I’m looking out my window here in southeastern Pennsylvania at a wild cherry tree that, on November 28, is still covered in green leaves. A butterfly bush nearer to the house is still blooming. We have yet to have a “killing” frost this year in this part of Pennsylvania, though just five years ago and earlier, such frosts were the rule by mid October, and sometimes even came at the end of September.
Out on the street, two lines of cars and trucks are completely halted in their tracks because of the shutdown of nearly 10 miles of the Pennsylvania Turnpike following a fatal accident involving a semi trailer-truck and three cars that has closed all lanes in both directions for the whole morning, throwing the morning commute entirely onto back roads, which themselves are the scene of countless accidents. Standing at the end of the driveway, I find that half the vehicles stranded on the road within my field of vision are gas-guzzling SUVs and vans, every one of them carrying one frustrated commuter—the driver—and spewing out volumes of exhaust for no purpose other than keeping the car and driver warm and the radio running. The autumn air reeks of car exhaust.
Both of these situations are reflections of a major crisis that is confronting all of us. The earth is rapidly getting hotter, in large part because of the unrestrained use of carbon-based fuel by mankind, and especially by us Americans, and it’s getting hotter much faster than even the most pessimistic environmental scientists were predicting even as recently as two years ago. We all know this. And yet like the cars stuck on the turnpike and outside my house, we as a polity and a society are seemingly incapable of doing anything about the mess we have made of our lives, our kids’ lives, our country and our planet.
We are stuck in our vehicles, listening to the mindless drivel on the radio, and we are stuck in a socio-economic-political system that is doing nothing about this crisis that is cooking the planet and that is in fact hell-bent on keeping us in our cars or glued to our TVs to the bitter end.
Meanwhile there is an election campaign underway, in which the leading candidates of both parties are basically saying nothing of consequence about this crisis. Instead they are talking about taxes and terrorism and immigration (if they are Republican candidates), and about health care and drivers’ licenses for immigrants (if they are Democrats).
Excuse me, but I’m 58, and it looks like in my own lifetime, if I stay healthy, I am likely to witness the disappearance of the North Polar icecap! Do you hear that? It’s also looking like I may even witness the disappearance of the one-mile-thick Greenland ice sheet, in which case, with oceans rising 18-20 feet, I will also witness the disappearance of Brooklyn, Staten Island, what’s left of New Orleans, a good deal of Florida, and much of Philadelphia. I may even end up owning a piece of beachfront property, given that my house sits at about 20 feet above what is currently known as sea level.
Sea level—a term that use to denote something constant and unchanging, like air pressure or gravity.
How is it that our politics can have become so debased and trivialized that with the country and the very earth facing a cataclysm for which the closest parallel is, ominously, the extinction of the dinosaurs 65 million years ago, our candidates for president can’t even discuss the issue? Oh, the Democrats might talk about mandating slightly higher gas mileage for vehicles, or if they’re really daring, about establishing cap-and-trade rules for power plants and factories, but of course that isn’t going to turn this crisis around. Nothing short of a new economy, based not upon growth and on massive energy use, but upon sustainability and an altered value system that doesn’t equate consumption with happiness and success, will save us.
Of course there are other huge issues facing the nation—the endless and pointless war in Iraq, which President Bush is currently hard at work turning into a permanent occupation, and which he is seeking to expand to Iran, the collapse of the dollar, the hollowing out of the economy, the rotting away of the educational system, and the ballooning of poverty spring readily to mind—and the so-called “leading” candidates have next to nothing of substance to say about any of this either.
But the big issue is global climate change, and here they are silent, or might as well be.
What would happen if a candidate were to stand up in one of these “debates” and say:
“Just shut up for a second Wolf! I have something real to say here.
“My fellow Americans, we are facing a national emergency. A global emergency. Unless we act decisively this next presidential term, it may well be too late. The current administration and Congress by January 2008 will together have squandered eight critical years, but we will not squander another. Accordingly, my administration, on assuming office, will immediately issue an executive order adding a 100 percent tax on gasoline at the pump, with all funds to be dedicated to research and development of non-carbon energy and mass transit. I would further establish a federal tax on all new vehicles, with a sliding scale based upon their actual gas mileage. There would be a federal tax credit for scrapping cars, also based upon their gas mileage, to encourage the destruction and recycling of older gas-guzzling vehicles.
