Getting Back to Basics

What would the response of Americans be if someone organized a massive tree-planting initiative? In light of the recent California wildfires, the example of Macedonia, a tiny country of only two million people, could inspire similar efforts.

Macedonia has had two summers of wild fires, with thousands of acres of forests destroyed. An opera singer, Boris Trajanov, decided that something had to be done. Yesterday, “Thousands of people were bused to the planting sites , including more than 1,000 soldiers who planted some 200,000 seedlings at 14 sites.” It seems that Macedonians are waking up to the reality of climate change and the need to protect the environment. Continue Reading »

It doesn’t matter whether you believe climate change is man-made or natural. It doesn’t even matter if you think the whole climate change/global warming issue is a hoax. There is evidence from every part of the world that serious changes are taking place, much of it in places that we never hear about. From the Himalayas, where unprecedented melting of the snow pack has been reported for well over a decade by the native inhabitants, to the disappearance of plant species at Walden Pond, something is happening that has nothing to do with politics or conspiracies.

Plants are on the move to more favorable areas as their environment becomes too hot or dry. Flowers are blooming earlier in response to unusual warmth. Animals are changing their mating and migration patterns. Species of amphibians are in danger of extinction from diseases that are flourishing with the change of climate. These are not just single events, but trends that are being carefully tracked over years and decades.

In hundreds of ways, environmental disaster is creeping in on us in the background, and sooner or later the financial concerns and environmental concerns will merge. The problems that the average person is dealing with on a daily basis already have more to do with the environment than with the financial meltdown. The rising prices of food and other commodities are a function of the costs of energy (transportation), of drought, and of climate shifts that are decimating growing areas and species.

Small changes taking place over time add up. We have to think beyond whether global change is real or whether we can stop it by our actions. Garbage is garbage, whether it’s in landfills, floating in the ocean, or contaminating our food and air, or high in the atmosphere. We each contribute to it, and we can each reduce the accumulation and its impact on our lives and on the earth.

Polar bears have become a recognizable symbol of climate change, but polar bears don’t live in our backyards, and don’t really convey the message that we are also being affected by climate change. Polar bears are merely a symptom; for the causes, we need to look in our own backyards.

Shoppers are flocking to thrift stores, families with teens are learning how to say “no,” to requests for the latest and shiniest toys, and drivers are discovering the (sometimes dubious) joys of public transportation. But will all this economizing last? Is frugality just another temporary necessity that people will gladly give up when (and if) things return to normal?

The environmental movement isn’t much of a presence these days, even though green living is a buzzword that’s often in the news. When financial survival is a priority, there’s going to be more concern for financial than environmental solutions. This means that green living and frugality aren’t translating into the environmental consciousness of the 70s and 80s. Saving the earth seems far less important than saving ourselves. For the average person, just getting through this economic crisis is about all they can deal with.

On a larger stage, though, this can be a short-sighted mistake that will have eventually have serious consequences. A news report in Wired indicates that investment in green projects is slowing down because money is so tight. “’The general economic slowdown is taking everybody’s eyes off what was an increasing momentum around concerns of climate change and the cost of energy,’ said Paul Maeder, a general partner with venture capital firm Highland Capital Partners.”

The current drop in the cost of oil (which is probably temporary) is also contributing to decreasing interest in long-term energy projects. The danger is that, companies that are developing these projects may well go out of business, just when they are badly needed. It’s happened before, and is one of the reasons why technological advances in energy production have been few and far between over the last few decades.

Taking care of today’s problems may be the top priority, but we also need to keep an eye on the consequences of ignoring long-term problems and solutions. It’s difficult to absorb the idea that, in the long run, saving the earth is a requirement for saving ourselves, but it’s just as important for individuals as it is for corporations, governments, and investors.