Part III: Earth Emergency - Let's Get Moving
The evidence is very strong that climate change is ravaging and destroying our planet. In Part II of "Earth Emergency - Let's Get Moving", we began exploring the Easiest Solutions to the Earth Emergency.
Dr. Carter and his wife, Julie Johnston (www.greenhearted.org), are tireless workers seeking to keep us all informed on the complexity of the crisis AND, more importantly to kick our butts to "get moving" on solutions.
Once again, here is their model of the Easiest Solutions to the Earth Emergency.
In Part II, we covered Compassion, Courage and Co-operation. In this Part III, we study the last "C" of Conversion.
Conversion:
Let's look at some of the key elements that we need to totally convert.
" Conversion to a child-honouring culture.
To love and honour our children means we must love and protect their planet. They need us to be mature adults, to step up and be responsible for protecting and restoring their planet. This not our planet. It is theirs.
" Conversion to a plant-based diet.
Let's all join the vegan revolution. We can immediately convert our eating habits to a plant-based diet which is the healthiest for us anyway. This is SO easy. The meat and dairy industries create enormous amounts of pollution - including being one of the greatest sources of greenhouse gas pollution.
" Conversion to a spiritually-based culture.
Instead of just money profits, let's focus on profiting from our Love in Action. Let's pray and meditate every day and demonstrate spiritual values as Love, Self-Respect, Compassion, Honesty, Integrity, Acceptance of each other, Kindness to ourselves, others and this living planet and so on.
" Positive Thinking.
We can push through our fears, feel the fear and do what we have to do.
We should ask forgiveness for the damage we have done. We could
make sure that we truly believe we can heal Mother Earth as a
Global Team.
" Conversion to renewable energy.
We have to stop carbon dioxide emissions that are acidifying and heating up the oceans as well as warming the planet's surface. We can and must convert from fossil fuel energy to 100% everlasting (and profitable) renewable energy, which is safer, cleaner, healthier, more equitable and more peaceful.
" Let's call for a tax on carbon.
" We need an agricultural conversion.
The industrial model of agriculture is a huge emitter of greenhouse gases. We can definitely convert our agriculture so that it is not an emitter of greenhouse gases. We can convert our industrial, chemical- and carbon-intensive monoculture agriculture to food growing using regenerative, organic and permaculture techniques and processes. We can also get our farmers off nitrogen fertilizers (which create nitrous oxide, a powerful greenhouse gas), and encourage "carbon farming," which stores carbon in the soil instead of in the atmosphere.
" We can convert our construction technologies.
Right now, all of the big buildings you see everywhere are being constructed of steel and concrete, but both these industries emit huge amounts of carbon dioxide. Building - now even high rises - with engineered wood, can "sink" or store carbon, for hundreds of years and is now a viable and climate-friendly alternative to steel and concrete.
" We must convert from a war culture to a peace culture.
Not only is the war machine an unbelievable contributor to global greenhouse gas emissions, but climate change is now threatening global peace and security. Let's quickly convert from a war culture to a peace culture and watch how stable our planet will become.
" Government subsidies to shift.
Instead of subsidizing the fossil-fuel industries, livestock and dairy industries let's subsidize renewable energy development, organic regenerative agriculture growing the healthiest fruits, vegetables and grains. This is a very simple and obvious conversion that everyone is agreed on. This could be done very, very quickly and it would act very, very quickly on emissions.
I say, "Let's get moving". Our children deserve it.
