RE: [greenyes] Global Warming and the Sounds of Silence

["Heidi Feldman" <hfeldman@no.address>]

Dear Terry and Peter,
I think all of us who talk and teach to others about the environment
suffer from these feelings of being overwhelmed. How can we not be so
saddened by the problems we address every day in our work environment?
And how easy it is for others who don't have this daily contact to
"forget" about the problems Mother Nature faces from our wrong-doing.
But I think sometimes this "Responsibility Assumption Overload" has to
give way, like Terry wrote so nicely, to a simple joy of being alive,
seeing children and their optimism, and hoping that our work will show
its fruits, even if we can't believe it. I tell a story to my students,
of the professor and his 20-foot swath. He knew so much but also
couldn't even decide where to even begin to help save the planet, so he
started cleaning up the area outside his office---his 20-foot swath.
Every day he picked up the litter and kept it very clean. Soon people
didn't throw things down, and the grounds crew spent a little extra time
to make the spot even nicer. He was happy passing this area on his way
to work. Now he could go on to the next task, something more demanding
and with a larger scope. But still he couldn't do it all! It's a simple
story, but one that always helps me to center and to not despair about
all the problems I can't solve. Please take a moment to meditate on the
good you have done, Peter, and how much more you will accomplish. It's
true that people like you and Terry have made in a difference in many
ways. Then go sit with your son, and sing, and be happy. Tomorrow is
another day.

Heidi Feldman
Public Education Coordinator
Monterey Regional Waste Management District
Tel.: 831/384-5313     FAX: 831/384-3567

-----Original Message-----
From: Brennan, Terry [mailto:tbrennan@no.address] 
Sent: Tuesday, November 02, 2004 1:32 PM
To: GreenYes
Subject: RE: [greenyes] Global Warming and the Sounds of Silence

Peter,

I understand your feelings completely.  I kick myself for not being more
proactive as well, beyond my roll as a public employee in an
environmental organization. I too, think about these things as I watch
my two children sleeping.

I often wondered if it was wrong to bring them into this world, knowing
more about the uncertain, but almost definitely gloomier future that I
see.  Shortly after 9/11, I spoke to my father about this.  He said he
had gone through the same thought process when I was born, thinking
about the cold war and nuclear threat.  He worked on satellites with
Lockheed, and most likely knew much more about these threats than the
average person.  But he turned to me and asked, "Well, would you rather
be here, or not?"  Put that way, it made me feel a little better about
procreating.

I later spoke to my mother about not doing enough.  She has always been
very active in social programs, and reaches out to everyone with an
extremely positive energy.  I know she has an affect.  She pointed out
that working in the field I do has its affect, and that every person I
speak to about these issues is affected, often more than I will ever
know. Thinking about this, I realized that there have been many people
over the years who I have spoken to informally or at events that have
told me that they were moved or motivated by my words. I know there must
be more that I do not hear from.

You, Peter, have sent many quality posts to this list (particularly on
climate change), spreading the word in a way that can easily be passed
on to others. I know that I have benefited from them, and I have sent
them to many others who also are benefit, and in turn benefit the cause.
You are having a positive affect on change, whether you can see it or
not. While we can always do more, we can't carry the world on out
shoulders. We do what we can.

Perhaps we all could work harder to get the our "leaders" in politics
and the media (the people with the megaphones) to make people aware of
the seriousness of this issue and to initiate more actions to deal with
it. 

In the mean time, it is also important to enjoy the simple tings in life
like the beautiful natural world that still surrounds us, or the hug of
a small child or loved one.  After all, what are we doing this for if it
is not enjoyed?

Terry S. Brennan
Integrated Waste Management Specialist
California Integrated Waste Management Board
phone (916) 341-6578 
fax (916) 319-7474 
e-mail tbrennan@no.address 

Zero Waste - You make it happen!



