Christmas Shopping: Time flies when you’re...

I already know that time flies when you’re having a good time.

Last June I motorcycled along the south shore of the St. Lawrence R. for a few hours on the way out to, and back from, Halifax, NS.

New roads and scenery. New places to stop for photos, snacks, coffee, buns with bacon and cream on top for $4 a piece.

When I stopped for the evening I was refreshed, invigorated, several pounds heavier. I didn’t care. I was having a blast and time flew by as quick as the kilometers.

I experienced something similar today while shopping (minus the motorcycle and sticky buns).

Though I was in a long line-up (or queue, according to the Scots) at Chapters, time passed quickly.


["Baggobooks - under $20. He scores!": photo GH]

I sipped a coffee, watched the crowds, glanced at the books I’d selected, sipped coffee some more and let my mind wander.

I thought, I’ll design a birdhouse in the shape of an Ontario farmhouse. I'll use old lumber and make it board-and-batten style. I’ll attach an outhouse to an outer wall and put granite counter tops in the kitchen. I’ll put in copper plumbing upstairs and down. I’ll...

I received an accidental bump from behind (I think), maybe because a cashier was waving at me. My turn.

It felt like I was in and out in mere minutes.

Sure, time flies when you’re having a good time,. But it goes even faster if you’re not paying attention.

***

It Strikes Me Funny here.

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Climate Change Concerns: Our growth has limits PT 5

We're like stupid chickens in some ways, and are in a pot of trouble here in Canada concerning climate change.

From a Federal Liberal MP’s point of view, and I trust it, our Conservative government will do nothing to turn things around regarding rising carbon emissions and global temperatures.

We have a government that puts too many things before the environment, the future.

E.g., our economy first (when did the environment ever get a $50 billion stimulus package?), our excessive lifestyle first, our GDP first, the tar sands first, more prisons first, etc.


["Can a chicken escape climate change?"]

Is it any wonder I say at times, you’re on your own if you want to see reductions in carbon emissions?

Not only does our government promote weak-kneed policies, as far as the environment and a healthy, sustainable future is concerned, but it receives a lot of vocal support.

Case in point. Our local paper, The London Free Press, featured a hollow ‘Three cheers for Environment Minister John Baird’ point of view earlier this week.

It was entitled ‘Speaking climate truth makes Baird hot stuff.’


(Beware. Any piece linking the words “climate truth” and “Baird” is bound to be malicious).

It begins:

“Environment Minister John Baird goes to the UN’s climate change smoke blower in Cancun, only to be accused back home of being a bull in China’s shop. He should be let loose more often.”

(The UN’s attempt to facilitate progress is a ‘smoke blower’, but Baird’s lack of any plan - any plan to reduce emissions - is a good thing?)

“What got Baird in the bad books of the left was his rightful insistence that if a billion Chinese didn’t give a damn about change then what’s the point?”

Now, if you’re looking for any history about China’s position re climate change relative to the US position, you won’t find it in a Baird-supporter’s ‘point of view’ piece. (One titch of history is provided in Part 3, link below).

And if you’re hoping for ideas from Canadian Conservatives or its Environment Minister about what could be done to prepare for the inevitable change in economic direction that will be required now and in the future, look away.

The point of view continues, listing a few reasons why we should view Baird and ‘business as usual’ Canada as the good guy and China as the bad:

“Last year, partially because of the recession, Canada had a 2% drop in greenhouse gas emissions while China increased its by 8%... (Canada is) a massive country with a small population... not cheap to heat, and not cheap to get around. That’s the reality.”

I’m glad the writer mentions the recession. The next one may be only way we’ll ever lower emissions again. Not that I look forward to it, but it may just be around the corner.

No mention was made, however, about the number of jobs wealthy countries, such as Canada, have exported to China (thus contributing to China’s growing economy and carbon emissions) because we are addicted to cheap goods aka Dollarama and Wal-Mart style.

And, yes, it is expensive to live in Canada. But not for long. Very soon it will be “even more expensive.” Climate change has a way of mucking up monthly budgets!

