Four more years 03 November 04

Yes, for those good people in the United Kingdom, please do know that at least half the people of my country are sane, and think, and care. I for one appreciate that support very much and we do need your help in keeping the flame alive. It is very difficult for people here to be proactive when our media seems to avoid even talking about global warming.

Many in the other half who voted for Bush care and truly believe passionately about being moral but have been misled by Church leaders. When I take my 87-year old mother to Catholic Church, I hear the priest in the pulpit tell the congregation to support candidates against abortion. Every time I take my Mom to Church, I have to sit and listen to this. They place a guilt trip on Catholics and this has been effective.

The Republicans have been very successful in manipulating people on issues such as abortion and gay marriage. If Bush won, which it appears, then this will be the reason. Remember also, that Bush’s father was head of our CIA. These guys are professionals.

Maybe, we need to target church leaders about global warming since they have an influence in the Republican support base! Maybe I need to do this locally! Maybe, we need a campaign directed at their religious base of support!

Now, 90% of my family and relatives voted for Kerry but I have an older brother in the state of Ohio who I am sure voted for Bush. I tried to talk to him on one occasion but abortion seemed to be his issue for supporting Bush and he would not even listen to anything I would have to say. So, I am sure you can imagine my pain in this.

I did manage to influence some strangers at grocery stores and coffee shops but my state of Virginia is so rural and for Bush that it did not make a difference. I would say, where I live in northern Virginia, was overwhelmingly for Kerry. I rarely found a person in my area for Bush.

So, what do we do now? First, I do hope for some measure of success in Iraq even with Bush. It is in everyone’s best interest that this does not become another Vietnam. I have doubts that we can do this but hope we can. If we are not able to bring stability, then this will further set us back in many detrimental ways. Kerry was our hope to navigate these difficult waters but Bush has to deal with it now and it is in his best interest to be successful. If he fails then hopefully their will be a backlash and he and the Republican Party will get the blame and they cannot blame Kerry now and maybe the democrats will gain more influence.

It is very painful as an American to see my country go down the tubes. I love my country and think of all the wonderful things we have accomplished over the preceding century. We helped the UK defeat Nazi Germany in a conflict that we had to engage in. We did not engage with Russia but fought a cold war that never became hot. We have been innovative in many ways which created many wonderful products.

So, we still have good thoughtful intelligent caring people here. There were people who waited 9 hours in line to vote in Ohio and did it because they must care about our country. That is the only good thing about our election in that people rose above their apathy. We had record turnouts. What we need is leadership! All of us must become leaders. Our world demands this!

And we Americans do need your help now. I need it. I promise you that I will do my best and when I post later more detailed, technical, solution-oriented blogs, I will want your input back. I am working on ideas like buying compact fluorescent lights to give as Christmas gifts. I have many good ideas and thoughtful insights that may be useful.

Please know that I do not have the intellectual equivalent here in the USA and appreciate the dialogue with the good people of the UK who I admire greatly. I find Mark and many people on this site to be a breath of fresh air for me personally and consider all of you to be my good friends. Thank-you Mark and others for being there!

One of my favorite inspiring movies for me in the past was Apollo 13. I guess being an engineer, I would like that movie. But for me it is analogous to the situation we face because there was a strict timeline and it took tremendous ingenuity and determined leadership to save the astronauts. The most memorable line was Failure is Not an Option. So, if you never saw this movie, then you might enjoy the story and the drama. It is this mind-set and focus I wish my country would aspire to as demonstrated Hollywood style in this movie. So, I think we have, in the words of Mark to keep the flame alive because when it comes to climate change, Failure is Not an Option!

And again, to the wonderful people of the United Kingdom … thanks for being there! You guys help keep me from despair! Climate change does not recognize our national boundaries! We are in this together!

There are many of us in the USA who agree with you. Part of the problem is the superior ORGANIZATION of the right (mail, radio, money, and a more homogeneous base). On the other hand, the left here may have the numbers but are essentially dis-organized. Any ideas would be appreciated!