“Additionally, there would be a tax on electricity, with every household allowed a certain basic amount tax-free at competitive rates, after which there would be a tax on higher usage, again on a sliding scale. Home heating oil, natural gas and propane would also be taxed at 100 percent, but with a federal tax credit, available to all taxpayers regardless of income, of $750 per individual or $1500 per family to cover basic heating needs.
“Older power plants that emit excessive amounts of greenhouse gasses, and that cannot be upgraded, will be ordered closed within one year.
Dave Lindorff, a columnist for Counterpunch, is author of several recent books ("This Can't Be Happening! Resisting the Disintegration of American Democracy" and "Killing Time: An Investigation into the Death Penalty Case of Mumia Abu-Jamal"). His latest book, coauthored with Barbara Olshanshky, is "The Case for Impeachment: The Legal Argument for Removing President George W. Bush from Office (St. Martin's Press, May 2006). His writing is available at http://www.thiscantbehappening.net
If any candidate offered any such radical agenda, the media
would portray him as an "out of touch" lunatic, an "extremist," a "fringe moonbat," etc. Then his big-money backers (if he/she had any) would pull away, to support a more obedient candidate. The more obedient candidate would then be portrayed as "a rising star, impressive, & practical."
It's not possible to have anyone address issues of real substance in a capitalist society -- because doing so implies cutting across the interests of the capitalist class. In a capitalist society, that's verboten. This law of capitalism is enforced by making sure that public dialogue doesn't even mention the possibility of measures that might infringe on the interests of big capital. In effect, such ideas are kept so far "off the table," that the public loses the ability even to conceive of them.
The purpose of political power in a capitalist society is NOT "solving problems" -- at least, not the problems of the population, nor of the planet. It's serving the capitalist class & their investments. The purpose of media & education in a capitalist society is NOT "informing the people." It's making sure that most citizens can't even imagine courses of action which might challenge the interests of the capitalist class.
At the level of ordinary (ie, non-influential) individuals, these forces translate into endless discussions of "Which Democratic candidate shall we support?," often accompanied by the clause, "Of course, we must be practical" -- which means, in effect, "only vote for candidates who are tall, photogenic, and backed by big corporate money." No one seems to recognize that once you've been that "practical," the battle is already lost.
There's no way to oppose the destructiveness of capitalism by supporting a party whose main function is defending capitalists. Both US parties exist only to serve capitalist interests; as long as most citizens confine themselves to being "practical" and remaining inside that framework, there is zero possibility of opposing the destructiveness of capitalism -- which is essentially what's making that white cabbage butterfly still appear on your bush in SE Pennsylvania, 3 days before December.
by
Richard Mynick (2 articles, 3 quicklinks, 1 diaries, 1168 comments)
on Wednesday, November 28, 2007 at 10:29:11 AM
Yep, in 58 years I would have hoped that you would have learned that the world is a dynamic place to live. Things are always changing. That’s the way it is.
Buenos Aires, this past winter, broke many records, some over eighty years old for record C O L D temperatures. I sure hope that another ice age is not on the way.
What all this has to do with political candidates I don’t know.
by
Mark Bennett (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 47 comments)
on Wednesday, November 28, 2007 at 4:28:11 PM
Thank you Mr. Lindorff for yet another concise article.
However I'm afraid Mr. Mynick has hit the nail on the head in that no one is going to address these extremely important issues of substance in this capitalist society which we live. I'm certain these so called leaders of ours care about this planet, but sadly, their hands are bound by big oil, Texas Tea. Drastic measures must be taken to offset Global Warming or this planet isn't going to be habitable. It's quite odd seeing lady bugs flying around this late in November as my wife and I noticed today. And just last week I was thinking about those hard frosts you spoke of in your article, frosts we use to get as early as late September. As of yet we haven't had one.
