“New polls actually show energy and climate change showing
up high on the list of issues that voters care about” Bill
McKibben -
ENVIRONMENT: You're getting warmer - News & Opinion -
Rochester City Newspaper
But, in what sense does the public ‘get it’ on Global Warming? Some say they understand that our planet is warming up. Some say this could even make their children’s life radically different. Some say land that wasn’t previously thought of as sellable or farmable will now be so because our area will have a longer growing period and a longer summer. Some understand that warming up the planet could adversely affect others in sea-level countries, like Indonesia. Others understand Global Warming in the sense of personal morality: They are changing their energy use and driving less with more fuel efficient vehicles.
But, what do we really mean by ‘getting it’ on Global Warming? Actually, Bill McKibben said that we “Don’t Get it” in his 1989 book The End of Nature. What does he mean? What he means is that when you say you understand or you care about this issue and you aren’t doing something to curb this preventable calamity, then you aren’t getting it.
I submit that the public does not ‘get it’ on Global Warming. If you say you ‘get it’ on the dangers of smoking to you and someone you are smoking near—you don’t get it. You don’t understand that there’s but a slim change that you are going to escape getting and giving someone who is held captive by your habit a very preventable and devastating form of cancer.
Likewise, you don’t get it on Global Warming if you think you and your progeny are not going to be profoundly affected by this environmental problem and that you are a part of it. If you aren’t changing your lifestyle to affect change, contacting or changing your media to insure that you are getting all the information you need about this subject, that you aren’t letting our government, and our candidates, know that this issue is your foremost concern—you don’t get it. You don’t get what McKibben is saying. You don’t get that Nature doesn’t care about your comfort zone, your values, your view of life, your beliefs, or how many solar panels dot your roof.
When you get it, when you understand that we are profoundly affecting the chaotic climate of this planet and that there is no precedent in human history to compare with the possible consequences of Global Warming on six billion plus people, and you’re doing something to affect massive and rapid wholesale change, then you’re getting it. When a shiver goes down your spine or an epiphany occurs in your brain, because you can see the direction our species is going is unsustainable and you’re motivated to move on it, like jumping out the way of an oncoming train, then my friend you get it. Don’t panic, don’t deny, don’t dismiss: Act!
But, in what sense does the public ‘get it’ on Global Warming? Some say they understand that our planet is warming up. Some say this could even make their children’s life radically different. Some say land that wasn’t previously thought of as sellable or farmable will now be so because our area will have a longer growing period and a longer summer. Some understand that warming up the planet could adversely affect others in sea-level countries, like Indonesia. Others understand Global Warming in the sense of personal morality: They are changing their energy use and driving less with more fuel efficient vehicles.
But, what do we really mean by ‘getting it’ on Global Warming? Actually, Bill McKibben said that we “Don’t Get it” in his 1989 book The End of Nature. What does he mean? What he means is that when you say you understand or you care about this issue and you aren’t doing something to curb this preventable calamity, then you aren’t getting it.
I submit that the public does not ‘get it’ on Global Warming. If you say you ‘get it’ on the dangers of smoking to you and someone you are smoking near—you don’t get it. You don’t understand that there’s but a slim change that you are going to escape getting and giving someone who is held captive by your habit a very preventable and devastating form of cancer.
Likewise, you don’t get it on Global Warming if you think you and your progeny are not going to be profoundly affected by this environmental problem and that you are a part of it. If you aren’t changing your lifestyle to affect change, contacting or changing your media to insure that you are getting all the information you need about this subject, that you aren’t letting our government, and our candidates, know that this issue is your foremost concern—you don’t get it. You don’t get what McKibben is saying. You don’t get that Nature doesn’t care about your comfort zone, your values, your view of life, your beliefs, or how many solar panels dot your roof.
When you get it, when you understand that we are profoundly affecting the chaotic climate of this planet and that there is no precedent in human history to compare with the possible consequences of Global Warming on six billion plus people, and you’re doing something to affect massive and rapid wholesale change, then you’re getting it. When a shiver goes down your spine or an epiphany occurs in your brain, because you can see the direction our species is going is unsustainable and you’re motivated to move on it, like jumping out the way of an oncoming train, then my friend you get it. Don’t panic, don’t deny, don’t dismiss: Act!
