I admit I’m wearying of the arguments that surround what is being called “Global Warming.” The believers/disbelievers line up on their defended positions and we hit, again, a kind of stasis.
Personally, I find it hard to believe that anyone can actually defend polluting. Most of us are pleased that restaurants are smoke-free.
The choking air that used to taint our food and cling to our hair and clothing has been legislated out of favor.
We see what small changes in our personal choices can make. Now, if we can only convince those who would foul the air or the seas and call it “commerce” — or tell us that it’s too costly to change — that their actions harm us all. That they are not exempt from the long-term ramifications.
Maybe those who dump from a cruise ship ought to be forced to float in the water along with the garbage? Or those who pour chemicals into waterways be forced to swim in that same liquid. Or those who belch toxic plumes into the air be forced to sit atop their smokestacks and inhale deeply.
It’s so easy to turn off our consciousness when our self-interests are at stake, without realizing that we will all pay in the long run. It’s easy to think that in some instances we’ll be dead before the air runs out, before the sea dies. But our children won’t. And their children won’t. Or will they?
Each of us has a choice, from the foods we buy and the way in which they are packaged, to our commuting choices, our ride shares, the waste we toss, and the water we send down our city streets and drains.
Every individual action is part of the collective whole. The air travels the globe on wind waves; the sea on currents. We share the planet, even if we cannot see those on another continent.
What changes can each of us make today? And what about tomorrow?
