Beware the environment!
Posted on April 12th, 2010 –
According to Bill McKibben, the environment has it in for us. All of us. Like, real bad.
I got the opportunity to hear him and Margaret Atwood chew the cud on the problem at the UofT Bookstore‘s Reading Series. After all, the environment lurks mercilessly outside all of our homes, constantly waiting to pounce; needs a brainstormer, no doubt.
What I liked about Atwood was her willingness to delve into the causes of why the environment is being such a dick; let’s not be ignorant of the enemy. That and she brought up coffee and hemp as possible solutions. I like her. :)
So what did McKibben have to say? Basically that, at this point, the environment is already over the edge. Forget trying to slow it down — blast that motherfucker with everything we have!!
He goes into greater detail in his new book “Eaarth”, but wants to emphasize that it’s still, “all a long shot”.
Bill’s message isn’t terribly upbeat, even though he somehow is. Diplomacy, recycling, full-on frontal attack, we’ll need to do whatever it takes if we stand a chance against the environment.
From my regular viewing of public television, I know that small island nations like the Maldives are already under attack. They’re seriously looking into evacuation plans for whole countries, that’s how bad it’s getting. And unfortunately, publicity stunts don’t really seem to be getting the word out.
Bill had a big hand in 350.org, a site dedicated to disseminating information about the struggle. And a struggle it’ll be. According to what I’ve read there, it’s not a matter of if we’ll be attacked, but how severely. The best we can do now is to mitigate the damages. I’m definitely not getting that mortgage now.
However, there was some levity in the conversation as Bill recounted one of the difficulties he encountered while putting together the 350.org site. In Abu Dhabi, one of the more expensive hotels refused entry to a couple of 350.org’s people. Only because they were brown, apparently. They were later accompanied by a couple of well-to-do-looking white folks and got in without a hitch. Margaret commented that, “there is a use for rich white people”, after all. I like her. :)
Nota bene: This was also a book signing. My policy as a cheapskate is not to purchase materials at events unless they’re edible. However, I’m sure Bill’s books, and Margaret’s especially, are available all over the place anyways. As long as the environment doesn’t get them first, I’m sure we’ll be hearing more from both of them soon.
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