Efficient Outcomes

We live in a world that is flawed by you, and everyone you do and don't know.  Those everyone's are humans; homo sapiens that reside at the top of the food chain but way below the chain of common sense.

Not to beat up on humans, I love being one, but let's take a look at some primary accusations the rest of living organisms might make if they could, well...only find a way to communicate with us.  One perfect example can be found in a book titled Ishmael.  While I don't purport this novel to answer humanities failures, but it does probe into the culture of our behavior. 

We lack the ability to respond to a fundamental reality of finite resources because in an economic system the value of these resources are externalities that hold little meaning in comparison to wealth building in financial terms.  We fail miserably in efficient outcomes.

Why?  A culture of belief that never ending consumption, is the key to our remaining at the top of the evolutionary chain.  This includes development, a term that has evolved from the establishment of civilization. Humans have a tendency to conquer rather than coexist.  As Darwin might say, survival is based on one's ability to thrive over another organism.  Evidence of this can be seen not only in grand edifice as a symbol of human greatness, but in our crowing achievement of eliminating disease.

To be certain, there is no turning back the magnitude of our achievement, though cataclysmic they may be in

scale.  Sure we will see glimpses of a change in the tides but culture is a difficult thing to change.  Not only are we slow to respond, in many cases we are just to late.  It is human culture that  is the greatest contributor to the accelerating background extinction rate, dominating the landscape with estimates from 1000 to 10,000 times normal extinction rates of other living organisms-- that is the impact of a civilized society.  Wikipedia has a very interesting way of stating it, as long as species have been evolving, species have been going extinct; no species is evolving faster than humans.

Unexpected Changes To a Greener Planet

Deliberations, sometimes they get in the way of getting done what we believe in.  Consideration for this, consideration for that; what will they think; WHAT IF!!!  Eeeeak!

Stop... breathe, and do what you believe in.  This is a much simpler statement than the what our genetic coding suggest we go through for decision-making but there is more than a speck of truth in it.  There is so much activity in sustainability and climate change often it feels like someone else is or can do whatever is on your mind- not so.  Each person acts as another potential persuasive vehicle to advance work tremendously important to protecting the planet.  Even if its been said, say it again, add a twist.  We must constantly strive to balance protecting the natural resources accessible to us and the way we use them.  There are millions of people, billions for that matter, waiting for someone with the right tone, approach or message that will resonate with them enough to take active steps to contribute to making a different in the many areas that make up sustainability and preservation.

After a brief hiatus, returning to this work is paramount for me; there is so much work to be done and I cannot count on what everyone else will do so I will continue to do my part and be more diligent in doing so.  Expect more articles from me more frequently, that share important advances in technology, resources, activities and changes in climate related matters.  I don't have all the answers but I feel reinvigorated after returning from Asia and having gone through a certain cleansing for myself.  I found what I needed to regroup and continue with what I believe in.

The world is a beautiful place; I want to fulfill my role in it and preserve it for as long as possible.  My goal is to help inspire others to do the same by sharing my knowledge and determination to do the same.  What you don't find here (looking4answers) you will find here ( at green elements).

Recently I spoke with my ex-wife who shared with me some amazing progress I never thought I would hear come from her lips; I Love her she is an amazing woman.  This evening she told me all of the steps she was taking to be a more active participant in climate consciousness.  Throughout the entire conversation I was smiling to myself realizing how important it is to continue the work.  You see, we don't always know when what we share with others will have the desired affect, but we can't allow that to slow us down or prevent us from doing the work.  What did she share? 1) She is walking our son to school 2) she is (as well as my son) designating a separate disposal for recycling and trash- and my son is keeping her on her toes; 3) she has replaced all the lighting in her home with CFL; 4) she has taken a conscious step to reducing the highly processed food and nearly eliminated soda from her/ their diet.  YAHOOW-OOOOOh!  Nothing could make me happier relative to what changes she is making regarding climate change.

I want to remind everyone that CFL can be extremely dangerous so follow the necessary precautions when handling them.  I have provided a link here >> What should I do if I break a bulb?  .  LED is really the best lighting technology but pricing is still an issue.