How could it happen again? You go to bed full of optimism that Bush is defeated and awake to the grey reality that we have to face another four years of ignorant dogma, state-sponsored terror and bare-faced corruption…

America wields power that affects all our lives, not least over the climate we all share…a massive majority of the World’s people wanted Bush brought down. So where is the ‘democracy’ that Bush preaches from his pulpit of ignorance? For this American President and those who voted for him, American so-called ‘democracy’ provides the cover for the continuing pursuit of America’s selfish and destructive aims.

Now where’s that punch-bag…

I agree that the Catholic Church tipped the scale for Bush by focusing so narrowly on abortion (& embryonic stem cell research, etc.), without considering the issue of massive eco-genocide, the abortion of our late great planet Earth, through runaway GW & other problems. We can appeal to our priests & leaders of other churches to actively come on board to abate GW. The National Council of Churches in the U.S. has a GW campaign, and the evangelicals have their “What Would Jesus Drive” campaign to fight global warming. I plan to contact my priest and bishop.

Since I am in Texas, there was really no point at all in bringing up the issue here before the election (which would have made GW seem like a political issue, rather than the common good issue it is – and I have already been called a commie & green left for my concern re GW). I plan to inform my priest about GW & the beginnings of possible evidence of runaway GW. But this has to be done calmly and diplomatically, with an appeal for the common good, using the pro-life theme. There is some tools for all you Catholics (and members of other churches) out there that can be used in writing letters to your priests, pastors, & bishops. For one, the U.S. Bishops did come out with a statement on climate change in 2001: <http: />. For other churches, see: <http: />. My guess is that very few priests & pastors know about these. You can attach the statements to your letter. Included in the letter should be a mention of practical things your church and parishoners can do, baby steps in the right direction for starters (my Little Way of Environmental Healing – see the info on me), things that save money…

Another avenue is join the Catholic environmental blog page: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/catholic-environmental-justice/ The leader, though a sincere environmentalist, is anti-abortion & pro-Bush, but others are more anti-Bush. Can’t we be anti-abortion & anti-Bush. I had written Kerry many months ago, begging him to come out as anti-abortion, at least make a point that he will reduce abortion more than Bush could ever hope to by passing laws through social programs that help moms (health insurance, affordable childcare, higher minimum wages for working moms, etc.).

I’ll post my letter here to my priest, once I write it. Luckily my priest is very pro-environment (though the abortion issue it seems made him go for Bush).

Lynn, I find your response to be very useful and empowering. I have read many of your blog entries and have come to know you as a very compassionate person just like Mark is.

For the record, I am not Catholic even though much of my relatives are. I take my mother to mass only for her benefit. My current spiritual views have been influenced in the past by a church that goes by the name Unity. I no longer participate in formal organized religion because I simply like to keep my mind totally open and totally objective. I can however summarize my spiritual focus by this statement: The whole world is my church and everyone in it is my teacher.

Now, I do find your response very helpful and I did think about sitting down with a priest and talking to him about global warming. Your insights will help me to do this in a way that is more respectful, instructive, and less confrontational.

So, many thanks to you Lynn for your informative and thoughtful response. I do plan to follow up on it and I will provide feedback at a later date.

The URL didn’t come out in my message, so here it is again:

www.nccbuscc.org/sdwp/international/globalclimate.htm

Here is the URL for various theological statements & resources re CC & environmental issues:

http://northfield.aocn.aurora.edu/interfaithccc/theology.html

It is a sad day to see this happen and I feel your pain and anger. We were so close.

For me, it is a nightmare and now I feel an ever stronger desire to be involved not just from an environmental point of view and concern for our common plight but now out of pure fear.

I think in some way that a future event may hold Bush and those folks who voted for Bush accountable and the rest of us will suffer with them.

I am not giving up and I will do my very best. Like Mark said, we have to keep the flame alive.

It seems that Bush will still require some international support for Iraq at some point.

