Or here's something they could protest --
inaction on climate change!!
You know they're evacuating Malibu right now. They've got the 101 freeway closed on both sides, and Highway 1 West into Malibu has been turned into Highway 1 East out of Malibu. Last year it was Sonoma County, but that was only October -- these are November fires.
Climate change has made all of your disasters more obscene, until at some point the agricultural systems will break down because there will be no seasons anymore. Meanwhile your government is obsessed with printing cash and handing it to the military and to rich people who dream of escape.
I've already told you all that The Donald (and only in America could our most nefarious politicians have constructed something like The Donald) has shifted his position on climate change. He's for it, because climate change mitigation is too pricey or something. Murder-suicide, you see, is more economical than collective survival, so murder-suicide it is. And this is America, where it's easier to evacuate Malibu than it is to do something about climate change.
Comments
Yep.
We are beyond help.
dfarrah
California Burning
You are absolutely right that this people should be protesting our government's decision not to go after climate change with everything they have. The UN has said that in 12 years it's game over for the planet and yet Trump just shrugged at the news and Pelosi is going to bring incremental changes to it. There is no time for this. We need to stop the wars now and use those billions to find a way to deal with it.
One Dutch country told its government to get off its ass and start dealing with this now.
Entire California Town Destroyed; Tens of Thousands Flee in Los Angeles, Ventura Counties
Joe posted this in tonight's EBs and it describes the hellish nightmare people experienced in the California fires.
Hellfire; Our Future
We're Doomed
divineorder posted this tweet
Can you even imagine going through this scenario? Knowing that you have minutes to decide what to take and leave everything you own behind knowing it's probably the last time you'll see it?
Which AIPAC/MIC/pharma/bank bought politician are you going to vote for? Don’t be surprised when nothing changes.
People would have to actually ‘sacrifice’ in
order to get a grip on climate change and we know that just ISN’T going to happen.
I’ve said this before, the human race is like lemmings heading for the beach as fast as their selfish, lazy little legs will carry them. It won’t turn out well.
I'm tired of this back-slapping "Isn't humanity neat?" bullshit. We're a virus with shoes, okay? That's all we are. - Bill Hicks
Politics is the entertainment branch of industry. - Frank Zappa
In the movie “Wall·E”, it takes a Big Business deus ex machina,
an all-controlling “ultimate end point of Amazon” mega-corp named Buy n Large, to rescue humanity — not by curbing pollution, but by moving humanity off-planet, into giant spaceships. (By the time the plot of the movie takes place, this has all already happened long in the past.)
[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uOL2W9JQmo8]
Ordinary people are already sacrificing now
This is a problem of our political economy, to be solved through the critique of political economy.
"The war on Gaza, backed by the West, is a demonstration that the West is willing to cross all lines. That it will discard any nuance of humanity. That it is willing to commit genocide" -- Moon of Alabama
Denial, Anger, Negotiation, Acceptance.
We have such a long way to go, and so little time to do it in. Individually one of the most powerful things each one of us can do, something we do not need to wait for government action for, is to switch to a plant based diet. Something to sink our teeth into, something that’s good for us, that saves both money and resources. Something we can start today that moves us in the right direction.
Or, we can just carry on with the lifestyle we have come to know and love, while waiting for someone else to do something else to fix it all.
[EOM] Sorry If my suggestion offends anyone.
Capitalism is the extraordinary belief that the nastiest of men for the nastiest of motives will somehow work for the benefit of all."
- John Maynard Keynes
It's ironic
that the city dwellers are such big environmentalists, when they personally can do little to be self sufficient. Everything, all their food, energy, water must be brought to them, and all their sewage and waste exported. And now cities are the fastest growing places to be.
Living in the already-built environment
tends to do less harm than expanding into what's left of the countryside. And it's a myth that country folk are more independent; they rely on the global economy as much as anyone (with a few exceptions). I see a lot of derelict urban industrial buildings being recycled into (ugh) upscale condos, and think "There's a forest that escaped development". Are urban neighborhoods the last remnant of small-town America? With real stores you can walk to?