Psychological Filters of Climate Change

by Scotland Willis
Whether you are a believer in climate change or not, the intensity of your belief passes through many filters.  This is one of the many things preventing the kind of progress which advocates for climate change would like to see.
Opponents, on the other hand, lack research infrastructure, attempting to manipulate and falsely extrapolate intensely researched data from climate experts- not advocates.

Researchers from Yale University published a book titled Global Warming's Six Americas.  They examine varying degrees of individual's perception on climate change.  More extreme views for immediate action(which might include shutting down all coal fired power plants,) make up a small percentage of environmental activists.  You could easily put Jim Hansen in this category.  Though a renowned scientist, he is becoming increasingly recognized as an aggressively staunch environmentalist, rather than scientist.  But like many people, Hansen has likely become frustrated with the tree sap pace implementation of legislative, social, and industrial (policies, lifestyle and operations) respectively, and the commitment to reversing human induced climate change.

Opponents of climate change concern's have a line to tow, depending on the degree of opposition.  Even starlet opponents such as Bjorn Lomborg, who lead a study sponsored by Copenhagen Consensus funded by the IMF, to address what the most pressing issues are facing humanity and how to prioritize them; Lomborg noted the environment is not a priority in his comments.  Claims by legitimate scientist counter Lomborg's opinions as fabricated and deliberately distorted.  Lomborg lacks fundamental insights to science and is not qualified to contest the evidence put forth by most climatologist; and as the evidence mounts his opposition continues to wilt.

Because human activity on the Earth is also directly related to conflict on the Earth(environmental, social, economic and otherwise) setting priorities will grow increasingly difficult- but making the right choices is paramount.  In a recent discussion with a friend who had come up with a model for saving polar bears that are dying because of melting ice caps; he asked for my opinion.  I was forced to ask him a series of provocative questions challenging the invention, for which he was not prepared to receive.  As it turned out he neglected to consider a number of ecological unintended consequences.  Opponents often don't support their arguments with hard data because of such oversights.

Heavily disputed IPCC's work happens to have 831 scientists and researchers in the fifth climate report they will generate.  For whatever data they omit from their report, we still have to recognize the strength of the caliber of talent this body is made up of.  If the strongest argument for opponents of climate change is  that data was left out; which it was, there arguments will continue to fall apart.  It is important to understand that government leaders specifically asked that IPCC research include significant data that might present insight to the most challenging environmental issues.  That would imply that some pressing matters may not take priority over others- report back to us on those matters.  Also universities, and other governing authorities as well as the National Academy of Sciences verified that the work was not compromised in terms of ethics or procedure and is in fact valid.

Ultimately individual people will have to amass enough knowledge to influence government to set environmental policies.  Knowledge helps to persuade government of a matters significance.  And because of the force of lobbyist against climate change policies, consumers must be able to consistently present formidable arguments capable of becoming mainstream thinking- but that requires a change.
Our perception of the cost of goods is skewed in the United States, resulting from a long standing feeling of entitlement.  Cheap fuel, merchandise and taxes all make the United States very appealing but we have a lot to learn about the impact of our amenities.  When we learn to adapt to a higher cost of living for the resources we use we will become a nation of advocates and revolution will be a mantra that is not as painful as it is in its current form.

Thomas Friedman author of Flat Hot and Crowded suggests that we are not even on the cusp of an environmental revolution; in a real revolution there are winners and losers.  That means no cheer leaders, society is much more sophisticated than that.  An environmental revolution will set policies that say either you get on board or get in the water and hope for the best.  There is no compromise . The environment is not going to wait and give us a few more years until we get our house in order.  Friedman was right when he said, the dot com revolution created leaders and those who got left behind- you got it or you didn't.  We need an environmental vision that powerful.

There are very specific reasons we are going to experience what I call Climate Strange, because the climate will always change; but the strange occurrences will increase in frequency.  This is a broader topic I will address in the near future.

Each of us needs to get out of our comfort zone and do something to advance a reversal of our carbon footprint.  There an abundance of evidence and numerous experts indicating the urgency of climate change.  If we fail to acknowledge as a nation the matter before us in the environment; and if we don't make it a national priority(which means creating jobs, investing in research and development and positioning the United States to be a leader in the industry of environmental products and innovation)  we will no longer be identified as a leading nation among our global counter parts.