The writer ends with a question. (Oh, I love a quiz).

“Some billion Chinese have spewed out 8% more in Greenhouse gases than they did the year before, while a comparative 35-million smidgen of Canadians managed to lower their levels by 2%. Who’s the bad guy here?”

Wait. Wait. I know the answer to this one. It’s...

“Well, apparently,” says the writer, “it’s Canada - and Baird, of course...”

He took the words right out of my mouth.

More to follow.

***

Please read Our growth has limits PT 1 for more context.

Please read Our growth has limits PT 2 for more context.

Please read Our growth has limits PT 3 for more context.

Please read Our growth has limits PT 4 for more context.

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This Old Economist: Regular exercise better than shopping

I scored the first goal in yesterday’s 50-plus hockey game after stabbing at my own rebound. Brilliant.

Thanks to 100-plus miles per week on my exercise bike (I even have 230 bonus miles, in case I should go away for two whole weeks), my legs are like those of a spring chicken.

I.e., an old spring chicken. Deep-fried. Spicy.


I’ll give you one good reason why regular exercise is better than shopping.

Consumer debt is high (as high as ever, in a formidable sense) in Canada, home of almost as many sturdy hockey players as shopping fanatics. Some fanatics will lose their homes when interest rates rise and cheap money ain’t so cheap anymore. (Greedy monkeys!)

“Cheap money is not a long-term growth strategy,” said Bank of Canada governor M. Carney on Monday.

Sorry, I lied earlier. I’ll give you two reasons.

Ontario’s debt is through the roof.

Three. Canada’s debt is through the same roof.

Four. US debt is just plain scary high.

Five. Canada’s economy is very strongly tied to the US economy, at the moment on the brim of a large turlet.

Six. What ever happened to Greece and Ireland?

Seven. How about them Leafs, eh!

So, about that exercise.

Get out there. A nice, long walk everyday will do fine. Just not in a big box store.

***

More of This Old Economist here.

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So, what’s that make Don Cherry?

Don Cherry, a well-known HNIC commentator (tator, tatter, potato, potatter), likes to throw out the odd phrase on occasion.

His recent speech at Toronto Mayor Rob Ford’s inauguration contained the words “pinko” and “left-wing kooks.”


["Is this called a whatzzit?": photo GH]

My very expensive Concise Oxford Dictionary defines ‘kook’ in this way:

n. & a. (sl.) crazy or eccentric (person)

While speaking, Mr. Cherry was wearing a pink jacket made from a few colourful yards of curtain material.

Few others would dare. Kinda eccentric, if you catch my drift.

So, what’s that make Don Cherry?

***

Just wondering.

Is Don Cherry a right-wing kook?

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It Strikes Me Funny: Stop with the snowplows already

In Deforest City, many ‘darned if you do and darned if you don’t’ situations occur.

From a recent letter to the editor:

“Why is it that snow plows plowed our street five times yesterday morning before 10 a.m.? ...with many streets in poor conditions, surely there are other streets in need of plowing. Give us a break please.”

What? Too much service?


["Even Frosty looks confused": photo GH]

Last week a resident of Warbler Woods appealed for service.

Remember?

After 3 days of snow A. Skinner’s neighbourhood, Warbler Woods in Byron, was buried but there wasn’t a snow plow to be seen. She vented, a very natural and healthy response at times, as follows.

“This is getting ridiculous, but not as crazy as our property taxes... taxes here for the average home are $6,700 a year.”


How would you like to be a snowplow driver in Deforest City?

"Get out here! Now go away. Service. Stop!"

Darned if I do!

***

Please click here to read more of It Strikes me Funny.

Please click here to read this week’s column in The Londoner.

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Is Don Cherry a right-wing kook?

The press secretary for Toronto Mayor R. Ford said her office received about 200 calls and emails complaining about Don Cherry’s speech at Ford’s inauguration last week.

No surprise. Cherry’s mention of “pinkos” and “left-wing kooks” was a sure fire way to light up the phone lines.