It seems totally appropriate to me at least that the UK and Europe not do this unconditionally any more. I think that how we conduct ourselves in Iraq should be leveraged. And, the UK could withdraw support unless the USA acknowledges global warming and makes a comprehensive plan to address our emissions. Maybe even signing Kyoto.

It seems that politcally diverse issues can be part of a successfully negotiated foreign policy. Why not use Iraq as a bargaining chip to influence our global warming policy? At least make a statement!

I know what I suggest may sound absurd to some, but I am just throwing out an idea that may have merit. We have to find some way to influence our president.

We in the USA tried to stop him. Now it is up to global forces. Maybe Blair can talk some sense into Bush.

-the depth of my despair. Thank you for looking for something resembling a bright side, Mark. Personally, I can’t. Because you’re right: Bush-and the mindset of those who agree with him—IS the greatest danger the world faces. And with Peak Oil, Global Warming, Climate Change, and environmental degradation lurking everywhere you look, that is saying A LOT. Talk to you guys more when (if)I’m feeling better….

Corporate exploitation will always continue. The degree and scale only change. For 4 more years, it will speed up incredibly if we don’t fight it. Our children deserve more than us giving up now.

D

Bush’s victory seems to indicate that we need to focus on the people more than the politicians.

I think that after we grieve over this loss, we must reexamine our own individual strategy and for me it seems that I need to talk to more people about global warming and to become more proactive. I need to continue to educate myself about these issues and most important to cross reference them to related issues.

I think that this forum here on Mark’s site can be a place whereby we can help each other become more effective leaders and provide continued moral support.

We need to become more effective in how we deliver a message and this is the key to influence. We need to reach people and adopt effective techniques similar to those used to elect Bush. A focus on the churches may be a part of that process. I will articulate more of this in future blog entries on communication techniques. Essentially, we have to sell our ideas.

I am researching everything I can to become more informed. I will soon post blog entries that I think will benefit others on understanding the technical details. Hopefully my contributions will help us become better experts concerning the problems and solutions to climate change.

I believe the more we can demonstrate, that we know what we are talking about, then our words have more power. Knowing how to effectively communicate with various people will be an important part of how we all can succeed.

We, as a community on this website, have a noble obligation and a responsibility to change our world. Nothing is more noble than leading the people of the planet to save the planet.

No matter what the odds, our focus and vision must illuminate the path toward success. Vicki, it is up to us now! We are the light.

We must rouse our own emotions and become as passionate about our vision as any religious zealot. We have to hold a vision of success despite any and all setbacks. We just have to work harder and become more effective.

Mark sets a good example and is a good mentor. We need to become like Mark and multiply his efforts. We as a community here need to become one synergistic mastermind and together we will become more than we ever thought we could!

I hope this helps. I believe in you Viki! I believe in Mark! I believe in me! I believe in us! Let our light shine brightly so others can know our message!

Despair not! This is not the end. This is only the beginning!

Philip, you raised some important points about the success of the Republican Party and what we can learn from this to help us communicate our message more effectively.

Bush won partly because of support by churches which obsessed over the abortion and gay-marriage issues.

Now, what if we could educate ministers and church leaders about the dangers of global warming and what average citizens can do to help stop it.

Let us get their evangelical focus directed on the national security resulting from changing our energy infrastructure to be less dependent on oil and reducing our reliance on fossil fuels.

Since Bush won, they have to have something else to talk to their congregations about! With Kerry defeated, he left a vacuum for these church ministers. Let us fill that vacuum.

I am an advocate of the separation of church and state. However, now that the churches have intentionally focused on political issues and involved themselves directly in our politics, it seems appropriate that they deal with the fallout from citizens concerned with issues they have not addressed and are not being addressed by their champion in Bush.

Let us target local church leaders in our community and buy them Mark’s High Tide for them to read and then develop a dialogue with them. Then, they might deliver a sermon on global warming to their congregation one day.

