Net zero the first step — step two will restore the planet and save us
Harry S. Truman was president when I was born and no one had a clue that we had already begun to degrade the planet’s environment.
How could we puny humans affect something as large as the whole world? There were 3 billion of us then. We’ve nearly tripled that number in my lifetime.
If we want to achieve a livable planet for future generations, it’s not enough to just cut current emissions. We need to draw down the massive amounts of greenhouse gases that are already in the atmosphere and altering our climate. We need to restore the climate we’ve destroyed. And we’re way beyond planting more trees idea.
And it’s something we can do, something we have the capability of achieving. The trouble is that humanity is much like that frog in the pot that’s being brought to a boil. Very few of us have a clue. The oil industry began their own studies in the 1950s, so they knew even then that their product was damaging to the Earth. They decided that profit should rule, and thus began a decades-long campaign of deception to gaslight the world, even at the expense of their own progeny.
There’s been talk of climate restoration for years, yet it seems to be losing ground rather than gaining any steam. A California state senator tried and failed in 2022. The state of Virginia is one of few that seem to honestly attacking the issue.
While it seems increasingly certain that ocean currents are collapsing, there’s now talk of relocatingthe entire city of New Orleans. This author continues to believe that half of Florida will be underwaterby 2050.
Are you paying attention? We have already screwed the pooch. The damage has already been done. We must stop burning things, especially fossil fuels. But way beyond that, we must begin to restore the damage we’ve allowed. Yes, it’s going to be terribly expensive.
But it’s going to cost a lot more if we fail to do it. Net zero is just step one.
Donald Trump and his threat to democracy are of passing interest and a drop in the bucket compared to this threat to our very existence that we have caused.
Van Carter of Sioux Falls is a retired broadcast journalist and environmentalist who published a green website for 15 years.
Photo: Africa from a million miles away. Public domain, wikimedia commons
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