The press secretary was surprised either and was heard to explain that Ford really likes Cherry because of his “candor and honesty.” (No mention was made of Don’s pink sports jacket made from a few yards of curtain material).


["I ask you. What's this called?"]

Calling people pinkos and kooks relates to candor and honesty?

Really, I’m embarrassed for both Ford and Cherry if that is where their heads are at.

I wouldn’t go so far as to link Cherry’s style of candor and honesty with a special brand of stupidity, or say Don is nothing more than a right-wing kook, but I would say he looks so seriously out of step with the times.

Hockey is one thing. Political and human relations another.

So seriously out of step.

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Climate Change Concerns: Our growth has limits PT 4

Because humankind has a history of using up resources without concern for natural limits, chances are good that little united action will be taken to combat global warming and resultant climate instability.

No positive steps will ever be encouraged by the federal government of my own country, Canada, which is a great shame in my humble opinion.

Federal Liberal Member of Parliament Glen Pearson (for London North Center) wrote a post entitled ‘Santa Claus Joins Ranks Of The Homeless’ at his blogsite on Dec. 9 that certainly relates to the above statements.


“Just in time for the global environment meetings in Cancun, Mexico, this country’s Environment Commissioner delivered a harsh report on the Conservative record in battling climate change. As it was being released, the Harper government was being awarded three “Fossil of the Day” awards. Alas, from both within and without, Canada has adopted environmental policies that are an embarrassment to our international reputation and likely formed a key reason why we lost the Security Council vote a short while ago.”

“The humiliation grew only more acute with the release of the latest Climate Change Performance Index, in which Canada fell to 54th out of 57 countries. The current government took up the practice almost five years ago of saying one thing about its environmental commitment while practicing the opposite.  This purposeful benign obstructionism has left Canadians and the provinces confused, frustrated and embarrassed. In reality, the death of any real climate change agenda is almost complete.”


Some Canadians will say, wait. Our Prime Minister is doing his best. London’s Liberal MP says otherwise.

“This week, the Prime Minister stood up in Question Period and stated that he is looking out for the economy of this country by focusing on security, among other things. Yet there is nothing more insecure than a planet in decline – nothing. Will stealth jets clean up our water?  Will billions of dollars spent on prisons lower our carbon footprint?  Could it possibly be that cutting taxes on corporations will lead to a green revolution?  Did the $50 + billion stimulus plan deal in any significant way with our staggering emissions? No matter how many people you throw in the slammer, or how many high-tech jets you purchase, you will in no way reduce our carbon footprint by one smidgen. How can you have security when farms are lost due to drought, lakes are poisoned, agriculture is in decline, and coasts are ruined by rising tides?” (MP G. Pearson’s complete post is here).


Canadians don’t know the meaning of limits.

Personal debt is extremely high and has put many families in a very vulnerable position.

Ontario’s provincial debt has never been higher.

Federal or national debt has never been higher.

Carbon emissions only decline when we experience a recession. Otherwise, our main desire is to burn fuel like there’s no tomorrow.

No tomorrow.

***

Please read Our growth has limits PT 1 for more context.

Please read Our growth has limits PT 2 for more context.

Please read Our growth has limits PT 3 for more context.

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London’s Weather: Lovely snow. And it’s great insulation

After a hearty lunch today I looked out my back door and what did my wondering eyes behold?

More snow. All the way from Georgian Bay too, in my humble opinion, based on wind direction.


["London's cheapest weather station - snow": photos GH]
Rather than saying, “fer cryin’ out loud, I just finished shovellin’ the stupid driveway,” I smiled to myself and reflected on the benefits of snow.

I came up with one within minutes.

It’s white and I like white. Loveliest colour around.

As many of you know, I’m sure, there are many other benefits of snow.

Don Janssen, an Extension Educator (whatever that is) says the following:

“One major benefit of a good snow cover is snow functions as an excellent insulator of the soil. Without snow, very cold temperatures can freeze the soil deeper and deeper. This could lead to damage of root systems of trees and shrubs.”