Now, our wonderful Lynn, herself a devout compassionate Christian and advocate of environmental concerns, has articulated her insights on this website to enable us to be more effective when talking to church leaders. Lynn has been making her case on this for quite some time now. With Bush’s victory, it has become evident that she speaks from wisdom on the need to engage the churches.

Bush’s victory has taught us that we must respect evangelical groups and engage them. Just like Bush did for political purposes, we can help them focus their religious passions to be more proactive against climate change and to share this message with emotion to their congregation.

We must acknowledge that within the religious communities exist the potential for great proactively when they embrace an agenda that can focus on climate change issues with religious zeal.

These are passionate people who need our guidance and they can become our greatest allies. What better way to erode the Republican support base than to enlist their own legions on behalf of the planet!

Our job is to become thoroughly educated on all issues so we become experts on climate change and what we can do. Let us throw out the title of lay person. No time to whine.

We each have to become a leader like Mark. Mark cannot do it all. Mark laid a foundation in his book High Tide by making a convincing case that climate change is real, it is now, and it is urgent! We can leverage our efforts by promoting his book to influential people. We can also do this with family and friends. We all have to continue to be knowledgeable about the technical issues and discuss viable options and solutions which is an ongoing process and one I will spend much time on in later blog entries.

An old friend told me once that “Bad things happen when good people do nothing.” I see the wisdom in that.

Personally, I am unemployed. I have been waiting out the election to see the victor because my direction in life would have been to align myself with an industry promoted by Kerry’s agenda to reduce our country’s dependence on imported oil. I was hoping Kerry would win.

Now, because of Bush’s victory, it seems like I must involve myself more politically and play not only a technical role but a role to educate an uninformed public. Interesting how life goes. I would rather work on solving the technical problems but the need for additional involvement seems to be of equal urgency.

that the U.S. Senate & House probably would not have passed Kyoto, if Kerry had been elected. However, a president could greatly inspire citizens to reduce their GH emissions – the way Kennedy inspired us to improve our health with his 50 mile hike. We will now have to inspire ourselves & others (this is a great blog page to keep us inspired). We don’t need Kyoto to screw in compact fluorescent bulbs or turn off water while brushing our teeth. We can reduce our GH emissions by 1/2 to 3/4 cost effectively – in our homes & businesses & schools & churches, etc. I have done so in my home, and am working on my workplace & church.

Furthermore, there is a chance we can pass the CLIMATE STEWARDSHIP ACT – it came closer than expected last time, and will come up again soon. Those with reps who voted against it could write letters (I will post my letter here to my Senator, once it’s written). You can find out how your reps voted on all environmental issues, including this one, by going to www.lcv.org, then entering your zipcode, then clicking on each of your reps.

Bless you, if you voted for Bush because of his pro-life stance, now you can help with a full-fledged pro-life agenda by working to abate GW, other environmental harms, & other injustices leading to harm & death.

Dan, I hadn’t thought of taking your approach, but it certainly makes sense. There is a lot of resitance to GW among some “conservatives”, but we can do what we can. Start with churches who are open to it. I read Lynn’s comments and will bookmark some of her links to church-based support for environmental protection.

Thanks a lot!

Dan directed me to your posts, and tou have a good perspective. I checked out some of the links and like this one:

http://www.creationcare.org/resources/declaration.php

We may not agree on everything but, praise God, we can agree on some things!

There is only one thing more powerful than climate change and that is our own human ingenuity and persistence. Our ancient ancestors evolved and developed incredible brains that enabled us to survive the challenge of the last ice age. We developed the use of language to communicate among ourselves to more effectively meet past challenges.

So, today, we are well equipped as humans to take on the challenges ahead to prevent devastating climate change from happening. The power already lies within our own imagination on how we can innovate and adapt and how we can communicate effectively among our species.

We are so fortunate to be called to this noble cause of saving the planet for all future generations. This is not only an opportunity but a great mission that even God would endorse. Let us adapt to communicate in the language of the preachers in evangelical style!

