society of progressives online is our ability to support and elect candidates. If we embrace that primary strength and understand it power and focus our energies, we will make a difference. It will take all of us pressing our elected officials for change over long periods of time. GET BUSY!!