If I could also bring up a topic of relevance which has been really bothering me. And that is why are they pumping tons of barium and most likely aluminum into the upper atmosphere? Is it a drastic measure to mitigate global warming or is it something more nefarious? Is it a military project under the guise of weather modification and could it be contributing to the rising temperatures we've been seeing? Unmarked jets have been criss crossing our skies now for almost ten years, and exactly why it's being done is still unclear. But make no doubt about it, they are spraying. These aren't normal contrails and many of the clouds you see in the sky have been man made. If you don't believe this is occurring and it's happening all across the globe, then I have some swamp land in South Florida you'll be interested in.
Google "Owning the Weather by 2025" or "Weather Mitigation" it is quite astounding.
by
Munich (0 articles, 67 quicklinks, 12 diaries, 831 comments)
on Wednesday, November 28, 2007 at 5:43:18 PM
I read that article a few days ago. It's amazing! They're attacking our constitution, and by golly, they're attacking the very air we breath. I believe it's a combination of Weather Modifcation-Nano Technology program. Sadly, we have no say in the matter. Just like everything else which is going on in this governmentless country.
Mother nature's the one who'll have the final say (the last laugh) in this matter.
Here is a very good link where you can see all of cloud formations and daily activity.
And just look at this image you can see all the bewildering, so called "normal" jet contrails that linger in the upper atmosphere.
This is the last I will post on chemtrails. It is a very perplexing and caustic situtation which one needs to research and understand on his or her own.
by
Munich (0 articles, 67 quicklinks, 12 diaries, 831 comments)
on Wednesday, November 28, 2007 at 7:55:55 PM
Dave,I like the sentiments.The best book I’ve read on global warming is by Dr Tim Flannery called
“The Weather Makers” it’s easy balanced read and packed full of the latest facts and pickies enough to enrapture any budding Chicken Little.
What the book says and shows we are in deep do do and getting deeper.He goes through current related problem, extinctions, and movements of species boundaries. He indicates the probable problems, effects end the possible ones. One in the US’s interests the desertification of areas of the US plains and grain basket areas, water shortages, water flows at the wrong times for crops.
In one state he talks about how spring has come forward by 32 days over 50 years and the consequences on animals, crops and fires. He describes how oceans will acidify causing mass extinctions food and other sea species leading to food shortages not only in the 3rd world but here in the western world!
Then really gets into his Cassandra role by adding to the above perhaps the most immediate threats wild weather and unheard of Bush fires. Cyclones/hurricanes with winds approaching 250-350 K per hr (disaster movies without the scantily clad ‘B’ star clinging to the leg of disgustingly fit male star as the wild wind blows her long dark curls alluringly) will be relatively common. There will be 1000 year storms, floods and tidal surges.
But before you go and stock up on 40 years worth of 35 y.o. Scotch he points out that most of this is educated guess based on climate Modelling. Different modelling group get slightly different results and the models don’t get every thing right yet.
He shows pictures of models run and superimposes the actual weather over the top. Essentially they are very similar but not exact matches there are thing that they can’t predict and consequently their effects.
The rising water level is one such case by 2050 (I’ll be 100 whoopee [note the lack of enthusiasm]) the water may have risen by 25cm. Party on beach babies! But keep an eye out for those surges etc.
Ultimately he’s saying it will happen but they can’t predict accurately yet by how much and by when.
The Wild Cards are the currently unknown tipping points and if we do as we’re supposed to. That simply means will the rich will try and hang onto what they’ve got probably until it’s too late. That included everyone in the western world.
Take that new RV that new plasma screen on the latter did you know it uses twice the power of the other type of screen. Have a look in the kitchen how many electric appliances do you have that mix? How many that fries, How many remotes do you have. How many appliance are running and how many on stand by? I think you get my point . Saving the planet starts with YOU
Sweet dreams.
Andris
by
Andris (4 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 531 comments)
on Wednesday, November 28, 2007 at 10:25:12 PM
7 comments
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