Last chance to avert climate holocaust; will Obama lead?

[AgingAmerican]

By Gary “Spruce” Houser

"We are confronted with the fierce urgency of now... Over the bleached bones and jumbled residue of numerous civilizations are written the pathetic words: 'Too late.'" – the Rev. Martin Luther King

The first sentence of this passage was President Obama's 2008 theme, but the heart of King's message was in the words that followed. The dramatic acceleration of climate disruption – as demonstrated by the stunning loss of Arctic ice – brings stark meaning to his prophetic words. The warmest years on record have drastically altered the very appearance of the earth itself – as seen from space – with blue water replacing white ice in late summer. Serious drought and flooding are spreading, as the power of storms and hurricanes increases. Incredible sea surges into the media capital of the U.S – New York City – translated into a global wake-up call.

The scientific community recognizes that this acceleration brings the dreaded "tipping points" – where climate disruption begins to spin out of human control – much closer.

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Unbelievably, however, a candidate for our highest office ridiculed the most threatening issue of our time. A brief video poignantly compared Romney's callous mocking of "rising seas" with actual footage of the rising sea assaulting New Jersey and NYC.

Tragically, however, even the winning candidate – though acknowledging the reality of climate disruption – had bowed to horribly misguided advice to refrain from speaking about it in any substantive way. Early in his term, Obama had dropped the language of global climate breakdown as it was deemed to not be a "winning" issue.

By doing so, the heart and soul and profound urgency also disappeared. This abdication of the moral high ground provided precisely the opening sought by the fossil-fuel industry to bankroll a massive attack on the credibility of climate science. This silence assisted the ascendance of the "denier" Tea Party movement and destroyed any chance for climate legislation. Worst of all, it squandered the precious little time humanity has to avert the tipping point of no return. From the standpoint of morality and future of life, refusing to speak out on the climate emergency was the most colossal error of Obama's first term.

Article here

Obama's decision to remain silent on climate change is a travesty. I fear it will ultimately become his legacy. In 2009 the Obama administration made a decision not to speak about climate change. They decided to use the term "Clean energy" in place of global warming or climate change. That policy is still in place today. The fact that he still refuses to utter those words is unconscionable.

[BlueStreak]

1. Will it help him get elected?

If by "lead", you mean make some vaguely supportive comments now and again and do nothing to actually change the status quo, then yes, he will lead.

[AgingAmerican]

2. In 2009 the administration made a decision

to not use the words, "climate change" or "global warming" instead using the term "clean energy" because it was deemed a "losing issue". That policy continues to this day.

I just saw a poll this morning that stated 4 out of 5 Americans now admit that climate change is happening. Obama needs to get out in front of this issue NOW before it is too late. It is the 900 lb gorilla in the room.

[BlueStreak]

3. Here's another 500 pound gorilla no politician wants to acknowledge: Population

The core of all our major problems is exploding human population growth.

Gun violence is directly related to the density of people.

Climate impact is directly related to the number of people using energy.

We are way past the point of a sustainable population. We can produce enough calories to feed the world, but it is horrible food that makes the whole world obese and sick. There are now 3 million people dying each year as a result of obesity, and "only" 1 million dying for lack of food.

We really don't need a billion more babies.

But that isn't something you will ever hear a politician say. And our entire financial / banking system is based on the expectation of a constantly growing population. The fractional banking system is a Ponzi scheme that would crash if the population stopped growing.

It will stop because we are reaching the limits. It may be 50 years. It may be 200 years, but it will crash. The crash is already underway.