“We have an election coming up in a few days. Many of these climate change deniers are up for re-election, while others are seeking office. If you are an American, I urge you to do your research and vote accordingly. Literally, our future is in our hands.”
Above is a quote from the Bad Astronomy Blog at Discover Magazine. In the wake of Sandy, I think a few people are starting to open their eyes a bit and their mouths seem to follow. We’ve seen it in New York Mayor Bloomberg’s decision to back Barack Obama for reelection. Not exactly what I thought I would hear days before the election. But it really only backs up something I’ve seen coming for a few years now. Early this week, we on the East Coast were awakened to a brand new world. The specter of a Katrina like event made itself clearly known, and most of us know if it can happen once, it can happen again. And again, and again, and…
Did climate change cause this? Maybe not. But you don’t have to be some kind of environmental PhD to know that something is not right. A few years ago, tornado alley proved that it could and would move southeast and those poor folks out there (no… you guys haven’t been forgotten by all of us), are still rebuilding. If my memory serves me, New York City had some experience with tornadoes this past summer as well. Climate deniers… I’d love to hear your most excellent theory on why that’s happening.
I don’t have to go into the polar ice caps, or the Great Barrier Reef or any of that. I think if you put all of these things in a pot, you would come up with a very smelly stew. I’m going back to college but I really don’t need to just to know we’ve been wearing this pair of underwear just about one day too long. And I’m hoping that our corporate CEOs and elected officials will soon get this figured out as well.
In the meantime, we have an obligation to put people in place that will try and take this thing seriously. Now I can’t tell you who to vote for and I wouldn’t dare. But I can suggest that you spend the weekend doing some research and find out the positions of the candidates you plan on voting for and who their biggest supporters are. That’s all I ask. Not for me. For the kids. They don’t have a voice in this so we’ve got to do it for them.
Quite a number of days back, I had a gentleman make a comment to me that startled me a little bit. I don’t remember how the whole thing went, (I had to zone out a little to keep from getting mad at him). But he said something about me being worried about the sky falling on my head. I didn’t respond to him at the time, but as I thought about it later, I realized that I don’t care if the sky falls on my head. I’ve had a pretty decent life up to this point and will make the best out of the next 20 or so. Big deal. What I do care about is the sky falling on the children’s head.
If my nephew, (no kids of my own) wants to live in the highlands of this state that’s fine. But I want that to be his choice. I don’t want him to have to live there because most of the coastline’s major cities are flood zones. I don’t want him or his sister referring to Polar Bears in the past tense. I want them to be able to go out and get pictures like the ones Patrick Latter gets on his site. (Shameless plug yeah, but they are some beautiful photos).
I realized that at 46, this is my generation in charge. And what do we want to be remembered for other than the iPod and the internet? My father’s generation is known as the strongest generation. Because they wanted change and they made change. If we don’t even try to save the environment; what will we be remembered for?
VOTE!!!
Much love people.
T
The Only One In The Room's Observations 