Apr 14

My Question Is…

Posted by: Karina

My question is, why the topic of “global warming” when brought up in my classrooms in the ‘80s was swept under the mat by so many people?

Government officials and scientists alike were so quick to debunk the idea. Here I sit, hearing the dire news about the state of the world. Our cultures and livelihoods are at risk, animal and plant life are threatened to the brink of extinction, potable water is scarce in too many countries, ice-caps are receding at breakneck pace and air is pregnant with toxins that travel beyond any boarders that we have created.

Now is the time that my professors were speaking of back then. I am frustrated that my generation is only now seeing action being taken, when it could have been spearheaded so long ago. Because of our fear of thinking outside the box and sheer laziness, our sons and daughters are left with a burden that they don’t deserve to bear.

If more people in high places would grow fed up with the status quo and lay their fears of embracing new ideas to rest, maybe the most annoying buzzword of the moment, “green,” wouldn’t grate on me so much. Because I have hope and I’m fairly optimistic about the condition of being human, I can see the silver lining. I recognize that now is a critical time in our history and that change can be made, but how many people are still on that fence and deferring to tomorrow?

Published in: Karina's Blog

1 Comments

debbie huntsman Said,
In 1974, I took a class in a new branch of biology—ecology. There was a burgeoning “earth movement” then but it fizzled out and to this day has not returned as main stream. Perhaps ecology was dismissed as a wacko cult of tree-huggers because of other political and global turmoil or perhaps it was squashed by greed. What I learned in that class changed the way I have lived my life. I chose to live relatively small, to consume not much more than I need (at least by American over-indulgent standards) but I still find my house full of stuff that I do not want. I have carried cloth bags to the store for decades, bike when I can, eat a vegetarian diet and even chose to only have one child for environmental reasons. In other words, I’m became an ecologist. For the past two decades, that meant to most people in my world, that I was a bit nutty.

I went to the grocery store today with the intent to not purchase one item packaged in plastic. I discovered in short order, that it is just not possible. Even our fresh fruits and vegetables are encased in plastic. I could opt to drive 50 miles to a co-op near the college campus and maybe find naked food but that would defeat the purpose of shunning the excessive packaging.

I am glad you are optimistic about the condition of being human. I have been waiting for 34 years, I have little patience left, let alone hope that we humans have the capacity to give up even the wasteful convenience of how we pack our food, much less how we live.

The fact that we fear to realize is our earth is not unlike a boat. It has a capacity for only so many passengers. Over load it and things will eventually go horribly wrong. Any sailor knows if you want to live well aboard a boat, there must be only a few people to share the limited space, resources and work. Pack too many people aboard and things get nasty. And if the first-class passengers continue to live in luxury even as the galley stores diminish, the steerage passengers will suffer first, then they will mutiny.

I appreciate your voice, sounding the alarm but please don’t just be annoyed by buzz words, scream louder.

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