The news on September 9 was sobering. Atmospheric volumes of greenhouse gas hit a record in 2013 as human activity continues to contribute to climate change.
World Meteorological Organization Secretary General Michael Jarraud said in a statement accompanying this news that "The laws of physics are non-negotiable" and that "We are running out of time."
Since Republicans are expected to take over control in the Senate and hold onto their majorities in the House it is time that environmentalists look elsewhere for help in curbing CO2 emissions.
Oil barons and Fortune 500 CEOs.
There is not a single person whose life will not be impacted by climate change and that includes the oil barons themselves and the powerful men and women in the private sector. They have children and one of life's greatest instinctive directives is to survive.
The left wing needs to organize itself into a survival camp, prioritizing CO2 emissions above all other considerations. Known as the survivalists, this group should reach out to Fortune 500 CEOs and oil barons with leaders in the movement as ambassadors. Leonardo DiCaprio is one such leader.
In these meetings, the ambassador, DiCaprio or someone with similar credentials sits down face to face with the men and women running Exxon Mobil or Wal Mart and assures them no one is after their wealth. They already have enough wealth to enjoy life and we all want them to enjoy life. Secondly the stock market is not as important as survival goals.
We just need to think strategically about how we use our resources. There is money to be made in green energy. I could see Exxon Mobil building solar farms and profiting from green energy. What kind of a world do we want to live in. Do we want more of the same? Living like caged chickens in an asphalt jungle or do we want to preserve nature's treasures for recreation?
Just because some say that the consumer decides, do we all want to sit shot gun while we are led to droughts, coastal flooding and severe weather that will imperil crops? It's time America's most powerful realize that they have no competition anymore. We have organized ourselves into classes that in 2014 are too difficult to overcome unless you are a rare exception like Mark Zuckerberg.
As America's leaders they need to lead. They need to be the voices encouraging us on what to do to lead happy lives. In turn we wish them happiness and satisfaction at the top. That's how it goes. We are one big family.
And as America's leaders they need to manage the human population and human impact on their playgrounds, the wild. Because it will be the rich that visit these exotic places and see the treasures the world has to offer. It is in nature that the rich will take safaris and travel, not Washington DC, or the cities.
They are only destroying their own treasures. And we need to help the rich see this. We must enforce the concept that market logic is not survival logic and will lead to different results than survival logic.
America's rich are so rich they have no natural competitors and it is now time that they act to protect the treasure they have in this world before it is too late and they leave their children with ruins.
Dean Powers lives in Castleton, VT. He has apprenticed at several newspapers including The Nation. He currently writes for OpEdNews. He can be found at facebook.com/deanppowers.