Apologies
Hi, I'm Tom and I'm apologising to future generations
We've apologised to past generations for wrongdoings of the past. Shouldn't we apologise to future generations for things we've been doing that will impact them.
Do you agree, or disagree? Are you even worried by climate change? I'd love to hear your thoughts?
Fifty years ago, while at Uni I read a text book titled The Limits to Growth which clearly showed our world was going to break if we didnt change our ways.
But I. like so many others, went with the flow, continuing with the easier and more exciting 'endless growth and development' dream, led on by the global business world. How could we possibly affect the enormous world in which we live? How could we change nature? My generation (and most since) chose to use our cheap fossil energy and wonderful new technologies to grow our wealth but I think we lost sight of the world's long term prosperity. Even when the United Nation's best scientists began warning us in the early 90's, we did little. It took til the 00's for me to realise the problems we face and start to look for solutions. Sadly some very powerful people, corporations and even countries (putting profits first) continue to ignore and deny the issue and even work to throw doubt into our minds. We just didn't listen to the science.
Sadly we didn't change our ways
At least not soon enough.
Things are already somewhat broken. Sea-level-rise for instance is slow but now inevitable. It's not just the small island nations that will suffer. Many thousands of properties all along our coastlines: homes, businesses, industries, roads and infrastructure; will all become useless over the next century. Then there's the heatwaves, fires, storms, floods and droughts that are already a degree or two more severe.
And the real concern is that we may very soon trip off a tipping point, where temperatures take off and never return to what we thought was normal.
We need to act now, and quickly turn things around. The risk we are taking is too great.
For my part, I am truly sorry.
Are there others who ought to apologise?
But we are waking up !
Here's what the experts say about climate change (an infographic summary of the IPCC reports)
We cannot change the past
but we do still have the opportunity to reduce our impact on the future,
to improve the outlook for coming generations.
People ask, aren't we doing enough already? Looking at the facts, it is clear we are not. Emissions are still way too high.
What drives me is the thought that, every kilogram of pollution I can avoid or avert adding to our greenhouse sky means my granchildren's world may be a just a little less traumatic.
And the good news is, we already have most of the tools needed
All we need to do is use them
Do you want to help?
We can electrify everything, and power all things with renewables
Electrify Everything in your home, and in your life. Then as our grid becomes more renewable, so will you.
We can lobby MPs and and help create the political will for a livable planet
Lets lobby for a serious carbon price. Our children should not be the ones to pay, and if we do it right, we wont be impacted greatly either.
Lets face it, money is what drives our world and our big decisions. Polluters should have to pay.
Australian engineer Saul Griffith shows why he is an advisor to the US government with his clear thinking.
There are many changes and technologies we need to use to make our world sustainable. Drawdown has evaluated more than 100 practical solutions.
Would you support a National Climate Apology? I would love to have your ideas on this.
Or maybe just add some comments to stay in touch and learn more about the opportunities we have?
Thanks for taking the time to read this
Cheers Tom