(The latest in a series of posts relating to the environment, Bethlehem’s Climate Action Plan, and Bethlehem’s Environmental Advisory Council)
Peter Crownfield is officially retired but spends most of his time working with students in his role as internship coordinator for the Alliance for Sustainable Communities–Lehigh Valley.
Gadfly:
An invisible “toxic dust cloud” is indeed approaching, but it’s not the political noise from DC. The underlying corruption is nearly a constant. Sometimes it’s more visible / blatant, sometimes almost invisible or concealed by “civil” manners.
The real threat right is the threat from less-visible, more-fatal systemic changes. I’ll just give two examples:
1. Our industrialized food system relies on synthetic fertilizers and pesticides, undermining our health and destroying the web of life on which we all depend.
2. Global warming & climate change threaten the future and the Sixth Great Extinction is underway, with entire species dying off at an estimated 1,000 times the normal background rate.
Two things, however, are very visible: an exponential increase in extreme weather events and widespread failure to take action to mitigate GHG emissions and to adapt to the changes that are on the way. Greta Thunberg’s comparison was apt — people are watching the latest entertainments & news distractions while the house is on fire.
Peter
It’s Friday, September 27, do you know where your local Climate Action Plan is?
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