Type “climate change” into Google, and about 1,730,000,000 results are returned in 0.72 seconds.
Perhaps the only people on the planet who do not know the term (in English or in their native languages) are from climate change (France) to climate change (Italy) and climate change (Russia) maybe … well, is there anyone on the planet who doesn’t know the term at this point?
The climate change message is in mass saturation. Those who believe that the burning of coal, oil and gas for energy is changing weather patterns and temperatures, and causing wildfires in California, are convinced – so many, cultists and true believers – until point of practicing climate change as a religion.
And those who don’t hold that position probably never will.
So the time for unproductive stunts to draw attention to the issue is over. The lines are drawn; thoughts are made one way or another.
Climate change activists damaging pipelines; stick themselves to famous works of art – a Botticelli, a da Vinci or McCulloch – and to roads and tankers; replace Trafalgar Square; or vandalize in other “creative” ways (often using oil-based products in their stunts, an irony perhaps lost on them) should stop.
Fortunately, at the end of the “stolen childhood”, the Friday climate change protests of Greta Thunberg and the entire Greta phenomenon seem to have disappeared, as, at the end of the octogenarian, the “Fire Drill Fridays” by Jane Fonda to “stop the climate crisis.”
These new iterations of pseudo environmental activists are the successors of eco-terrorist groups like ELF and ALF, who think that burning SUVs in car dealerships and burning new construction are good ways to stop environmental destruction, and destroying university laboratories is one way. to save the animals, respectively.
If today’s faux green activists continue their course, if they haven’t already, they’ll be eco-terrorists today. Of course, they’ve become useful tools of a political agenda, so, like Antifa and Black Lives Matter radicals, maybe nothing will happen to them, even if they ramp up their terrorism, uh, activism.
A less polarizing and destructive path, and a more productive one, is to do something positive that contributes to a sustainable world. What a concept!
In the documentary, 8 Billion Angelsfilmmaker and Earth Overshoot founder Terry Spahr explores many of the problems humanity creates — problems often the result of too many of us.
“8 billion” is the number of people on the planet today – a number expected to grow to 9.8 billion by 2050 and 11.2 billion by 2100, according to the United Nations.
Looking at the oceans, land, air and rivers, and population, a wide range of thoughtful people from academics to those working on issues through the nonprofit world to entrepreneurs who care deeply on environmental issues and the kind of planet we will leave for future generations is shown in the film.
“One of the things my mother always taught me, if you borrow something, you return it in better condition, and we didn’t do that,” said Bill Mook, who narrates his story in the film.
His Mook Sea Farm in Walpole, Maine, produces about 125 million “land oysters” annually. The oyster hatchery grew out of seeing the increasing deterioration of water quality and the resulting diseases that wiped out the oyster population.
With the destruction of oyster beds, Mook says that oystermen are beginning to see the importance of thinking “how to do the first stages of oysters in the ground” and then spreading the natural environment for those bivalve mollusks that thrive.
Mook’s oyster hatchery sells to growers from North Carolina to Maine. The 30-year-old small business owner calls it environmental service.
Not just a tasty treat with a little lemon and horseradish, “Oysters in the wild take up a lot of excess nitrogen,” Mook explains. “And we’re putting more and more nitrogen in our water; oysters fight water damage.”
In his spare time, Mook works to educate his friends and neighbors to understand the issues.
“What I want to see is other businesses, whose livelihoods depend on a healthy environment, make the case that having a healthy environment and a thriving, vibrant economy are not mutually exclusive; they are important to each other,” he said.
Mook’s story is a good example of a direct and positive response to address an environmental issue that helps people, biodiversity and the planet. We need more people like Mook.
For there to be real change, most individuals and businesses need to work together to have the best practices of living and working to study our planet, and ensure the safety and security of biodiversity, which in the end lead to lifestyles and work processes that do not make sense. Does not violate individual rights but provides a good quality of life for all.
It is important to know what the main problem is as well. Climate change is a symptom. Behind our environmental problems are too many people on the planet.
We know that our numbers can be reduced for generations to come in non-coercive ways by educating and empowering the youth, creating better economic opportunities, and by ensuring that there is education and availability of contraception, including in many areas where there are currently unmet needs.
Pipeline vandals, “just stop the oil” people and other so-called environmental activists who want to destroy the village to save can stop watching. 8 Billion Angels as a starting point to chart a better path forward.
We need solutions, not damaging PR stunts.
— Maria Fotopoulos writes about the connection between overpopulation and loss of biodiversity, and from time to time other topics that puzzle her. Contact him on Facebook at Be the Change for Animals, and follow him on Twitter: @BeTheChangeForAnimals. Click here for previous columns. The opinions expressed are his own.
