In Part I of the Climate Gap, we talked about the failure of our representative government to approach the challenges of climate change because of the power of dark money altering the perception of climate change.
With partisan politics limiting the effectiveness of government, or the outright purchase of government officials through their election campaigns, gerrymandering, manipulation of voter rights and other forms of economic corruption such as lobbying, and Super PACs, the United States has continued to fail at addressing any aspect of climate mitigation. We haven’t even managed to organize well enough to deal with adapting to the problem with infrastructure failures dogging our heels as we #retrorebuild while running in place.
In Part II of the Climate Gap, we talked about the disproportionate effects of climate change being felt by and carried by the poorest people living on Earth. While climate change is being felt by everyone across the planet, the effects are not being equally distributed with the bulk of the damage being done in the equatorial regions and to citizens and nations in those regions being the most heavily affected.
Ultimately the effects of those ever-increasing climate challenges will leave EVERYONE struggling as supply lines, famine, rising sea levels, desertification, water scarcity, flooding, wildfires, and super-storms increasingly affect every country in different ways. However, with the creation of a global economy, no country will remain separate or protected from the ravages of climate.
Part III of the Climate Gap, held on October 14 asked the question:
What’s the difference between climate change mitigation and adaptation?
The answer while seemingly easy has proven to be the sticking point by the most powerful nations in the world unwilling to spend the trillions necessary to deal directly with the problem through true mitigation, instead preferring to deal only with the challenges as they arise, ignoring the escalating nature of the climate change over time. The axiom is simple. The longer you wait, the worse things will get. The more expensive things will get. The more likely it is we will end up going to war over dwindling resources.
Ultimately it comes down to:
• Mitigation works toward resolving the problem of climate change through lifestyle changes, transformation of the economic model, reduction in military spending, and prioritizing the development of more effective infrastructure capable of reducing the development of further greenhouse effects.
• Adaptation is the short-term, less expensive manner of only fixing things damaged by the effects of climate change. If your government has opted to go for the less expensive solution, they are in essence kicking the can down the road hoping for a technological fix that will resolve the problem without them having to be responsible and change their lifestyles. This may ultimately mean we end up engaged in dangerous technological fixes such as geoengineering which will only delay the inevitable.
• How do we explain and demand true mitigation of climate change, #futureproofing our society rather than just rebuilding towns and cities destroyed by disaster after disaster?
• What can we do to get our government on board with mitigation?
• What can you do to make yourself ready should your government decide adaptation is the best you can hope for as it prepares for the coming resource wars?
All this and more, on Climate Change by the Elements at 5:00 PM PDT.
Climate Change by the Elements
A live-cast of The Good Men Project, produced by Lisa Hickey
Show hosts are: Thaddeus Howze and Carol Bluestein
Dial-in access: 1-701-801-1220
Access code: 934-317-242 (then press #)
You can also reach the show via your computer at:
https://www.startmeeting.com/wall/934317242
Page Link: https://fb.me/e/5XZ6wF03N
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This post is republished on Medium.
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