The carbon foot print!

by Ron
(Michigan)

Anything that filters the smog coming from cars, trucks, trains, and industrial pollution is a plus.

These things need to be addressed ASAP and, over time, we may be able to reverse the...

Damage Inflected on the Environment

The question is: are we too late to change these problems. With countries on the brink of bankruptcy, it's not an easy solution. Money isn't everything in this world and we are destroying our world God made perfect for us!

Greed, if continued, will ruin life on this planet as we know it!

Barry's Response - We have a problem. Earth has gone through some changes. We have caused some of them. Not all, but some...we sorta know which ones, which ones we can address and/or reverse, and which ones are too far gone.

But we don't know everything. We have yet to discover how to meet our basic needs (and greeds) and make that pursuit compatible with the needs of the world which provides us with those needs. We look to achieve a healthy workable balance, at least those of us who know and care about the issue at hand.

We seek to share our knowledge with those who need it. Especially those who can make a difference but just need the education and motivation to make the wise choices they can and would if they understood the ramifications as well as environmental specialists do. We can't all be environmental specialists, though.

We also deal with those who simply don't care. No amount of additional knowledge is going to help convince some people with the power (but not the will) to do the right things for our habitat. No matter what.

The Carbon Footprint

The modern-day mark of Cain. When you exhale...congratulations! You're contributing to climate change. In the grand narrative of human sin against the planet, CO2 is the latest villain. Take a step back now, shall we?

Humans have an impact on the environment. Some of those impacts are bad. We change local and regional climates by clearing land, burning fuel, and building cities. Often, people forget to ask: How much of global climate change is caused by human activity?

1. Earth's Climate: More Than Carbon - For millions of years, the Earth has been warming and cooling. Was there a Medieval Warm Period? Before the industrial revolution. And the little ice age? There were no smokestacks then. What do these cycles have in common? Natural forces make human CO2 output look like a rounding error.
   
   Does that mean we can pump out pollution like crazy? No, not at all. Human health is affected by smog, water contamination, and soil degradation more than a 0.5-degree change in a century. Start with reducing toxic air pollutants, improving waste management, and pushing for real energy innovation, not just subsidizing inefficient tech.
2. Who benefits from the carbon panic? Governments? Sure, carbon taxes and green regulations mean more revenue and control. Big corporations? The biggest players can crush smaller competitors through regulatory capture. How about the UN? Wealth redistribution is easy with climate treaties.
   
   Is there anything missing? The truth. Data-driven, open discussion. The doomsday predictions keep failing... Arctic ice-free by 2013? Oops. Snow will be gone by 2020? Here it is. Florida underwater? Sorry, no. But the "crisis" continues, because fear is profitable.
3. Stewardship without alarmism - Those of us who see the world as a creation, not an accident, recognize stewardship as a core value. Humans aren't parasites in the Bible, but the world is a gift. Fill the earth and subdue it, not exploit it recklessly or worship it.
   
   So where does that leave us? Somewhere between fatalism and fanaticism. Use resources wisely, reduce pollution, and improve technology. We shouldn't worship carbon accounting or accept draconian economic policies.

Putting it all together

Let's stop obsessing over carbon footprints and focus on real environmental problems - clean water, deforestation, soil degradation. Natural climate variation is more powerful than human industry. As stewards, we need to push back against those who use fear to control us.

At least so it seems. Maybe there is something we can do about that problem. Feel free to add your thoughts below.

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