The information age has given us overwhelming evidence that our future is in jeopardy. The internal combustion engine produces carbon that contributes to global warming, and yet, we continue to produce them. Those vehicles are more efficient and powerful than Henry Ford’s original model T, but to produce them, they also require a lot more energy and materials. We should stop buying them now.
The burning of kerosene in jet engines is polluting the atmosphere with carbon and other elements and this is causing extreme weather events often seen on our nightly news casts. If the people ignore this fact and go flying as before the pandemic, there will be enough fuel burnt by the airline industry to put us over the plus two degrees rise in temperature.
The permafrost in Siberia, in Greenland, and our north is melting, releasing many tons of methane, a more catastrophic greenhouse gas than carbon. The headline in the Nelson Star “Confronting Climate Change” and the resulting vague plan is an unrealistic response to an evermore real problem. Nelson council should take concrete steps to fire-smart Nelson. Fort McMurray was not prepared and the people had to flee for their lives as the town went up in flames.
It is a good idea to replace lawns with gardens and white clover. The bees love the white flowers and the clover requires less water. It is possible to purchase a hydroponic growing container that can grow two acres worth of lettuce. So, let’s resist the cocaine of our affluent society: the burning of carbon fuel. Resist excess driving and firing up your skidoo or lawn mower. You are mindlessly adding fuel to an out-of-control climate change inferno.
Brian Zacharias
Nelson