Hope or Despair?

“Climate change tends to be framed in one of two ways – as scary weather, or as an economic issue” – Chris Turner

To even be considering the fate of the world terrifies me. I can’t believe we have actually come to this point in our existence where we’re seeing an end to freshwater, an atmosphere full of GHG’s, and an ocean with almost nothing left. It is easiest to not think about it, but that wouldn’t help anything or anyone. But all the doom and gloom aside, in this blog I discuss the reasons why I believe we still have hope for a sustainable world for generations to come.

“The problem might be global, but the best solutions to date have been devised often at the local level of a small town or organization” – Chris Turner

The City of Portland is a great example of sustainable action. Portland’s climate change strategy was introduced in 1993. It was the first municipal emissions-reduction plan in the United States. Here are some of the benefits from the policies created:
•All new municipal buildings in Portland are required to earn LEED Gold ratings.
•Residents are the highest per capita purchasers of hybrid vehicles in America.
•Cycling and walking, for commuting purposes, is up 10 percent in the last ten years
•700 miles of cycling and walking paths
•Growth Boundary (a line beyond which urban asphalt is forbidden to cross)
All of this started with a very determined and hopeful city that wanted to set a positive example. Other cities in the world can now look at Portland and have something to shoot for. This is a great thing for our world; we need cities and countries to make a stand on what’s right. As Chris Turner puts it, “A stack of policies is not a society, and a group of politicians is not necessarily a movement, and none of it on its own would inspire Portland or any other community to greatness”.

The Kyoto Protocol was a pact between 169 nations to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 5 percent or more by 2012. It might turn out, in the long run, that the Kyoto Protocol or this more recent Copenhagen Summit becomes the engine of a concerned global effort to return civilization to a sustainable footing. I really hope that Canada gets off their lazy ass and actually decides to do something instead of always following the US on every international decision. We need to act soon. I am confident that one day we will, as a nation, create a sustainability plan. David Suzuki tried proposing a plan a few years ago called “Sustainability within a Generation”. Prime Minister Stephen Harper wasn’t “ready” for it at the moment, but hopefully one day our political leaders will be.

The root of our problems is ultimately social. If we want to see real change, we need a majority of people on the same wavelength. In order to do this you need to make the environment a bigger issue than it is right now. Copenhagen will hopefully develop some “positiveness” into people’s minds. These may be just huge gatherings between rich nations, but we must look at them as optimistic starting points at which to start our sustainable journey. The only thing we may have is hope, but if we can stay positive and live by example like the City of Portland, there is a chance we will see some change and direction in a healthier, longer lasting planet.