Speech

If you’ve kept up with the news lately, you may have noticed that climate change has been revived as one of the nation’s top issues. The EPA recently announced that it had found solid evidence that greenhouse gasses from our way of life have contributed to rising global temperatures. Through this finding, the EPA now has some authority of it’s own to govern emissions. Also in recent news, world leaders are attending a meeting in Copenhagen to discuss the planet’s future action towards the climate change crisis.

This is a big deal. Now that regulations can be made by the EPA under the Clean Air Act, the U.S. may finally be able to break the habit that has brought us so much infamy, though it is well-deserved. The U.S. has been extremely slow in acting on the issue of global warming. When most other countries were making pledges to cut greenhouse emissions, we looked the other way. And now, though long overdue, we as a people must do our best to solve the problem we had such a large part in creating.

Of course, there are still skeptics, as history has shown us there will be. Many people dismiss climate change as the result of some natural phenomenon that is completely out of our control. They say this despite the overwhelming evidence in favor of the human contribution to the temperature change.

I know most of you in this room have seen the documentary An Inconvenient Truth. The evidence presented by this movie has seen many challenges to its validity. However, if even a fraction of the evidence was entirely proven, that would be enough to lay the blame on us all.

And also to the naysayers of climate change: even if our actions made a very small contribution to the problem, the results of these actions usually harm the environment in other, completely proven ways. Coal burning factories and electrical plants cause acidic rain that can destroy wildlife in streams and lakes. Car exhaust in large cities can cause smog that hangs visibly in the air and has adverse effects on the lungs. Google it, it’s sickening to see an entire city engulfed in polluted air. In dealing with these already established problems, we would also be reducing the amount of greenhouse gases we put in the air to cause further warming.

The big number in all of this is 350. Three-hundred-fifty parts-per-million is what scientists consider to be an entirely safe level of Carbon Dioxide in the air. Currently, the level is at about 390 parts-per-million. With the knowledge that Carbon Dioxide takes many years to naturally work its way out of the air, it’s easy to see that there will be a long road ahead. The worst part is that the number is still growing. Many climate scientists are pushing a maximum of 450 parts-per-million after we have brought our emissions close to zero. Others say that the number could run up to 550. The concern is that the huge shift in technology that has to be made will need to take plenty of time to reduce the economic impact, and the enforcement of emission regulations among the people will be extremely difficult.

Both of these things are true. If the average person continues to follow the trends that we have over the past few years, there is no way that we would be able to make the change to green technology, maybe ever. And if we don’t change the way we think, if we can’t get past the fact that we’re going to have to make some changes and most likely some sacrifices, then the businesses that sell us the technology that causes this whole mess will have no reason to change.

The blame isn’t all on us, however. If big businesses would put all feasible effort into green technology, then maybe we would have a solution that would be both affordable and desirable. And if new industrial developers would focus on building air-friendly factories and power plants, then the old ones could eventually be phased out. Hopefully this is what will be accomplished with the EPA’s new regulatory power. It may be expensive now, but in the long run the money will be worth it. The question still remains, will they ever follow through?

I think the real question is, are you willing to make this happen? When you leave here today, will you do what you can to make a difference? Even the simplest thing, a carpool system for instance, can keep a few more cars off the road and bring the issue a little more attention. Take shorter showers, buy energy efficient appliances and light bulbs, and walk somewhere if you can. If we all do our part we can beat this. The world could use one less thing to worry about.

Sources:

Hillman, Mayer, Tina Fawcett, and Sudhir Chella Rajan. The Suicidal Planet: How to Prevent Global Climate Catastrophe. New York, NY: Thomas Dunne Books, 2007. Print.

An Inconvenient Truth. Dir. Davis Guggenheim. Prod. Laurie David, Lawrence Bender, and Scott Z. Burns. Perf. Al Gore. Paramount, 2006. DVD.

Roach, John. "Global Warming "Very Likely" Caused by Humans, World Climate Experts Say." National Geographic News. National Geographic Society, 2 Feb. 2007. Web. .

Rosenthal, Elizabeth. "U.N. Report Describes Risk of Inaction on Climate Change." The New York Times 17 Nov. 2007, New York Edition ed., 1A sec.: 1A-1A. Nytimes.com. New York Times, 17 Nov. 2007. Web. .

Vernago, Dan. "EPA ruling allows greenhouse gas emissions to be regulated." Usatoday.com. USA Today, 8 Dec. 2009. Web. 12 Dec. 2009. .