Earth First

Most agree that the climate is changing. And, the changes are not good.

Large swaths of coral are dying along the Great Barrier Reef. Weather patterns are changing dramatically, causing extremes of weather and potential loss of productive land while the world’s population soars. Sea levels are ticking up. Fifteen of the 16 warmest years have been recorded since 2001.

Greenhouse gases are a major contributor to the problem. As early as 1957, during what was called the International Geophysical Year, greenhouse gases were predicted to be a problem in the future. That future has long since arrived.

Human activity is not the only cause of the atmospheric changes, but it is a major contributor to the quickening pace of the changes. As such, political action will not reverse the trends entirely, but certainly political action can mitigate them and perhaps buy time.

The only real possibility for mitigating the trends is political will and universal acceptance that action needs to be taken for the good of all. A partnership of both public and private efforts will be needed.

That partnership is unraveling in America. The country is becoming a rogue nation. Political action taken by the United States to reduce emissions is being reversed. Executive orders by President Donald Trump have erased some of the policies put in place by the previous administration.

President Trump has called climate change a hoax or fake news. It is thought that efforts to combat climate change will stymie the economy and weaken growth in the country.

Yet, science and most governments say the world faces a crisis. Averting the crisis is not possible if the United States does not take a lead role in mitigating human influences contributing to it. The rest of the world is acting more responsibly than we are. Threats to the environment are threats to everyone. If nothing else, it is a matter of self interest and self survival.

America First is a great slogan, but we are the second largest emitter of greenhouse gases in the world, second only to China.

This is one of those circumstances where we must view Earth First.

Gordon Forgey

Publisher