Damaged Beyond Repair? Our Home Needs a Rehab

February 3, 2007 – Vol.11 No.45

DAMAGED BEYOND REPAIR? OUR HOME NEEDS A MAJOR REHAB.

Planet Earth isn’t like some old car you haul to the junk yard when it’s worn out. Planet Earth is more like an historic old house: when it gets tired and need of repair you fix it up or give it a total renovation job. This oil historic house is also our home and only home at the moment. But it’s broken and it’s time for a major rehab.

The first of four major reports have been issued on the state of global warming by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) a joint effort of the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).

The possibilities look pretty grim: up to two feet of sea level rise by the end of the century; an average temperature increase up to more than 7 degrees F; summer Arctic sea ice gone after mid-century; more droughts; and stronger tropical storms.

The report is considered conservative. A new study, published on the eve of the IPCC report, says that seas are already rising more than expected and not reflected in the IPCC report.

In all, the home your grandkid’s grow up in might be quite different from yours today.

But does this grim scenario mean we should sit back and let the roof leak and walls cave in? Surely not. We need to start the renovation job before the old house falls down.

To start with we’ve got to reengineer the the economic foundation of the planet, our energy supply. We’ve got to rethink how it holds the planet together but keep it from being a continuing contributor to global warming.

We need a general plan before we begin work.

As much energy as possible needs to be used, not wasted. Increased energy efficiency does this. The less fossil fuels we consume for the same amount of work - driving to your job, running your computer, heating your house, powering a factory - the less fossil fuel exhaust will go into the air.

Excess electricity needs to be stored for later use. Electric energy generated at night should be saved for daylight hours when it’s needed. Instead of building more power plants, we need to utilize all the power that we have. An Apollo program for energy needs energy storage as its top priority.

Oil and natural gas would be better used for making things - plastics and carbon fiber products - than burning them for fuel. Petrochemical products should be the mainstay of oil-producing nations to help create much needed jobs and long term wealth and security.

Coal is a tough nut to crack. Sequestering carbon from power plants may be the only choice.

Our communities need to be rethought. Suburbanites shouldn’t have to drive miles for a quart of milk. New developments need to have some retail facilities within walking distance. Old ones need to allow them in. Rezoning could do this and create jobs at the same time.

Consumers and businesses need to be rewarded for cutting their energy footprint. Sales taxes penalize us for buying things. Shouldn’t we get a tax break when we buy things or use services that cut our energy or carbon footprint?

And finally maybe we should slow down a bit. Why is it important that nonperishable goods be rushed to markets or factory assembly lines? Why do we insist on the fastest vehicles for transport (airplanes) when the slower ones (trains) arrive only a few minutes behind? The faster things go, the more energy they consume. A little slower doesn’t cost that much time.

Like all house renovation projects, the Planet Earth renovation project will cost lots of money. But the money won’t be wasted. It will create jobs and business opportunities for decades.

For the IPCC report visit http://www.ipcc.ch/