Somewhere in the Bible it says:

What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us.

I always liked that line.

An old favorite: The journey of a thousand miles begins with one step. All progress will be made one step at a time.

Thanks for your response back. Let me know how it goes. We will need to compare notes over time and celebrate any victories no matter how small on our progress.

It will be most important to educate ourselves most thoroughly on all issues before engaging and I hope I can help with this process later. I am still mostly a student. Mark can help us I am sure.

I only know Lynn from reading her blog entries on this site. She is truly a person of the heart!

Good Luck!

I am based in the UK, and I am very glad that all the political parties here seem to be behind taking action to deal with Global Warming.

I am not sure that will be the case in the US, but I am very glad we have a Bush supporter contributing to this site. Personally, I think it would be disasterous if taking care of Global Warming became (overly) associated with the Democratic party – and all the tribal battles that go with it.

On a related subject, I think the Europeans also should concentrate on developing their own plans, and do less meddling with Americans affairs. The (British) Guardian campaign to influence American voters opinions was a terrible idea, in my opinion. I think a much more powerful approach would be for Europeans to lead by example and have the confidence to be who we want to be (hmmm .. that wasn’t expressed very well).

BTW, Peter, thanks for recommending “Environment & Statecraft” – just starting to read it!

Thanks Peter for your helpful thoughts as always.

I agree with you that climate change should never be a focus of political division. Climate change affects everyone. All who participate on this site are very important people in my opinion and need not feel alienated. I consider everyone here to be my good friends. In fact, I would feel sad if I said anything that would offend someone personally and if I ever did, then I apologize.

A great Republican who once ran for president here (defeated by Bush) and later supported the reelection of President Bush is John McCain. He is a Republican and is highly respected by many Democrats and is actually a good friend of John Kerry. John McCain always has good things to say about John Kerry. They both served in the Vietnam War.

John McCain is the lead Senator in the US Congress cosponsoring a bill that would bring the USA down to the year 2000 level of greenhouse emissions. John McCain is intelligent and understands climate issues well enough to sponsor a bill addressing climate change.

So everyone be clear on this. A Republican, not a Democrat, is leading the cause of reducing greenhouse gas emissions in the USA.

John McCain is noteworthy in that he was a POW for many years during the Vietnam War and transcended that awful experience to become a great Senator and the best hope for moderation in the Republican Party. He favors more informed debate and less polarizing political campaigning.

Concerning involvement with the USA, I think Peter is correct in that it does little good to overly influence the general public here. Unlike you guys in Britain we are very isolated and ignorant of other countries and cultures.

The good folks in Britain and Europe have been influenced to know better how to be more inclusive with other cultures from proximity to each other and therefore focus more cooperatively than the independently minded USA.

So, people here in the USA get defensive too easily when they think foreign governments are trying to tell them what to do. The word freedom is misused often and people here internalize the concept too much and want to remain independent and free.

Americans tend to think their affluence and lifestyle are rights more than choices which can be altered for the benefit of their neighbors and the world. Lynn sets a good example in seeking a simple and happy life and many affluent people can remain unhappy even with all that money. Most people here overly value prosperity and abundance in detrimental ways.

On the other hand, Peter, it is still important for your good people to engage us. Your cooperative efforts are superior to the go it alone approach by the USA.

Peter, It was Mark’s article in our Washington Post that led me to interact with Mark and buy his book High Tide and now I have become a part of this site. So, if I did not read Mark’s article in our Washington Post, then I would not be writing you today.

So, educating our people is still an OK thing to do. Political battles tend to make people defensive. At first with Mark, I was a little defensive until Mark responded to an email I sent him and now here I am spending my time writing you. We still need the influence of education to understand climate change better. Our media is not doing this for us.

I do believe that it is also fair game for governments to interact with each other diplomatically for their own self interests which is what foreign policy is all about. I do believe that preventing climate change, being in everyone’s best interest, should be a part of constant dialogue by proactive governments with the US government and the UK is no exception to this.