Scotland Willis is an environmental strategist, lecturer and advocate.  He is currently a dual Masters candidate at Tufts in Environmental Engineering and Urban and Environmental Policy and Planning.  He is a management consultant in systems and large scale change and is a columnist/ photographer for environmental issues.

Never Before in History

Never before in history have all social components of society been on the verge of collapse. Politics, family, economy, religion, education.  The question we are left with then is what do we do?  Before we decide that it is important to look back in history.  This article simpley acknowledges that we need to address these issues and that we are running out of time.  I can't say that the threshold is but it certainly seems as though we are approaching many of them simultaneously.
Looking at the following list, it is difficult to put them in their correct:  Native Americans were clearly established in North America first, but problems arise with each cultural category where do you place African Americans and Women on a timeline when considering historical impacts and implications?  So this order reflects the experience and when major events occurred in no particular order of significance.  African Americans could have a slave experience and a historical experience based on civil rights.  These nuances would consume too much time and I would lose lots of readers.  So for practical purposes I have just chosen to list them in no particular order.
Native American History American; Explorers- Colonial Period 1772- 1786-; The Revolution 1787- 1820- The New Nation; 1820-1855- Antebellum;  The Civil War Period 1865-1897- Reconstruction and Industrialization  1897-1920 World Stage; The Twenties;  The Depression  World War II; Postwar America 1945-1960; The Sixties and Civil Rights- 1960-1974; ; African American History; America 1975-2010 Women's History.
 If you look back to the Native American period, they had education, agriculture, trade etc.  During North American colonization education, economic growth, religion and family values were prevalent.  Even during the Revolution and Civil War, the family unit was essential; despite the intra-family conflicts that occurred families though fragmented, were bound by the pursuit of freedom, prosperity, and agriculture and beyond.  During the formation of the New Nation people coalesced around the idea of independence from Europe and a sense of determining their own fate-- people in control of their own destiny.  Again during Antebellum people were still heavily dependent on the family unit.  Towns and communities were designed for security and social enhancement.  While more people died in the Civil War than at any other time, in U.S. history, it was also a time of growth from agriculture to war as a stimulus for manufacturing and again families worked to populate those who were sacrificed during the war.  Re construction and industrialization revolutionized the world.  New innovations and some of the greatest minds continued to flow into the U.S.  This was a great period of thinking.  World War I and World War II posed more challenges to the United States but it continued to wield its influence as a new comer to the world state, making a name for itself and creating a real presence as a force to be reckoned with.  African American experience stretches from slavery to Civil Rights and beyond, the same could easily be said for the feminist movement and women's rights. 
 But what lead us up to today where religion is not only disruptive but in deep conflict all around the world.  What is responsible for the world economy collapsing?  Why have our family units been dismantled? Why has faith and trust in politics and government gone by the wayside? And why is the state of education look more like the state of chaos?  One thing I can guarantee you is that I do not have the answer, rather this is a wake up call to everyone.
 No one president, leader, organization or government; religious or academic institution is responsible.  My point here is only that each (politics, family, economy, education, and religion) is on the brink on destruction or collapse a place we have never been before.  We are in need of more than just a change in health care; we are in need of more than educational or banking reform.  Nothing Planned Parenthood or right to lifers can do will change the course we are currently on.  And to top it all off we are destroying the very environment we depend on to sustain human life as we know it.  Don't pray about it, fix it.  We need to do and be something revolutionary that will transform the current conditions we face as a society-- as a human race.  If we do not we will surly perish.
 There is much that has not been captured here but we must begin to look at things differently.
This topic requires a much broader conversation which I embrace; but we have a problem greater than any world leader or president, political party, fundamentalist group.  We need to look upon it that way and fix it not the part of it.  We have our priorities wrong and we are not doing anything to create a holistic change.  We must look at all of these components and begin mapping out a revival plan that is strategic and deliberate.  I am amazed we have not articulated this argument sooner but we need to have the conversation.