["Snow helps create delightful scenes"]

And he’s not even done yet.

“Without snow, milder temperatures and the sun could warm the soil surface, leading to damage from soil heaving, which can break roots and dry out plant parts.”


Don even says something from an artistic point of view:

“Evergreens may look much greener, especially when a bright red cardinal is sitting in them. Snow cover makes winter complete.” (Link to full article).

So, not only do we have weather here in London, it has benefits. Take that to the bank.

***

More about London’s Weather here.

How about a bright red cardinal in my feeder!

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The Maple Leafs: Not as good as Norwich Jr. C team?

You have to love hockey stats.

One look at my Leafs’ numbers and you’ll see - right away, it’s so obvious - that the team has a long, long uphill climb to get into a playoff spot.

See how many teams they have to jump over? It’s a lot.

Of course, the season is young, we’re not halfway yet, so I still hold out hope that Kessel and Phaneuf and the other boys in blue will turn things around before it’s too late.


["So many teams to jump over!": photos GH]

Sure, stats show that since their last Stanley Cup win in 1967 they haven’t come very close but, bear in mind, things can turn around at any time.

Why, in 1967 my hometown, Norwich, didn’t even have a team in Junior C. Schoolmates who were the cream of the crop played Jr. C in Woodstock with the Navy Vets.

Now we have a team, at the top of the pile, and Woodstock is way down in the standings.


Stats are great.

Lesson learned: Anything can happen - and it usually does!!

***

More lite news about The Leafs here.

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Bird Watching: San Diego Chicken - 1, Downy Woodpecker - no score

The two feeders on the back deck were swamped today at about noon.

Male and female cardinals ruled the roost until chickadees, juncos, and sparrows arrived by the dozen.




One morning dove made an appearance, as did one timid, female Downy woodpecker. While reaching for my camera she disappeared, much to my chagrin.


[Female Downy woodpecker from great photo site]

However, though I scored zero points with the woodpecker, I think I deserve one point for scoring a clear shot of the San Diego Chicken.


["Does that not look like The Chicken to you?" photos GH]

I know The Chicken started out as a child here in London, Ontario, but I didn’t know he had retired to a tree in my backyard.

Bonus!

***

More Bird Watching here.

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Climate Change Concerns: Our growth has limits PT 3

Do you feel as if you’re on your own?

I.e., if you want climate change concerns to be addressed in your lifetime, do you feel as if you’ll have to address them by yourself?

I read the following recently:

“Human activities are imposing enormous costs on the Earth’s climate and other life-support systems... Whether one looks at the loss of forests, fisheries, species, or climate stability, the level of environmental destruction is very high and, in almost all cases, rising rapidly.” (The Limits of Growth, essay by J. G. Speth)

After reading the essay I thought, not enough is being done. And it’s almost as if we’re on our own in finding solutions.


[Photo link]

However, although Gwynne Dyer recently wrote, “ ...the developing countries refuse to accept limits on their emissions for fear of stunting their economic growth. They also resent the fact that the past emissions of the rich countries have brought us all so close to the point of no return...” he also feels there is some hope for positive change in “the longer run.”


["Are we there yet? Are we there yet?"]

Humankind has a history of coming to the end of, e.g., an entire natural resource, before realizing there are limits to growth.

If we could travel back a few centuries and travel to Easter Island we would see islanders carving stone statues, or moai, out of volcanic rock while surrounded by thick woods of Chilean wine palm, “a fine timber that can grow as big as an oak.” (R. Wright, ‘A Short History of Progress’)

To move the moai into a standing position on an altar of stone, however, several wine palms had to be cut down and used as wheels and levers.

The moai grew larger as their numbers increased over time and the wine palms decreased in numbers, and the soil, held in place by the trees, decreased in fertility and eroded away. Still more statues were built.


[Photo link]

However, the last and largest moai never was raised onto its altar. There was not enough timber. At some point in time, whether for moving a moai or for building a wooden floor or house beam, the last tree was cut down.

