Earth Moment
By Jim Musselman
FMCSF’s “Green Team” gave this “Earth Moment” on Sunday, May 19.
Greta Thunberg is a 16-year-old high school student who lives in Sweden. She is a climate activist who has organized an international school strike to fight climate change. Greta gave a speech about climate in London on April 23rd. Here are a few things she said:
*****
We had everything we could ever wish for and yet now we may have nothing. Now we probably don’t even have a future any more… You lied to us. You gave us false hope. You told us that the future was something to look forward to… Around the year 2030 … we will be in a position where we set off an irreversible chain reaction beyond human control, that will most likely lead to the end of our civilization as we know it. That is unless in that time, permanent and unprecedented changes in all aspects of society have taken place, including a reduction of CO2 emissions by at least 50%.
And please note that these calculations are depending on inventions that have not yet been invented at scale, inventions that are supposed to clear the atmosphere of astronomical amounts of carbon dioxide.
*****
We must also bear in mind that these are just calculations. Estimations. That means that these “points of no return” may occur a bit sooner or later than 2030.
*****
These projections are backed up by scientific facts, concluded by all nations through the IPCC [Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change]. Nearly every single major national scientific body around the world unreservedly supports the work and findings of the IPCC.
Where to start?
So this is all very depressing. But we must remember the 11th commandment from theologian Akiba Lerner, “Do not despair.” Despair is not an option.
What can we do?
(1) Vote! Vote for politicians and policies that you believe will actually help save the planet. (2) Speak up! Tell your friends. Tell your family. Tell your church groups. Tell your newspapers. Tell your social media friends. Tell them what we need to do to save the planet. (3) If you live in The City, sign up for electricity from renewable resources through Clean Power SF. This church and synagogue have done that. (4) Think about how to put the brakes on population growth. Join Planned Parenthood! (5) Green your home and your church and your work place. (6) Help rethink your own transportation and the world’s transportation to reduce fossil fuel consumption.