If we can't sequester carbon, at least sequester people. (grin)
I guess I was thinking more
on the lines of having direct influence in day to day living on the environment as an individual, rather than say, cutting a check to the Sierra Club or picking up litter in Central Park. Already built environments would be great if they stayed that way. Every place I lived in in NYC is gone and the last place I lived in was a 4 story walk up. Where it once stood is now the corner of a 60 story condo complex. More and more want the city life. Also it seems that for individuals it would be harder for city dwellers to modify their lifestyles to have less impact on the environment. Another ironic thing is the suburbs. The easiest land to develop is farmland. Little site work is needed and there's usually adequate water available. Keep saying to myself they're going to need that land someday.
Lots of city people
have rooftop solar and avoid cars, and urban food gardens are a growing thing. The only thing worse than developing a forest is developing farmland, which, as you point out, is a tempting target. Some states and counties are offering farmers incentives to keep it in farmland, but the pressure is there.
Gentrification is chasing out the lower classes from old neighborhoods. I fled from it. On the other hand, those gentry aren't out there building more mcmansions when they urbanize.
The suburbs are the worst of both worlds. Truly urban in nature, but you can't sneeze without a car. Every forest and swamp I played in as a child is gone for highways and housing. I used to be able to walk from a totally paved urban neighborhood to woods and swamp in half an hour, now kids have to drive longer than that to see similar wildland.
As folks have pointed out in other comments here, individual life action is a small part of what needs to be done. The military and megatechcommerce... Little rail transport anymore, you practically have to use (ugh) airports. Amtrak used to be cheap, comfortable, and fun. Not anymore. Oddly enough, some in the military are pushing for renewable energy, because the fuel convoy is vulnerable and exposes forces to risk.
Hey, costs a lot to run an empire. Maybe as much as a whole world.
Indeed this is true
that
I would argue, however, that one way of getting to the point where we can mitigate climate change would be to build a utopian community, in the countryside or the city or the suburbs or wherever, to inspire people to go further and to inspire them to resist the current order.
"The war on Gaza, backed by the West, is a demonstration that the West is willing to cross all lines. That it will discard any nuance of humanity. That it is willing to commit genocide" -- Moon of Alabama
Your comment shouldn't offend anyone
The devastation to the planet and climate from the over consumption of factory farmed meat is every bit as bad as fossil fuel burning. The amounts of Methane, CO2 and Nitrogen produced by this industry is staggering. The information is out there for those willing to look.
I have looked
And while we westerners (not to mention easterners) eat too much meat (and treat the animals abominably) switching to an aboriginal landscape doesn’t look to me like it will be much of a climate gain.
For example, the North American aboriginal population of buffalo in 1800 was about 60e6 while the current cattle population is 90e6. So a back of the envelope estimate says that replacing human livestock and predation with natural ecosystems will only reduce all those emissions by about ⅓. Not zero, but not the biggest bang for the buck.
I personally have been reducing my consumption of animal products of late for health and consumption reasons, but I also don’t see that it as a big player in the carbon wars. For that we need to consume less of everything and decarbonise our industrial processes with the savings.
We can’t save the world by playing by the rules, because the rules have to be changed.
- Greta Thunberg
I agree with some of your points
but this problem must be addressed from all fronts including factory farm meat. Comparing wild buffalo to factory farmed livestock that is fed GMO feed, endless antibiotics and who knows what else is like comparing apples to oranges. Not to mention the land and water that is wasted and poisoned to feed these abused critters.
My point was not to argue relative merits
of various remediation efforts, but to identify an area where our role as consumer can have a positive effect right now, without waiting for government to get its act together.
We are so far down the road of ignoring climate change that any helpful efforts should be welcomed. Period. The fact that our military’s contribution to the problem dwarfs the effects of personal dietary choices is not a reason to continue to eat as if it does not make any difference.
Capitalism is the extraordinary belief that the nastiest of men for the nastiest of motives will somehow work for the benefit of all."
