SMALLER FOOTPRINTS, BIGGER SHOES TO FILL
Thursday, September 1, 2022 - column #7107
It ain’t easy being green.
This mantra/slogan attributed to Kermit has taken on new meaning in the race to net-zero policies in our land, where our emissions/square mile are, by my reckoning, the lowest in the world.
Not because we don’t have emissions, but because we have so-so-much land.
One could argue that statistics and graphs can be twisted to say whatever you want them to say, perhaps much like political speeches, which show portions of truth as if it were whole, show slices of issues as if one facet represented all sides of an issue, idea, law, regulation or policy.
And we are awash in those who wish things to be better but aren’t prepared to make massive sacrifices for a greater good. To be sure, many of us are chagrined by a pandemic we endured/survived without a clear picture yet of what it was, how bad it was, and how different things might have been in terms of the health of a population, health of the environment, health of our business/supply-chain models, and health of the economy.
We endured a lot of change – some for good, some we aren’t sure about just yet – and our view of the world is that it is a very different place. It hasn’t changed so much, but 8.5 billion citizens of earth have adapted to rapid change in ways most of us might never have imagined.
Overlaid in all this think-differently world-view is impending doom from our climate and our practices, mitigated by energy needs from coal and more intense use of other fossil fuels as the Russia/Ukraine war muddles along, messing up everyone’s expectations, every projection of greenhouse gas reductions, and redefining our carbon-footprints.
Expectations and predictions are a waste of energy for most of us; yes, we need professional predictor-folk for weather, commodities, logistics, and finance – but for the average Joe and Sally, for the average anyone, we are far removed from it all.
So, can we make any difference, or not?
Or, are we, as individuals, the only ones who can make a difference?
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