I Don't Care About Climate Change....

I don’t care about climate change because its presence or absence, its potential causes and potential effects, don’t change my response. We all share this planet, and we all need to respect it. We all need to recognize that its tangible resources are limited. Every living species has to adapt to the climate or move or disappear.

NOAA reports that September 2017 was the hottest month worldwide since its records began in 1880. But we’re also overdue for an ice age, according to some geologists. The super volcano under Yellowstone National Park may erupt, leading to universal winter, and none of this matters because a previously unknown planet, Nibiru, or an asteroid, will destroy Earth anyway.   Let the scientists gather and debate the data.

Mindfulness practitioners suggest we live in the present, so what can we, the ordinary peons, do now? 

Just about every allegedly earth-friendly practice has trade-offs. Computerized technology requires mining of materials with all of its hazards to the surface, underground, groundwater and the miners. Manufacturing lithium ion batteries used for everything from smartphones to cars may have a more detrimental carbon footprint than traditional batteries and gasoline.

The windiest places most suitable to wind power tend to interfere with birds’ migratory paths. Both solar and wind power are difficult to store, expensive to transmit, and require backup coal, fossil fuel or nuclear power to meet energy demands on cloudy and/or windless days. The waterways most suitable to hydroelectric power tend to interfere with salmon runs.

If those technologies have real limitations and mixed ecological value, what can we do? Here are a few suggestions:

1. Use mass transit whenever possible. Those subways and busses and shuttles keep running and keep using fuel with or without you as a passenger.  However, if enough people bypass mass transit, eventually those services will be discontinued, to everyone’s detriment.
• Encourage your local zoning boards to cluster areas of employment, retail and residential building within walking, biking and shuttle distance.
• Have your municipality determine whether rush hour shuttles are feasible in your area.
• When you drive, cluster your errands and if possible, choose routes with right turns. UPS and Fedex discovered that their drivers save a significant amount of fuel by not waiting to make left turns at intersections. The length of the left turn red lights is usually shorter and the waits longer.

2.  When doing laundry, use the spin cycle a second time to reduce dryer time. Better yet, air dry clothes. If your community prohibits drying racks or clothesline, get the by-laws changed.

3.  France passed a law requiring all new buildings to have rooftop gardens. For existing, flat roofed buildings in the USA, you would need to do an engineering study to make sure that the roof could handle the weight, including rain, and the design of any such garden would have to pay careful attention to drainage.

• Some communities limit landscaping so that even basic vegetable gardening is prohibited. If such bylaws cannot be changed, find out whether a community garden is possible, or intersperse vegetable plants among acceptable shrubs and trees.
• Some municipalities offer free barrels to collect rainwater, and courses to help you get started with composting food scraps. There are apartment sized compost buckets available to help fertilize container gardens.
• Denver and San Francisco have now passed legislation strongly encouraging or mandating "green roofs" using solar collectors be installed on new large buildings.

4. Home maintenance and improvement - Use Energy Star rated appliances, and take advantage of the free energy audits that many utility companies offer. Check for state and federal tax credits and incentives for using a variety of renewable energy options (primarily solar).

• If re-roofing, try to use white or light colored roofing, especially in warmer, sunny climates. Even whitewashing shingles can help reflect heat. Change HOA bylaws if needed.
• If building or adding structures, work with your designer to maximize passive solar energy through the building location, windows and landscaping.

What are your ideas?