The Rightful Change Of Heart And Mind, Essential For Saving Our Planet
In early September, a group of health experts crafted an urgent plea in The New England Journal Of Medicine, imploring institutions of all types, operating in all spheres and specialties, to take immediate remedial action to mitigate the current global environmental crisis. Labeling ecological degradation as the "the greatest threat to global public health", the authors present a powerful and insightful treatise, detailing the multiple mechanisms humanity can utilize to ameliorate the current dystopia. The essay, entitled "Call for Emergency Action to Limit Global Temperature Increases, Restore Biodiversity, and Protect Health", was published in a diverse group of 233 prestigious medical journals from around the world, and endorsed by many others. For those interested in reading the full text of the piece, I acknowledge my sincerest thanks to Ryan Hagen for reprinting it in the November 30, 2021 entry, of his outstanding "Leaders in Sustainability" LinkedIn newsletter.
Of the many admirable details of the authors' comprehensive and impactful approach to addressing such a nightmarishly complex predicament, I find their holistic framing of the ecological crisis currently threatening all life on Earth, in the full breadth and scope of its horrifying impact, to be the most powerful. Their remarkably nuanced recommendations for solutions to the impending catastrophe are also highly admirable and effective, especially given the space constraints and necessary resultant brevity of the writing. But one small change in the typical wording surrounding environmental activism, utilized throughout, is what most resonates with me. And it truly gives me some hope of humanity achieving success in mitigating global heating, so long as the empathetic lead of these health professionals is followed by prominent sustainability advocacy organizations.
Quite simply, the authors label what is often referred to as the "climate crisis" or "climate emergency", as an "environmental crisis". Which is an infinitely more apt, accurate, and appropriately terrifying depiction of the monumental threat, facing every living creature on this planet. As the authors rightly note, the devastation being inflicted on global ecosystems and resultant human suffering, extends far beyond an over abundance of anthropogenically sourced atmospheric carbon. Branding this rapidly progressing ecological catastrophe, within the narrow and simplistic terms of reducing greenhouse gas emissions, has very understandably fostered an apathetic attitude among so many citizens of our world. Dramatically reducing this accumulation of greenhouse gases, is without a doubt an integrally essential component of restoring some semblance of health to Earth, but it is only one piece of the puzzle.
The inherently vital nature of conservation advocates broadening their message beyond fighting climate change, to fighting all forms of environmental degradation and human suffering, is beyond doubt. So much of the most agonizing suffering endured by the global populace has roots in reckless exploitation and destruction of natural resources, whether directly such as in the cases of famines and respiratory illnesses, or more indirectly as in the cases of extreme weather events or pandemics such as Covid-19. Unlike Michael Shellenberger, a talented author and environmentalist who I hold great admiration for, I believe it is absolutely necessary for advocates to consistently preach a message of profound alarm and outrage at what qualify as myriad crimes, being perpetuated against our shared home. Utilization of the term "ecocide" to describe these heinously destructive actions, is warranted, appropriate, and absolutely necessary. When a message of the utmost urgency is diluted, there is virtually no chance it will be heeded by the busy masses, each struggling with personal travails on a daily basis.
What Mr. Shellenberger and Dr. Michael Mann, Distinguished Professor of Atmospheric Science at Pennsylvania State University, are rightly vocal about is the completely indispensable value of hope. When individuals increasingly begin to lack hope in the possibility for a brighter future, any chance of efficacious efforts to effect meaningful and impactful change, will shrivel and wither away. For example, I am deeply shocked that multiple sustainability proponents, including renowned groups such as the The Center For Biological Diversity, are advocating abortion as a mechanism for mitigating the ecocide perpetrated by humanity. However one views abortion from a moral and legal standpoint, the endorsement of such a tactic by a prominent advocacy organization, is beyond heartbreaking. Such reprehensible fear mongering not only shames couples who genuinely desire to be loving parents, it will almost certainly not prevent greedy entities from committing ecocide, and even more horrifically, actively promote racial hatred among privileged demographics. As Quill R. Kukla, Professor of Philosophy and Senior Research Scholar at Georgetown University powerfully and insightfully notes ^1., "poor and minority women are already stigmatized for reproducing" and "Those women will face disproportionate judgment if we entrench the idea that reproduction is selfish or socially undesirable". Perhaps it is time for the directors of The Center For Biological Diversity and those possessing a similar mindset, to familiarize themselves with the myth of Pandora's Box.
