- Posts tagged Politics
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Sign the Petition - Stop Muzzling Canada's Scientists
On Not Giving A Sh@t About Politics
A couple of weeks ago I was eating in a restaurant when I encountered something that utterly horrified me.
Left and Right and Wrong
Politics: Ignore it, and it will go away.
My Town, Not Yours!
Tonight I violate a basic tenet of skepticism, by making a claim for which there could be no scientifically substantiated evidence.
Solemn Summer Vibes
How awesome is the summertime? Ok, we ain't there yet, but in Toronto this week it certainly feels that way. I mean, 30 degrees in May? Bring it on.
But you have to wonder at what cost this joy is delivered. If science is anything to judge reality by, one has to accept that man-made global warming is part of that reality. And while I'm certainly not someone to take a hot day or two, or even a sampling of a few years, and take it for more than it's statistically worth, one has to at least wonder if those few precious degrees we're all currently enjoying aren't at least small evidence of a trend. Nothing new, everyone's heard it and thought it themselves. And while this narrow period in time isn't likely to be representative of anything in particular, I'm probably not alone in sensing an odd overall trend in our climate. From a biased and unscientific viewpoint, there seems to be present a tangible effect to go along with all the data. As I've hinted at before, what scares me isn't the greenhouse effect, but the possibility of a runaway greenhouse effect. For those unaware, that's when a planet hits a certain 'tipping point' beyond which the greenhouse effect begins a sort of feedback loop, continually building up CO2 and water vapour in the atmosphere and turning an Earth-like heaven into a Venus-like hell.
Who knows how likely such an event is, but we can be sure that even the best efforts to understand where that tipping point is are just educated guesses. Again, the sample size is too small. We've only ever lived on one planet and have no case studies to examine. Could we see into Venus' past we could know more, but alas, it ain't happening.
So what can be done? Are there realistic solutions? Of course there are, in that any plan that includes our survival, as opposed to the alternative, is obviously worth the time. But they're hard choices, be sure. Don't listen to the polarized extremes of any debate, and while I consider myself fairly liberal, those that claim biofuels and farmer's markets as a solution to all that ails the earth are either ignorant of the truth, or selling something.
The sacrifices required to affect real change on a system so huge and so fantastically out-of-whack are massive. Neglect can do more damage, and faster, than design can easilly repair. Nonetheless, it is design that will save us, if anything can. While technology is in many ways the source of the problem, one must admit that it's also the defining characteristic of homo sapiens, and so any effort to preserve our species must also preserve that aspect of our nature. We, from the making of the first stone tool, are compelled to create technology. If we are to survive, we must create the technology to do so.Now, everything I've said so far could perhaps be seen as alarmist, and I will admit that while there's a scientific consensus that global warming is a real and man-made effect, there's less compelling evidence on what will happen next. Yes, a runaway effect is a possibility, but so is a slight warming of the atmosphere with nary an ice cap melted. Many of the horror stories that colour people's perceptions of this topic are somewhat speculative. The evidence tells us that something definitely wacky is going on and that we caused it, but isn't clear on what all of that means.
So here's the thing. I like playing my PS3, and I work in an electronically powered medium. Energy consumption is a big part of my little life, and that's unlikely to change. And while I do what I can when I think of it, and use no more energy than I can comfortably and conscientiously afford to, I'm probably a worse offender than most.
Previously, I believed political consciousness raising was the answer, and that a political sea-change could, and even eventually would, bring about the societal paradigm shift required to make a difference. Much of the reason that I am a liberal isn't centered on current civil rights issues, important as I think they are, but rather on concerns for the long term benefit of our species. I thought that the progress of liberalism, since it was traditionally associated with environmental concerns, was linearilly corelated to the progression of those concerns. That a vote for change meant actual change, so to speak.
But I now realize that politics is too hampered a process, that popular opinion is too easilly distracted by small issues. No matter how much good a man like Barack Obama may want to do in his most private wishes, his efforts to pursue such an agenda must include compromise to such an extent that change can be no more than mind-numbingly slow at the very best.
Politics is a reactionary medium, only a meager reflection of the public will, and it's only when the public will demands action that action is ever taken. So all I'm left with, beyond the ridiculously optimistic idea that buying organic foods will inspire the emerging Chinese middle class to do the same, is the consciousness raising of reason. How do I get there, you may ask? What does good thought have to do with saving the whales? Everything.