-----Original Message-----
From: Peter Anderson [mailto:anderson@no.address]
Sent: Monday, November 01, 2004 9:53 AM
To: GreenYes
Subject: [greenyes] Global Warming and the Sounds of Silence


With reference to the CAPITALIZED sentence in the article excerpted
below 
("...WHO HAS DESCRIBED THE THREAT OF CLIMATE CHANGE AS GREATER THAN
GLOBAL 
TERRORISM"), I just cannot grasp how the Presidential campaign has been
all 
but devoid of any mention -- other than in one or at most two fleeting
and 
passing asides from John Kerry when he is given the chance -- of what
quite 
likely will wind up being the defining issue for the increasingly 
inhospitable world that we are bequeathing to our children.

To the nearest that I can understand, this moral abdication has occurred

because polling showed that the environment didn't register above the 
cacophony of the war in Iraq and the war between the secular and 
fundamentalist worlds colliding here in America.

But, to me, this has been a total and abject failure in imagination on
our 
parts. To let ourselves be passive receptors of poll numbers, without 
strategizing on how to proactively redefine the national temper, for
example 
by the equation of threats from terrorism as from global warming, not to

mention the growing shortage of potable water on a global scale, is 
inexcusable.

As I look at my 7 year old boy in his Halloween costume, and playing
merrily 
with his Pokemon action figures, I kick myself for letting myself be 
consumed by the coming and going of our busy busy lives, while the
single 
defining foul up of our generation (and the two that came before), ramps
up 
to levels which may have already entered a feedback loop from which
there is 
no turning back.

I can no longer look at myself in the mirror as I shave without, for the

first time in my life -- because I have always otherwise been so
concertedly 
optimistic about being a part of the beauty of being alive -- shaking
with 
fear and anger, at myself as much as those horse's behinds in their
Hummers 
and SUV trucks.

How can I have sat back and let the miracle of our lives ineluctably
unravel 
before our eyes is something I cannot answer because of what it says
about 
me.

 

                Peter



THE GUARDIAN
 US must act over climate says Queen

Mark Townsend and Gaby Hinsliff
Sunday October 31, 2004
The Observer

The Queen has made a rare intervention in world politics to warn Tony
Blair 
of her grave concerns over the White House's stance on global warming.
She is understood to have asked Downing Street to lobby the US after 
observing the alarming impact of Britain's changing weather on her
estates 
at Balmoral in Scotland and Sandringham in Norfolk. The revelation gives
an 
unusual glimpse into the mind of the monarch, who normally strives to
stay 
above politics.
Further evidence of the Queen's views on global warming will be seen
this 
week when she opens one of the most high-profile conferences ever staged
in 
Europe on the issue. She is keen for this to be interpreted as a
symbolic 
and political statement.

The Berlin summit will come a day after the US presidential elections
and 
its outcome will dictate the tone of key climate talks. George Bush's 
administration has remained hostile to international attempts to reduce 
emissions of climate change gases.

'There has been dialogue between Downing Street and Buckingham Palace on
all 
issues relating to climate change including the US position and the
latest 
science. She is very keen to get involved,' said one of the UK's most 
eminent experts on climate change, who agreed to speak to The Observer
on 
condition of anonymity.
He added: 'From her own observations on the climate she has become
worried 
like the rest of us. She has made it clear she wants to raise the
importance 
of the issue.'

In addition to her own fieldwork, the Queen was inspired by briefing
papers 
supplied by Blair's chief scientist, Sir David King - WHO HAS DESCRIBED
THE 
THREAT OF CLIMATE CHANGE AS GREATER THAN GLOBAL TERRORISM  - and John 
Schellnhuber, research director of the Tyndall Centre, where Britain's 
pioneering work on global warming is conducted.

"..."
_________________________
Peter Anderson, President
RECYCLEWORLDS CONSULTING
4513 Vernon Blvd. Suite 15
Madison, WI 53705-4964
Ph: (608) 231-1100
Fax: (608) 233-0011
Cell: (608) 698-1314
eMail: anderson@no.address
web: www.recycleworlds.net

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