In ‘A Short History of Progress’ we can read about the result:

“In the epilogue to their 1992 book, Easter island, the archaeologists Paul Bahn and john Flenley are explicit. The Islanders, they write, carried out for us the experiment of permitting unrestricted population growth, profligate use of resources, destruction of the environment and boundless confidence in their religion to take care of their future. The result was an ecological disaster leading to a population crash... Do we have to repeat the experiment on a grand scale?...Is the human personality always the same as that of the person who felled the last tree?”

In our lifetime we may learn the answer to that last question because we do not know yet that our growth has limits.

***

Please read Our growth has limits PT 1 for more context.

Please read Our growth has limits PT 2 for more context.

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This Old Economist: Money tight all over, start a cheap hobby

Do you like to knit? Play pick-up hockey? Watch birds? Go for long walks?

If you say ‘yes’ to cheap or free hobbies, good for you.

If ‘no’, and shopping is your thing, I’d like to advise against it.

Money is tighter and likely to get tighter.

The Bank of Canada is now warning consumers to slow down the spending. Risk levels are “elevated.”

Definition of risks: Consumer finances are too stretched to cope with a future financial shock, e.g., rise in interest rates, job loss.

The potential for a spike in unemployment, drop in property prices, and negative impact on the Canadian economy because of the debt crisis in Europe is real.

Because another big threat is looming on the horizon (Yes, the American debt is huge and growing and could kill us at any time but there’s another problem!), i.e., “an increased aversion to risk taking in the financial markets that could dry up access to credit for both financial institutions and other borrowers” (that means you, Jocko. Put away your credit card!) we could all be in big trouble sooner than we once thought. (Dec. 10, London Free Press)

So, about that cheap hobby to fill your time.

You could...

play 50-plus hockey,

clean out your basement,

take stuff to the Salvation Army,

or play Euchre for M&Ms, not Loonies.

Pick one. A hobby is more fun that falling deeper into debt, isn't it?

***

More from This Old Economist here.

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Bird Watching: Juncos love the blue spruce

Several spruce trees grow outside my back window and they are alive today with juncos and chickadees. (When I cleared the deck of snow earlier, I heard several chipping out a few words of welcome).


["Blue spruce on the right - alive today": photos GH]

Two bird feeders are only 15 meters away so I often see birds flash back and forth for breakfast and lunch and dinner.

Sparrows crowd the feeders in large groups. Chickadees prefer one at a time. Juncos like the seed on the ground.


One junco found the old feeder I placed on the ground a few days ago (to make room for a larger one; it’s drying in the shed and may get placed on the clothesline later today).


There is a treasure of seed still stuck in the corners of the old feeder and one junco stayed for 20 minutes.

I eat my lunch faster than that. It must have been hungry!

***

More Bird Watching here.

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London’s Weather: Nippy, but still Level 4

While shovelling the back deck this morning in a t-shirt (I had to quickly reach the shed for a metal spade) I noticed the wind was a bit nippy.


["Remember when the dump truck was visible?"]

However, not nippy enough to move to Level 5 and add a scarf to the average Canadian winter ensemble.


["Today, it's nippy and the dump truck is still buried": photos GH]

Stick to four articles of winter clothing for sure: the heavy coat, the toque, the mitts, the warm boots. You’ll be fine.

The weather station’s dump truck is still buried in snow and - because of the nip aka nippiness - I can safely predict our snow cover will remain for several more days.

Shovelling tip: Don’t shovel your back deck in slippers. It’s slippery out there.

***

More about London’s weather here.

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It Strikes Me Funny: Christmas decor, plus the shovels

I do love living in Canada.

It’s a wide, wild country filled with more than a fair share of good people, potential and frozen precipitation, and I’m pretty sure enough funny things will happen each week around here to keep me amused for the next 40 years.

(In another 40 years I’ll be over 100-years old, shuffling to the Roaster coffee shop with my red long johns hanging out the back of my baggy pants and griping about the cold. Likely, I won’t be amused either about the icy sidewalks).


