Live Earth

I watched a good chunk of yesterday’s Live Earth broadcast. It was as good an excuse as any to further ignore the many home projects I’ve been so good at ignoring up until now. Seriously though this was a great broadcast in support of an even greater cause. The best part of course is that it’s not too late, and all any of us has to do is make a few small changes to reverse the cycle of damage that’s been accumulating since the 1950’s.

Interestingly the term that seems to rankle critics of environmental change is “global warming”. That one phrase is a Pavlovian cue to open the floodgates for right-wingers who assert that what we’re experiencing is merely cyclical, that this is the normal course of the earth’s climate and that any other reaction is an over-reaction.

Well, given that the last similar “cyclical” change was the end of the ice age, I think there may be cause for concern.

So let’s simplify the situation for those who require simplification. Substitute the words “global warming” with “pollution”. OK, now who in any part of this “civilized” world can deny the existence of pollution? Are the skies SUPPOSED to be filled with gray smoke? Is the ground SUPPOSED to be littered with garbage? Was all of this pollution here before us, or did we create it? What kind of animal shits where it sleeps?

Is there any harm in cleaning up our mess, or do we prefer to live this way?

If you don’t believe in global warming then simply believe in pollution - then start cleaning up after yourself.