I am truly hopeful that continued emphasis on the appallingly devastating effects of rampant habitat destruction and erosion of biodiversity, will galvanize humanity to effect obligatory reformation, of so many of our fundamental and sadly fundamentally broken societal systems. The current laser like focus among activists on greenhouse gas reduction is failing to resonate with so many, and those whom it does energize frequently fail to translate their concern into productive communication and actions, as illustrated in the previous paragraph. The sheer depth and raw power of emotion catalyzed by concepts human beings can palpably sense, are by definition infinitely greater, than the levels generated by phenomena our minds cannot directly partake of. While we acutely experience the indirect effects of massing atmospheric carbon, the full gravity of the extant threat is greatly diminished due to abstraction, much the way a sizable portion of the thermal energy produced by a power generating unit, inevitably fails to convert into its equivalent electrical counterpart.
Three personally relevant examples, can serve as appropriate illustrations of this point. As deeply and gravely alarmed as I consistently am, by the threat of burgeoning global carbon emissions, I am generally able to file my concern towards the back of my mind. However, last month an example of a different and more direct form of anthropomorphically induced ecological destruction, evoked significantly greater upset within me. I was hiking through a beautiful hillside nature reserve near my home in suburban Massachusetts, and came upon a cluster of barren dead trees, seemingly entirely out of place among the surrounding lush groves of healthy pines. Upon closer inspection of the bark of these snags, it became abundantly clear I was witnessing the ugly impact of the Hemlock Woolly Adelgid, a parasite introduced from Japan 100 years ago. Gardeners of the previous century desiring exotic arboreal species, unwittingly unleashed heartbreaking devastation on North America's precious Eastern Hemlocks, decimating this beautiful and ecologically vital keystone resident. I am fortunate to live in an area dominated by Eastern White Pines, but even this comparatively minor disruption to an otherwise healthy forest, was quite saddening to behold.
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While the destruction wrought by the Hemlock Woolly Adelgid serves primarily as a testament to human recklessness, it also perfectly illustrates the integral nature of reducing atmospheric carbon to reclaiming biological health, as steadily warming winters over the past several decades have created favorable conditions for burgeoning Adelgid populations. The plight of the Eastern Hemlock is an example of an ideal catalyst, for positively engaging communities in climate change awareness programs and advocacy. Hope is present for the trees, not only in the form of emissions mitigation, but also in the incarnation of introduced Laricobius Negrinus beetles which feed voraciously on Hemlock Woolly Adelgids, and genetically modified forms of Eastern Hemlock, specifically cultivated to resist the relentless tiny aphids. Successful salvation of the Eastern Hemlock can serve as a prime demonstration of the power of humanity, to right historical wrongs and regain what has been lost.
I am exceptionally grateful that the other two examples of ecocide prominent in my consciousness, are fortunately physically significantly distanced from my personal existence. My lifelong love for both plant and animal life, has drawn me to advocate for protection of both. And this advocacy has inevitably led to me reading of forests of giant trees being decimated by loggers, and viewing gut wrenching footage of seal pups being chased, cornered, and clubbed to death for their fur. My purpose in relating these especially personally harrowing examples of ecocide, is to once again illustrate my primary call for the environmental movement to adopt a holistic approach, for catalyzing awareness of degradation and abuse. While contemplating the universal hazards posed by carbon emissions is deeply troubling, witnessing straightforward habitat destruction and blatant animal cruelty, is infinitely more sickening and gut wrenching. Not surprisingly, I feel a significantly more acute and urgent compunction, when condemning timber and fashion industry abuses, than I do when solely advocating for greenhouse gas mitigation. To quote Dr. Jane Goodall, "the only possible way to get somebody to change is to reach into their hearts." And this essential goal is only achievable, through relation of a healthy mixture of both the more abstract climatological science and the more visceral examples of overt ecocide, with a clear focus on the latter.