["Why do people try to back up over this stuff?"]

When I looked out the front window and saw the large ice dam at the end of the driveway this morning I smiled.

“Your work is cut out for you today,” I said to my wife.

Neighbours were spinning their wheels at the end of their drive, their car perched firmly upon their own pile of ice, going nowhere. For a long time.


["A metal spade. The right tool for the job": photos GH]

A metal shovel is what we’ll need, I thought. My spade is in the shed. I’d better skip the coffee and get dressed.

Over an hour later the shovelling job was done. But because our city’s snow clearing policy (and my own) is based on moving the snow around rather than actually removing the snow from the streets, I’m pretty sure I’ll be back at it tomorrow, and the day after that and the day after that.

It’s darn good exercise and the coffee always tastes better after a bit of slugging.

After I stomped the snow off my boots I observed a typical Canadian scene on the porch.


Christmas or wintery decor surrounded by a bunch of well-used shovels.

Oh Canada!

***

More Lite News here.

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Climate Change Concerns: Our growth has limits PT 2

You’re on your own. Address climate change concerns by yourself.

I think the recent UN climate summit delivers the same message.

Gwynne Dyer, author of Climate Wars and Crawling from the Wreckage (his latest book), thinks otherwise. (I hope he’s right).

In a recent column in the local paper, under the headline ‘No Climate Progress At Cancun,’ he writes:

“The UN climate summit in Cancun, Mexico, is nearing its end, but there will be no global deal on cutting greenhouse gas emissions this year. However, there is some hope for the longer run.” (Dec. 7, London Free Press)

Upon what does he base his hope?


The slim chance that rich countries will some day in the future help poorer, developing countries grow their economies without bearing all the costs of doing so in a cleaner, greener fashion.

Will rich countries one day bear some of the costs that would allow, e.g., China, India, Brazil, to grow their economies with the help of expensive (much more expensive than coal-fired energy plants) solar-, wind-, water-based energy systems?

Well, they should.

Dyer says the following re rich countries:

“...it was 200 years of burning fossil fuels that made them rich, and they are responsible for 80% of the greenhouse gases of human origin in the atmosphere now.”

At this point in history, rich countries may all know this but have unrealistic expectations for poorer countries.

Dyer says, “...the rich countries ignore the history and demand similar cuts from all countries, rich and poor.”

Such demands are unreasonable to the poorer, developing countries.

Dyer says:

“ ...the developing countries refuse to accept limits on their emissions for fear of stunting their economic growth. They also resent the fact that the past emissions of the rich countries have brought us all so close to the point of no return.”

How can any hope be found in the positions of the rich and poorer countries?

There is this notion: Poorer countries may be willing to switch to more expensive energy systems - and get off coal - with financial assistance from rich countries.

Is there any hope of this happening?

Dyer writes:

“People in the rich countries don't even understand that history, so they are still a long way from accepting that deal. It won't happen at Cancun, and it may be years before it does. Maybe too many years.”

If he sees any hope, it is a faint, faint hope, and not for the long run, but as he said earlier, “for the longer run.”

While we wait, let’s not hold our breath.

Let’s realize there are limits to economic growth, live small and save money for tough times ahead.

More to follow.

***

Please click here to read Our growth has limits PT 1.

Please click here to read more Climate Change Concerns.

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fire

together, we
can walk through fire.

alone, oft times
not,

because the strike
of a match
alone
can be too much.

gah

***

context


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Letter to the Editor: “Don’t forget about us, eh”

Angela Skinner wrote a lovely letter to the London Free Press recently that I would file under the heading - We pay taxes too, ya know.

Some might feel no sympathy for the writer, but I do.

After 3 days of snow A. Skinner’s neighbourhood, Warbler Woods in Byron, was buried but there wasn’t a snow plow to be seen. She vented, a very natural and healthy response at times, as follows.

