Saving the World

Almost every conversation I have had since I arrived on the Cape has been about something deep. We've talked about the origin of inequality, the applicability of academia to the modern world, and most of all, what the feasible solutions are to the impending global climate change.

Earlier this year I went to one of Columbia's World Leaders Forums with President Václav Klaus of the Czech Republic, currently holding the rotating presidency of the EU. A fierce capitalist, Pres. Klaus made a point of expressing his conviction that "Global Warming" is little more than a scare tactic used by socialists to justify inappropriate government interventionism. While I certainly don't subscribe to his absolutist faith in the market, I do recognize the politicization of the phenomenon of global warming, and the perils of greenwashing. However, as has been further emphasized by the oceanography class we are currently taking here, serious changes need to be made.

The other night when were meeting with our research groups, I showed everyone the Story of Stuff (seriously, click the link and take 20 minutes to watch it). The basic reality, which the video does a wonderful job of presenting, is that we have turned the world into a linear consumer-based system, which by definition cannot be sustainable. Ever since the days of Nixon's kitchen debate with Krushchev, the American economy (at least) has been based on turning resources into consumer goods into junk. Sure, it's way more complicated than that, but the fact of the matter is that the Earth survives by operating in cycles, and our use of resources is not cyclical; it's a one-way street. The global climate "crisis" is the inheritance of our generation.

This afternoon we all went to a climate change lecture with Dr. George Woodwell held by the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI). It was full of good science, but I think it left us all rather disappointed. We know things need to change, we just don't know how to go about it. We keep debating whether the priority should be individual or governmental action, whether fossil fuels should be replaced by more sophisticated technology or by a return to a self-sufficient small community lifestyle that doesn't require them, whether investments in carbon offset technology are helpful or simply distracting us from the root of the problem. We are not all in agreement about where to go from here, but we are all in agreement that we are fed up with the way things are.

This past Saturday we were all at Dylan's house party for most of the day. It was really fun—we chilled on the beach singing Disney songs and sea chanteys, made giant brownie sundaes, and got psyched for our sailing expedition by watching Pirates of the Caribbean. And, as is our recurrent activity, we debated how to save the world.