- John Maynard Keynes
Trying to do my part
Though, since my vegetarian son went off to college, I started ordering free-range organic meat. It gets shipped to me, though. I'm surrounded by fields of gmo corn, and the pasture-fed, but corn subsidized heads of cattle; yet I can't find free-range, organic beef (or chicken). Not exactly plant based, but no factory farming either.
Something that horrified me when I started my current job a year ago is this: 1 medium sized trashcan in my office is given a brand new, HUGE trash bag every single day of the work week. Wtf? So, I've instructed the custodian to empty my trash into my co-worker's bag unless I threw food away. I've also stopped throwing trash with food residue in my can. I use the can in the hall that's actually big enough for the giant bag. Hundreds of other people who work there don't do this, but I have no control over them, and considering the stink I stirred up when I ordered construction contractors to stop parking in the handicap spots, I'll just quietly keep reusing one bag.
I also don't buy bottled water. I have a faucet filter and a stainless steel cup. No straws, either. Servers look at me like I have two heads over no straw, but whatever.
I sort, and make sure my recycling doesn't have nasty old food in it -- though I have to drive it 15 miles away if I want to get rid of glass or non aluminum cans. I combine errands when I take my recycling into town.
In Texas, though, driving is a must unless you live in a major city. But even then, public transport is very limited. I'd love a commute that didn't involve driving!
The plants only diet is a tough one for me, and I love veggies!
Eight years ago
when my wife stumbled across a very disturbing video of slaughterhouse horrors, she was done with all animal food products. I quickly realized that my choice was whether or not I wanted to stay married to her. It was inconceivable that a Vegan-Carnivore household would ever be tenable. So I jumped with her into the world of plant based food.
In many ways I was one of the least likely converts. For decades I had happily survived on the three basic food groups, meat, bread and cheese. The list of vegetables I would even consider eating was shorter than most people I have ever met. As a kid I would pick out the microscopic bits of mushroom that Campbell’s Cream of Mushroom soup contributed to dinner casseroles.
So much of what we “like” or “need” is the result of our habit. There are still plenty of vegetable items I won’t touch, like okra or kimchi, but many of those I avoided for decades have now become some of my favorite foods, like avocado, asparagus and artichokes. My health has improved remarkably and my marriage is now in its 38th year, so the change has been good for me personally. The fact that it reduces my carbon footprint and spares a few animals are a couple of fringe benefits. Old habits can be replaced by new ones, of that I am certain.
Capitalism is the extraordinary belief that the nastiest of men for the nastiest of motives will somehow work for the benefit of all."
- John Maynard Keynes
The veggie lifestyle
Now that's love, Ovals; and congrats on the longevity of your marriage.
At about 13, my son decided to cut out all chips and sodas. Within a year or two, he went vegetarian. By about 17, he changed to pescetarian (a crawfish boil got him -- even though mud bugs aren't exactly fish. Plus, he missed sushi.)
Being his mom, and not the type to make multiple meals for different people, I quit buying meat. Stir fries became a staple. He did the cutting and prep, and I did the cooking. [Marinated non gmo tofu in garlic chili sauce or paste, then battering with flour, and frying turned out to be my surprise forté.] The prep is what gets me. For someone who doesn't mind repetition a bit, standing there cutting mounds of veggies gets me bored, big time, and quickly, to the point I'd rather just not do it.
But, like you say, it's possible to create new habits. Speaking of, I have a "mess" of collards that need tending to so they don't go bad, and I can take them for lunch this week. I accidentally found, out of basic desparate necessity, a meatless soup using collards, blackeyed peas, stewed tomatoes, quinoa, and organic veggie broth. It's delicious, and those were some of the things I had on hand last winter as I awaited my first paycheck from my current job, having been bringing home just under $200/week unemployment for a couple months. The collards were fresh organic from my brother's urban garden and the peas were some strangely seasoned flash frozen ones from France that my mom bought for my son because she insists everyone have at least a spoonful on New Year's Day (for luck & cabbage for money. Her big batch for everyone else has the ham bone from Thanksgiving, that was frozen, in it.) The collards today are store-bought, and pre-cut. I'll be happily eating on this for several days -- and craving it from my desk.
