"We are in a planetary emergency."

[Spike89]

138. The problem isn't really apathy

Global climate change is not something that attitude alone can change. When everyone rallies against apartheid, it can be destroyed. Having every single person in the world scowl real hard in the direction of the sun will do nothing to solve climate change. In other words, the issue isn't climate change, but really a whole series of behaviors and actions that affect it.

Without being a defeatist, it is still a daunting challenge because it requires global action. The real kicker is that to make the biggest positive changes will require those with the least today to sacrifice the most. In the technologically developed world, moving green might be an austerity measure, but no one is being asked to give up electricity, clean water, sewers, effective transportation. In other words, we've got our infrastructure and all we need to do is make the conversion to green(er) versions. Developing nations don't have this and they generally don't have the choice to skip right to high-tech green solutions. If the only hope you have of getting clean water to your village and saving the lives of many children is to build a dirty coal-burning plant to power the pumps--well, it isn't a clear morality equation any more.

The other thing it is hard to overlook is just how "upfront" dirty and devastating many green technologies really are. Are there even enough rare earth materials to build all the storage batteries a quick global conversion to solar homes and hybrid/plug-in cars? Could we deal with the toxic refuse from the production (and disposal) of said batteries and the billions of circuit boards, chips, and other electronics needed?

I hate being such a downer, but the problem is NOT that global warming isn't getting enough attention. It is that we have almost no real plans for dealing with it that aren't simple feel-good band-aids.