This inextricable symbiosis between ecosystems and climate health, is perhaps the most potent indicator of Nuclear energy as the unequivocally superior solution, to the energy production aspect of the environmental crisis. Construction of Nuclear generation simply does not require the widespread habitat disruption and destruction, inherent to implementation of intermittent renewable capacity. This truth was yet again starkly highlighted in recent days, by Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and Stanford University researchers evaluating effects of the grossly misguided planned early decommissioning, of the Diablo Canyon reactors in California. The entire Diablo Canyon Power Plant has a footprint of a mere 140 acres, but the proposed August 2025 closing necessitates replacement of the carbon free power supplied by its reactors, with 90,000 acres of PV Solar panels by 2045, if California is to meet its self mandated NetZero carbon goals. Moreover, if allowed to remain operational, Diablo Canyon could also power an offshore underwater desalination plant utilizing reverse osmosis technology, a key tool for providing clean water for the citizens of a state, much of whose population routinely suffers under extreme to exceptional drought conditions. And a Green Hydrogen plant concurrently converting the ocean water used to cool the reactors, into a steady supply of this chemical possessing great value for myriad industrial applications, could also be supported. Yet PG&E, Diablo Canyon's operating utility and the California Public Services Commission inexplicably seem intent on committing ecocide, by deactivating the reactors a quarter century before their intended lifespan expires. Every living thing on this planet is facing a full scale, multi faceted, and rapidly accelerating ecological catastrophe. There is absolutely no excuse for any locality anywhere, to be so flagrantly ignoring proven biology, chemistry, and physics, when planning vital future energy systems.
Finally, I greatly appreciate the emphasis of the health care professionals, on citing the moral obligation wealthy entities bear for aiding underprivileged communities, in creating a healthy environment for their citizens. As they state so emphatically and empathetically, "As with the Covid-19 pandemic, we are globally as strong as our weakest member". It is thoroughly appalling to contemplate residents of poverty stricken localities, being instructed to sacrifice reliable power supplies and other essential survival needs, simply because wasteful institutions refuse to strengthen their conservation commitments. Or equally disgracefully, if couples in these locales are shamed and frightened into not welcoming babies into their families, to compensate for the deficiencies in sustainability implementation strategies of their more fortunate counterparts. The impending flagrantly wasteful shuttering of the Diablo Canyon Power Plant harshly demonstrates rampant hypocrisy of a technological variant, which must be summarily eliminated along with all other forms.
Inequality is the antithesis of environmental justice, and perhaps also the greatest single impediment to achieving absolutely vital worldwide goals of ecological preservation and NetZero greenhouse gas emissions. Aversion of the most severe environmental catastrophes by way of limiting global heating to 1.5 degrees C, is also without question an absolutely obligatory pursuit and the standard likely most difficult to attain, with success therefore most predicated on effectively mitigating inequality. As the Intergovernmental Panel On Climate Change (IPCC) consistently and diligently reminds us, the 1.5 C mark is crucial, as integral ecosystems will suffer if temperatures rise any higher, with some such as coral reefs experiencing total collapse due to carbon induced acidification of oceans. But the world's poor will understandably become disillusioned with environmental action, if inequality is not squarely and simultaneously addressed along with conservation and decarbonization. How can one reasonably ask those who do not know where and when their next meal is arriving, or whether they can cobble together the requisite electricity to address urgent medical needs, to concern themselves with a global ecological emergency? If any form of truly just, meaningful, and beneficial healing is to be achieved, all institutions must earnestly adopt the fair and inclusive mentality, promoted by the health care professionals in their essay.
The modern environmental movement is as desperately in need of transformational reform, as the societal systems its activists so fiercely criticize. Its current deficiencies extend far beyond unforgivable rejection of keystone clean power sources such as Nuclear, to a pervading unwarranted and ultimately utterly self defeating, sense of sheer futility and hopelessness. But worst of all, its activists so frequently lack empathy and are entirely failing to connect with the minds and hearts of so many global citizens, whose concern and concurrent efforts are absolutely indispensable for healing Earth's environmental crises. An assortment of integrally associated crises that worsen by the day, threatening the health and safety of every living being on the planet. But crises that still remain eminently solvable, as the health experts remind us in their inspiring call to action, so long as fundamental assumptions and systems are challenged, and summarily dismantled and refabricated. To conclude, I will once again quote Dr. Goodall, one of humankind's greatest advocates for justice and compassion. "Only when our clever brain and our human heart work together in harmony can we achieve our true potential". Never before has her powerful message, held more universal and urgent gravity.
Great post! ??