Heraclitus, a Greek philosopher long before Socrates, is still remembered for saying: “Change is the essence of the universe”. This simple little Iron Age bit of wisdom nicely sums up Physics, Biology, Geology and Cosmology. It fits what we know of the evolution of the universe just as well as it describes how a caterpillar ends its life. Or how what that caterpillar thinks of as an end is just the beginning of a previously unimaginable destiny. And that exactly describes where we now stand in history.
We stopped forest fires, imposing our order on the woodlands. But now the megafires, spawned by our misunderstandings, bring down raw chaos, seeking to re-balance but over-throwing the mark. We have built our societies on petroleum and the cheap energy it gives us. But then we expanded our use of oil into the food supply. Our fields now need petroleum based fertilizes, herbicides and pesticides. And we are running out of oil. It is unarguably a finite resource. What happened to the ethos that we should leave some for our children? And what about their children?
As the increasing levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere melt our ice caps and acidify our oceans, we are faced with the cold fact that this is a human problem. More powerful hurricanes will continue to scour our shores and spread to hitherto unvisited areas. Droughts and drenches will increasingly occur, both disrupting our food supply. We all chose this path, one disposable plastic bottle, one can of spray deodorant at a time. We have damaged the ecosystem, and since we are a part of that system, it’s like throwing the chamber pot into a stiff wind.
Nobody meant to do this. Even the petrochemical companies probably didn’t think it would go so far, and so fast. But we did it. And therefore, we can undo it. We have not reached the carrying capacity of this planet in terms of sheer mass. The human race is butthree-tenths of 1% of the weight of all life on Earth. We could easily meet our actual needs. What is killing us is our lifestyle—and that’s going to succeed if we don’t change.
Life on earth, of which we are a part, has survived over four billion years. If we can look at how life endures, we might just find the “wisdom” we need. What are the characteristics that describe life at the most basic, and can that tell us anything?
• All life is one. All life forms are based on DNA, and this is proof the that we all came up together and belong to each other. Every worm and bat, every whale and each one of us. So we must act together, united as we move forward to save our world from nihilism.
• Everything recycles. There is no such thing as waste in the natural world. Someone or some thing takes, eats or transforms everything else in a continuous cycle. We drink the same water as the dinosaurs. We must recycle too, not as an after thought, but as a primary part of our daily lives. That is why I will act to make deposits on all disposable bottles mandatory. If we’re going to get serious about it, we have to pay for it.
• Life does not play favorites. So we must make our government work for us, not just the top 1% of cash holders. We must make every attempt to eliminate TABOR and free our public sector to share in the vibrant economy that is Colorado. We can start by removing one single line from it and restoring an incremental tax rate so that the rich can pay their fair share, and the poor can continue their path without shame and uncertainty.
•The ecosystem is an all-or-nothing function. It is telling us that we need all parts of the system to survive. The ecosystem and human society as well. It turns out empathy is a survival mechanism, not a curse. And education is our salvation, not the sin of the serpent’s tree.
We need to get on the stick. Our cars are killing us and the very idea of one (or two) cars per person hurts the meekest of us. We need oil free transportation, we need public transportation. We need roads and bridges for them to travel on. There’s no time left to waste on the gossip that consumes one political party- conspiracies and opinionated anger. We’re all in the same boat. So let’s just get over the rage and act like we have a future so that we will.
The Climate Crisis will make all of us face the facts at some point or another. And once that realization hits home, nearly everyone will be ready to accept the changes needed. Once we acknowledge what we’ve done, we’ll realize it was a million little things we did that got us here. And the same number of small changes can bring us back from the brink. Small changes can save us from the Climate Crisis, but only if the changes are for the better.