Now to get busy. Enjoy your veggies!
California cars
The millions of people who drive around in fossil fuel burning mini doomsday machines need to rethink their lives.
"Please clap." -- Jeb Bush
Unfortunately
They're in those cars for the same reason rats run in a maze.
A maze?
Cars were originally hyped to free country people from horses. And now, after a century of propaganda, fantasies and mega-money, it's almost impossible for most people to survive without cars. I managed it for 35 years, but I had to give in to find work and food. I still consider time spent driving as time lost from my life.
I'd call it more like a prison.
Amen, to this!
I absolutely hate it! Like you, it's a necessary evil if I want to eat. Even if I could grow my own, year round, I'd still need a place to grow and cook it, so I must work. To work, I must drive. What I'd give to be able to teleport! Then I could shoot the finger at big oil and the auto industry (not to mention the idiots who text or FaceTime while driving).
Teleport? I teleworked
part of the time in my last years on the job. Saved a lot of driving, but I missed the face time. The down side I see of telework is that people are spreading further out from urban centers; what was inaccessible countryside is now bedroom community, with home offices.
Ever read Clifford Simak? In his 1950's sf book City, he described urban wilderness deserted by flying commuters.
New Zealand was such a nice place.
For the easy cash the rich are bringing with them, NZers are letting into their country the very same people who wrecked the rest of the world.
NZ is a sizable country. It'll take these assholes some time to do there what they've done here, but things also happen faster now, in large part because of what Thiel and hedge-funders do for a living, so maybe the descent will not take all that long after all.
The NZ escape plan just concentrates the assholes in one place. Good luck with that, NZers. Most people trap and kill rats that come into their houses, just sayin'.
The last thing you do
if you want to hide from disaster, is tell everybody where you're going.
They put out a wanted poster on themselves and tell everybody where they're at.
Brilliant.
Regardless of the path in life I chose, I realize it's always forward, never straight.
They should be executed. Only no one has the brass to do it.
Not to mention the only people who would have are all dead.
Modern education is little more than toeing the line for the capitalist pigs.
Guerrilla Liberalism won't liberate the US or the world from the iron fist of capital.
Winners and losers:
A truth of the nuclear age/climate change: we can no longer have endless war and survive on this planet. Oh sh*t.
Climate breakdown framing
I’ve started pushing back when people describe climate issues as “environmentalism”. From a public perception point of view, environmentalism is about fuzzy critters, so I try to reframe it by saying “No, this is an agricultural issue. If we lose the agricultural base of our civilization then all this other stuff you are devoting your energy to will be obliterated in the resulting firestorm.”
We can’t save the world by playing by the rules, because the rules have to be changed.
- Greta Thunberg
Any word on Hecate?
Been praying for him.
We can’t save the world by playing by the rules, because the rules have to be changed.
- Greta Thunberg
No...
nothing, although I can imagine many scenarios where getting back on the internet could be of low priority.
Keep the faith though Hawkfish.
I know someone else in Paradise, too.
Have an e-mail to her waiting to be answered, so I can tell her colleagues in a program that I run that she's okay.
The people getting out of Paradise are not going to have internet available in most cases. And when they can get word out, it'll be first to family. The number of evacuees in a largely rural setting that itself is having to prepare to evacuate if the fire grows in their direction, is very different than folks tweeting in LA as they leave Malibu for Santa Monica.
We have to be patient.
Hope the fires don't get to Santa Monica
I have family there, and they'd be hard put to it if they have to evacuate.
There is no justice. There can be no peace.
Biggest institutional carbon emitter
There has been much talk in the comments on this article about people advocating going vegan, people recycling, etc. This is all well and good; I am certainly for people being aware of how personal decisions impact the world when it comes to climate change. But, too often, this is all that is talked about, and no mention is made of the major institutional changes that are needed if we are to address the climate crisis.
