Going into the United Nations Climate Change Summit in Copenhagen, which begins this coming week, I am feeling a bit dismayed, despite the fact that more and more common sensical and educated folks (like the 181 investors referenced in the title) are displaying a willingness to come forward in the climate change discussion and call on world leaders to get a grip and begin to do something about it.
I am dismayed because telling the truth seems to be such a hard thing to do – because people are afraid of what will happen if they do. Yet, as we are taught (just maybe not taught well enough how to practice), honesty is still the best policy. It lessens the need for “spin” and opens the door to debate – hopefully honest debate without conniving trickery. Having practiced law, I can, unfortunately attest to the existence of both conniving tactics and trickery in what is supposed to be high level honest debate built on a foundation of professional integrity. Anyone who reads or watches any news also knows that people often read and watch whatever supports their underlying beliefs and attempted assertions – rather than staying open to and dealing directly with the sometimes not so pleasant actual truth.
I say all this because in the past couple weeks thousands of emails and files were hacked from scientists inside East Anglia University, the British keeper of global temperature records, revealing at best a fearful reluctance among them to reveal all their scientific data and their efforts to disguise data that give rise to questions about human caused global warming. Presumably, they do such things to divert the attacks of critics – when it would just be better to put it out there and well … honestly debate. See more on that story here. (The hackers, of course, are still unidentifed and at large, and following their actions have been others who have attempted to post outright false information online to persuade people further in their beliefs that there is no environmental problem going on and we should stop making such a potentially expensive fuss about it).
Genuinely concerned scientists and environmentally minded citizens like myself have recently had to divert their focused attention from environmental protection, to defending the need for environmental protection. This is despite plenty of real evidence that humans have seriously degraded the planet – jeeze just go to your nearest water body and have a look at it: wanna swim in that? how about taking a nice long drink?
And why and how did we get here? It’s a result of fear – it always comes down to fear even if it parades as greed and arrogance – of telling the truth in the first instance. That results in back peddling, having to explain, being diverted from the real, important issues, and feeling like you have to justify. And worse, having to work harder to get a clear message to people whose beliefs cause them to be grounded in denial and avoidance to begin with.
Yet, the truth, however it comes out – and it generally does – eventually leads to some level of honest debate among truly open and concerned persons, even though spinmeisters know that creating diversions can delay that debate. Hence the old saying “justice delayed is justice denied,” a problem that ultimately be avoided if we would just do a better job of practicing telling the truth and treating each other compassionately.
And the truth is that pumping carbon in the form of carbon dioxide, and other greenhouse gasses, in to our atmosphere IS a problem and it needs to be corrected. Even scientists who criticize alleged “government by the few” or a handful of “elites” — like the members of the International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) have been called — conclude that hidden and hacked emails or not, global climate change (a lot more than mere “warming”) is still a problem. It is not a matter of how much carbon based fossil fuel is left in the ground and how we can exploit every last drop. It is a matter of whether we should continue to pump that carbon into the atmosphere and poison our planet – or begin to move, as rapidly as possible, into production of clean energy alternatives and more effective conservation efforts.
Not surprising as a result of the East Anglia email hacking debacle, I heard a report on the radio this morning that some religious leaders have started speaking out against efforts to address climate change, claiming that our creator endowed us with an earth that is resilient. I have no qualms with them. But best I’ve been taught, our creator also gave us free will, and that free will may be causing serious harm and deterioration to this garden and paradise we were given in the form of the earth. I agree the earth is resilient and will be just fine – what I question is what will happen to life on earth (humans and other species, which are so very threatened and disappearing at alarming rates as a result of humans’ exercise of free will). While I don’t completely agree with George Carlin’s suggestions in his “The Planet is Fine” comedy sketch that we should do nothing to address it, I do agree with his underlying premise. We may destroy our species and life on the planet as we know it, but the earth itself will be fine. But I have serious questions about what will happen to ‘we the people’ — so many of whom are failing miserably at living up to being made in God’s image and likeness.
Yet, from the business world we have some enlightened leaders: Ceres (pr. “series”), is a U.S. network of investors, environmental organizations and public interest groups with a stated mission to integrate sustainability into capital markets for the health of the planet and its people. They recently reported some seriously good news: the world’s largest group of global investors has issued a joint call for U.S. and international policy makers to take strong action to address global climate change.
What a pleasant experience to find such enlightened leadership within the financial industry – which often takes a bad rap for greedily focusing on profit over anything else. Head of one of the investment group members recognized publically that the human cost of inaction is unthinkable, and called for the development of sustainable business practices. Just goes to show, there are reputable, high integrity professionals in all industries (even as there are those gripped by fear and acting badly …).
And from the religious world come some enlightened leaders, too, who see global climate change as a possible threat to peace. Religions for Peace is the world’s largest and most representative multi-religious coalition. In September, the organization participated in the sixty-fourth session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York. Their purpose was to help promote a binding global climate deal at the UN Climate Change conference this next week. Hallelujah!
The upside? Dismayed or not, I can always find some good news. I’m so grateful for that.