“This is getting ridiculous, but not as crazy as our property taxes... taxes here for the average home are $6,700 a year.”

Some home owners who pay less, also waiting for the plow to arrive on their street, might say, “Stop your whining. I’m waiting too. Don’t try to climb to the top of the list just because you live in a big house. You’re such a maroon.”

But not me. I feel her pain.

Okay, she likely didn’t score any points with some readers when she said “my neighbours and I pay close to (if not more than) $670,000 a year. This means our subdivision alone has paid close to three-quarters of the million dollars that it will cost the city to plow after the storm. That’s fine, but could someone please send out a snowplow, at least to thank us?”

Some might say her words smack of entitlement. You know, like “we pay so much money, get out here, pat us on the head at least.”


["I still feel Angela's pain!": photo GH]

But that doesn’t bother me. Again. I feel her pain. Snow is a bother, groceries run low, there are millions of errands to do. I get it.

In the spirit of ‘we’re all in this together whether you live in Warbler Woods or Wortley Village,’ here’s what I suggest the Corporation of the City of London do in the future to resolve such complaints, wherever they may come from in this totally fair and snowy city of ours.

First, publish the snow plow philosophy every October 1st so that everybody is on the same page as soon as the first flake hits the turf.

It would make for great reading. (Like the time the city published all the roads that needed repair. One whole page in a very small font size. I loved it.)

E.g., Major roads first, such as blah blah blah. Followed by secondary roads such as blah blah. Finally, little out of the way places like blah, and - dead last - that little crescent over in White Hills nobody even knows exists.

Second, when it comes to secondary roads and sections of the city (East London, North London, etc.), or subdivisions, rotate the mix annually - so everybody feels important every fourth or fifth year, in a fair and highly judicious manner - because we all pays them taxes and we all want that pat on the head.

Even me, every fifth year.

***

And coupons for free cookies would be nice!

Please click here for another Letter to the Editor.

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Climate Change Concerns: Our growth has limits PT 1

You’re on your own.

If you want climate change concerns to be addressed in your lifetime you’ll have to address them by yourself.

As you may already know, and bearing the UN climate summit in Cancun, Mexico in mind, greenhouse gas emissions will not be reduced this year. (Or the year after that, or the year after that, or the year after that).

The results of the summit are best summarized by the cartoon below:


(Dolighan.com; photo from London Free Press, Dec. 7)

“OK, I think we finally have all the oars in...”

No, we don’t. We obviously don’t.


“... We can begin to move forward on climate change.”

No, we can’t. We obviously can’t.

We will suffer much more tragic loss (up to this point in time, our losses have not been tragic enough) before governments act collectively to reduce carbon emissions and slow global warming.

We know the truth.

For example:

“Human activities are imposing enormous costs on the Earth’s climate and other life-support systems... Whether one looks at the loss of forests, fisheries, species, or climate stability, the level of environmental destruction is very high and, in almost all cases, rising rapidly.” (The Limits of Growth, essay by J. G. Speth)


Obviously, not rapidly enough for governments to notice.

“The exponential expansions of human populations and, even more, economic activity are the main drivers of these momentous transformations. For all the material blessings economic progress has provided, its impact on the natural world must be counted in the balance as tragic loss.”

After Cancun, some may say that there is still hope for the long run, or, that you’re not entirely on your own.

One such person - Gwynne Dyer, author of Climate Wars and Crawling from the Wreckage (his latest book).

More to follow.

***

Please click here to read more Climate Change Concerns.

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I Ask You: Will oil be at $100 per barrel by Christmas?

On December 8 the price of oil started the day at $88.69 per barrel US.

Let’s see what it is this morning, Dec. 10, (hey, only 14 more shopping days ‘til Christmas).

$88.48, according to price of oil. org

Over the last several weeks the price has generally climbed. And it will continue to climb in the future, in spite of the wee drop in the last 2 days.


So many costs are going north.

Perhaps we need a new philosophy of life.

I ask you: What should it be?

***

Does ‘Get Small before you Get Low’ work for you?

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