The biggest institutional carbon emitter is the Pentagon. War is just a disaster for the ecology of the planet. Our military is famously mechanized, and the machinery used is not only wasteful to make, but horribly wasteful to use--an Abrams battle tank uses fuel at the rate of gallons per mile, not miles per gallon. Fighter planes use so much fuel to fly that they need to be refueled in air to reach their targets. Missiles burn fuel at astronomical rates and are usually destroyed if they are used at all, making it necessary to make more of them, which is a toxic, wasteful industrial process--a good description of all munitions making. And think of what it takes to keep a military base running--the amount of electrical power, fuel, supplies of all kinds, transport, buildings....I remember reading about the billions of dollars that were spent on air conditioning for our wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. Air conditioning!
I don't know what the actual numbers are, but you can be sure that the Pentagon's contribution to carbon emissions is a major part of the climate change problem. And we don't need this huge military establishment to be safe--it's only necessary if you want to rule the world by force. Follow a different path, where diplomacy and international cooperation is used to keep peace in the world, and we would only need a military about the size of Russia's--a country that has one aircraft carrier to its name (currently in dry-dock being repaired) and an overall military budget a fraction of ours. So, next time we have a discussion about climate change, let's not forget our military, possibly the biggest single contributor to the problem there is.
My head spins
at how much stuff Amazon ships daily.
Yup. And notice how the big names in the climate change club
never talk about how much fossil fuel the military uses? I could probably recycle every day for the rest of my life and never come close to making a difference as a jet not flying for one hour could make. I live by hell Air Force base and watch the jets do touch and goes for hours 3-4 times a week and that's after they are done flying around in the desert. Then there's all the pollution that comes from dropping bombs on things and people. Do they really need to use bombs as big as they are to kill a few people? Awe, but that's why they use them now isn't it? The bigger the bombs the more expensive they are.
Which AIPAC/MIC/pharma/bank bought politician are you going to vote for? Don’t be surprised when nothing changes.
lol. you must be referring to
Big Brands McKibben and Klein. nor have they ever said: 'quit buying so much shit you don't need! live simply so that others may...simply live'. but hey, let's pay high carbon footprint air fare for those magnificent indigenous in regalia to lead the parades at COP-however many years; our funders got the bucks!
yanno, after awhile one can get kinda cynical. no indictments of Capital, save for 'unfettered capitalism' (klein, as if it'll ever be fettered again).
Something else
nobody seems to want to address is overpopulation. I think it's cruel and selfish to inflict this world on a child right now. I guess you could be optomistic and hope things get better by the time today's babies become adults but...I'm still waiting for things to get better for my generation.
My mom's attitude is "i'll be dead by then anyway, so who cares?" to which I respond, "Well I still have to live through this shit!" Thanks mom. I didn't ask to be born. 9_9
The world's population might fit inside Texas, but still require the same amount of resources.
But we won't address it, because baybeez are sacred. *rage*
This shit is bananas.
Great point
This is why I don't understand the pro life people in government. They are gutting our safety nets knowing that people will die if they don't have food and shelter so why are they trying to reverse Roe v Wade? And withdrawing funding for countries that allow abortion and birth control? Wars are a great way to reduce the population.
Your generation will have to deal with AI that will replace jobs so how will you survive etc, etc....? Especially after cities are destroyed from being under water, hurricanes and other disasters. Yeah I don't envy you. But as Snoopy say, "the secret of life is to keep looking up."
Which AIPAC/MIC/pharma/bank bought politician are you going to vote for? Don’t be surprised when nothing changes.
You know why.
Because they're fucking evil.
This shit is bananas.
hard to decide if putting
my 2 cents in is wise, but: most folks who believe that overpopulation is why climate change...castigate the dark continent's mothers fr having too many children. even though the developing world (formerly 'the third world') citizens have about one seventh of the carbon footprint as those in the First World.
hence, it's led to (shadow) eugenics by folks such a bill gates foundation. check out his tab at the guardian over time for instance, and read between the lines of his and melinda's "concerns".