October 15, 2009

Blog Action Day: The Climate Is A-Changin'

(This is a post on behalf of Blog Action Day)


Unlike many of you, I don't watch The Daily Show or The Colbert Report on a regular basis - mostly, I watch the clips online. I do, however, watch Real Time with Bill Maher weekly. I do not agree with him on everything (I wish he had as critical a view on modern medicine as he does on religion), I agree with him on one thing - what he stated at the beginning of his video.

To paraphrase, the climate is changing, and we're experiencing it.

In our highly charged political landscape, it's easy to take a view that climate change "isn't that bad" - or that, to somehow suggest that the US work with others to combat the problem is somehow less than patriotic. That being a player at the table isn't as important as being the player at the table. In addition, I'm noticing that a lot of my (formerly) liberal friends are suddenly now hard-core conservatives, criticizing Obama with the same venom best reserved for the likes of Beck, Hannity and Limbaugh. But I won't play partisan politics, not with an issue like this.

Because any rational person who has lived through the past ten years has seen it - powerful storms that devastate entire areas, including Katrina. Unusually mild winters, unbearably hot summers, unusual weather patterns....it doesn't take a scientist to realize that something is going on. Our weather is changing.

And what can we do about it? Well, not purchase carbon credits, that's for sure, or even shopping at Whole Foods. It seems like a lifetime ago when I was working to reduce air toxins in St. Louis - all it takes is a slight retweeking of our lifestyles. Most of it (according to Green Wiki) involves simple steps. It involves behavioral change, which is always scary. It also means spreading the word.

So what can you, the reader of this fine comics/tv/pop culture/anything goes blog do? Spread the word - post on your own blog. Record a podcast. Or even leave a comment telling me how wrong I am to post this.

Anyway, let's start the conversation, because quite frankly, there's something happening to our climate, and we all know what it is....don't we, Mr. Jones?

(Don't ask why I'm channeling Bob Dylan. I have no idea)

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