Dennis Meadows, co-author of Limits to Growth, was recently Keynote Speaker for We Don't Have Time. What he said knocked us back on our heels, stunned. Can we get up?
"We have not been able to implement any policies to bring carbon emissions back down."
The job has been beyond the capacity of our political/economic system. While many thought it was individuals and parties abusing efforts to recognize and solve climate change problems.
Meadows' first rule is "If you are unable to understand the cause of a problem soon enough, it is impossible to solve it."
The common idea is that when CO2 emissions go up, biosphere health will goes down. People will respond by finding consensus on the damage and call for policies to reduce carbon emissions.
Unfortunately, there are false assumptions that prevent the resulting implemented policies from being effective.
Meadows charts clockwise this failure that is due to not taking into account four important delays. First, it takes 20 to 80 years for eliminating CO2 emissions to slow CO2 concentration rise. Second, as biosphere health goes down it takes decades to link fluctuating health with CO2 concentration. Third, it takes many years to find political consensus with a majority of nations ratifying agreements. Fourth, to actually reduce carbon emissions, it takes time. We don't know how long it will take because nations have yet to implement broad effective actions.
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Getting to high noon, quick draw CO2 emissions reductions
During this eleventh hour, political consensus to reduce CO2 atmosphere concentration is on the rise. Thanks in part to peaceful demonstrations and heartfelt deliberations in chambers of power. The challenge is to reduce the inherent delays between consensus and significant emission reductions.
C02 emissions should be reduced now. Before immense damages to the biosphere are observed, says Meadows. The goal is to make emissions less than the CO2 absorption rate to reverse the destructive trend of increasing extreme weather events, rising sea level, and increasingly acidic seawater.
And this is where me must all lend a hand, raise voices to decision-makers, give the reins-of-power a shake, and spur action.
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From
an article by Michèl Broutin in the weekly newspaper "Le Journal du Médoc"
"A bit of yellow in front of the chateaux, in the land of 'red'(wine): here at Chateau Loudenne."
On Sunday 17 April, a local group of Gilets Jaunes" (yellow vests) went to Chateau Loudenne. They had banners, drums and loudspeakers to make their presence known. Several gendarmes were waiting to maintain order. Representatives of the chateau listened attentively to their grievances, notably about pay and working conditions.
They stressed that this was not a direct attack on Chateau Loudenne, but rather a grievance about employment legislation in general and its application in the many prestigious chateaux where fine wines are produced. They also expressed concern about the use of pesticides.
The chateau personnel explained that they are moving towards organic methods, have eliminated carcinogens and are focusing on respect for the land and their workers. They then gave the demonstrators a splendid picnic hamper filled with local produce and their own wine. Leaflets explaining the concerns of the "yellow vests" were left for visitors to take.
The "Yellow Vests" then marched past several other chateaux whose gates were closed. At St. Estèphe they met up with another group of demonstrators from the south of the Médoc for a picnic. Then they marched together beside the road, busy with traffic on this sunny day. They maintained a calm and respectful demeanour. One of their slogans, chanted in unison throughout the day expressed their wishes for a future for working people and a better world.
Thanks to Margaret Beasley for the above summary of an article by Michel Broutin in the weekly newspaper "Le Journal du Médoc" on 12/4/19.
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Media validates government violence against peaceful demonstrators
The media is deliberately stoking fears that demonstrators are violent anarchists. Media wants to turn public sentiments to government forces restoring order to the realm, and away from one's rights of free speech and peaceful assembly.
When around 2,000 peaceful "yellow vest" demonstrators gathered in Strasbourg France for the 24th consecutive national Saturday protest, they were met by violence. Helmeted riot police with shields, night sticks, tazers and fire arms, fired several canisters of tear gas to push back protestors.
The headline by Reuters was "French police, yellow vests protesters clash in Strasbourg." The one photograph, presented above, showed a protester suffering from tear gas. The hooded pair in the smoky fog of tear gas look sinister and threatening.
French television showed "some" hooded protesters throwing stones at riot police fully outfitted in helmets with face shields and body armor. Another image is of five riot police, one wielding a night stick, confronting three unarmed protesters. One of the protesters is on the ground with an officer bending over him with a short firearm that has shoulder stalk and trigger.
Reuters reported: "Many in the grassroots movement, which lacks a leadership structure, have said Macron's proposals this week did not go far enough and lacked details." Why the insertion of lack of leadership for standing against increased taxation? Anarchists are a movement lacking in leadership structure.
Kevin Anderson points out on Scientists Warning TV how if those most protected by governments, the richest ten percent, reduced their CO2 emissions to that of the average European citizen that would be the equivalent of a one third cut in global emissions. Click here for 1 minute video
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| It's April; before you commence spreading fertilizer consider letting your lawn combat climate change with more roots, more foliage, more carbon capture. Use only slow release fertilizer. No more than 1/2 pound per thousand sq ft lawn in either spring or fall. |
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