Letter to an activist friend written by a friend:
#GreenWashing #renewableEnergy
I'm so disillusioned these days by the world and its sociopathic leaders.
People seem so hard to reason with, to even just talk to. Everyone has an agenda, a position to defend, a line in the sand, and few are open to discussion about options, or, not even changing perspectives but just looking at other points of view.
I'm sure you have a good memory from 40 years ago when people like Jacques Cousteau were warning us about climate change, environmental devastation, even extinction!
Things have only gotten worse, I fear, despite 40+ years and billions of human-hours and dollars invested in saving the planet and its biota.
When I hear people talking about energy, alternative, renewable, or fossil fuel, what rarely comes up is the simplest solution: USE LESS. OR NONE!
We are so addicted to electricity.
In fact so addicted that we don't even consider HOW we are able to run our billions of refrigerators and air conditioners and cars and lights, that to provide us with these first world luxuries we must invade other countries, murder their "insurgents" aka freedom fighters, and steal their resources. Or collude with other sociopathic "leaders" who do the nasty work for us. Your tax dollars at work!
I used to be 100% behind renewable energy and was one of the first in Katonah to install solar panels as a backup power source. I also like to think that my push for a Transition Town years ago inspired Bedford 2020, a non-profit, money-making machine that espouses the principles of living gently on the Earth while making money off of it and its donors. (Gross).
But then I learned where these so-called "renewable" power sources came from and had to change my thinking.
The rare Earth minerals needed for the wind turbines, the heavy metals for batteries, the particles in the solar panels, these all come at a dear cost in someone else's backyard, and which eventually impacts the entire global ecosystem.
There are no isolated locations on the planet when it comes to the planet's wind and ocean systems. Everything is connected. And that is why Ethiopia's drought that killed millions is being blamed on Western industrialism and pollution.
That is why 70,000 Europeans died in the summer of 2007; likely from one country cleaning up its sulphate emissions ! Look up global dimming.
We are all connected.
So mining in China and Africa to make wind turbines for New York state to power our refrigerators and Air conditioners seems like a great idea if we don't think about the devastation left at the mine sites, or in the atmosphere, or the whole planet's system. But if we scratch deeper, we realize more power, no matter the source because it takes massive amounts of fossil fuels to build renewables AND nuclear, equals more devastation, and so equals more warming anyway.
The real answer would be to champion less power usage all around. I know that unplugging our fridges at night and not using AC and just fans seems ludicrous to some. Okay. To most.
But what is more ludicrous? An unplugged fridge and fan blowing, or strip mining more valleys, building more factories, and shipping more minerals across the ocean to run those appliances, just to say you have renewable energy???
I know. It's all crazy. What do we do instead of championing renewables, which we KNOW will not save us now from abrupt climate change?
My friend, we KNOW renewables won't stop abrupt climate change now. It's gone past the point of no return.
CO2 levels keep rising, methane is pouring out of the arctic, and if we have an ice free arctic it's game over in a few months. It's heading that way too.
So what do we do?
We champion humans living more gently on the Earth and with each other!
We champion pulling the plugs. We champion the end of fascist capitalism. We champion those who resist the urge to profit off our imminent demise and off our fears and champion those who do NOT tolerate the rampant Green washing and the lie of "renewable" energy. No such thing.
We go small and live small and love big. Because the days are numbered for us all, some sooner than others, we must seize this moment to champion turning it all off.
All of it. It would be the only possible way to save any life on Earth. I'm not talking about saving grandchildren either. I'm talking saving about us. Now.
But I know people won't. Because they can't. The energy addiction runs deep.
We've tried for years to help people see what's going on. They refuse to.
Out of the handful that do see, some want to profit off of the situation. You cannot cure the disease of greed. And that is why there is a movement for making money off of "renewables" and no movement for just turning the crap off. There's no money in turning it off.
And this is where I am. I am moving to Belize to live small and love big.
I can no longer tolerate the nonsense of Industrial civilization and its death cult of capitalism at any cost even all life on Earth. This culture is insane. I want out before it's all over.
I encourage you to give what I have written some thought. I know you will recognize the truth of what I'm saying. You may disagree with the response/actions, but that's okay. There are 7+ billion different ways to act in light of abrupt climate change.
We each must choose according to our knowledge and conscience.
All my best to you, with deepest respect and much love for you and your passionate activism. You have inspired me all these years.
Pauline"
Do you know how to flip a switch? This free radical action with no side effects takes less than a nano second. Reducing energy usage right here, right now.
If you are privileged to live in a dwelling with a circuit breaker go and switch off some circuits in your house before you leave for the day. Turn off for a few hours. Turn off entitlement. Turn on compassion and care.
Do you know how to flip a switch?