I also believe that it is appropriate and helpful for other governments to help us with innovative ideas. America prides herself to be great innovators (I take personal pride in our innovative side and I consider myself to be highly creative) but I have discovered that we can learn much from other countries that develop technical solutions to reduce energy consumption and greenhouse emissions. Other countries have a focus on this and we are behind.

I look forward when I later discuss the technical aspects of infrastructure change in the USA and I am sure to get some valuable feedback from you Peter.

Furthermore, we may need help in America in identifying how we can best meet Kyoto because the major politicians here evidently cannot see how we can do it successfully and navigate the problems with our economy and people. I think other countries are in a better position on a technical basis to help us and the UK is a noteworthy example.

Another important factor articulated on this site and making it difficult for the USA to comply with Kyoto is population growth. Each year, we add 16 more people than the UK does with respect to population growth. That means we add 2.7 million more Americans compared with only 170,000 more British each year to our respective population totals.

So, our population growth only creates more energy consumption and more greenhouse gas emissions even when we make progress in per capita emission reductions. This is a very difficult problem for us in many ways.

In summary, I think we need help in educating our public in a non threatening way. I think that governments have a right to interact with ours on the mutual benefits of preventing climate change. I think technological discussions and exchanges help tremendously and that process I believe is encouraged by the Kyoto Protocol.

Finally, I believe that the United Kingdom should continue to take a positive proactive leadership role in the world and all in the UK can be proud of that. I am proud of that myself and why I like you guys so much!

I would like to hold a vision that one day all of America will see our light and step up to the plate. The world will need our innovative side and optimism to help solve this problem.

Be assured that this paradigm shift will occur in my country just as the Iron Curtain came crashing down seemingly all at once when before it seemed that this would never happen.

It will happen in America. We first must recognize our own light and calling to this cause. I hold this vision for myself and my country.

Good on you, Dan! Lincoln Stephens is another GOP Senator who’s very big on environmental issues. Oh, to have more legislators, in both parties, coming to their senses!

Wish I shared your faith. But I do agree on the need to educate—like in crash-course time!

Hi Vicki,

Your response encourages me and boosts my morale greatly. I have a smile on my face from your encouraging words. It is lonely here in the USA for me as you might imagine so I am glad you liked my post. Thanks.

And since I write so often, you might wonder if I have a life? I do not so I have plenty of time for all these long-winded posts.

I adore the people on this site from the United Kingdom and I consider all of you very important people. I want you to know this and feel that from me. Vicki, you are a very important person!

Bush and the Republicans won partly from a sense of self-confidence and determination. It amazes me how they managed this despite how they wrecked our entire society and long-term economy.

I find them worthy of study only for what we can learn from it as to be more effective in our own efforts.

As for me, my optimism and faith come from various sources. I can say that many Americans have developed a general character trait of optimism. We believe we can fix anything. That can get us into big trouble when we are not well informed. At other times, we have sometimes done something that many would have considered impossible.

Also, I am a mechanical engineer. I understand physics, solar energy, and power plant design (I have expanded my bio). Engineers are trained problem solvers. It is in our blood to solve problems and the more challenging the better we like it.

When a former president challenged us to land a man on the moon and do it by the end of the same decade, then the engineering community simply said OK and we did it.

So, for me, I want to engage in every aspect of this problem from the political, the technical, the social, the climate science, the physiological, the spiritual, the religious, the educational, the cultural, the national, the international, the economic and the list goes on. This is a problem for all of humanity.

This problem has a potential of bringing us closer together since we cannot have a go it alone strategy. It requires the combined ingenuity and cooperative efforts of everyone on planet earth. Wow!

We live in interesting times. We, at this moment, have the power to correct the course of future events for the next 10,000 years. The people who lead this charge will be read about in the history books for countless future generations. You may be one of them.

One thing is clear, humans have an innate desire to live and survive. That is in everyone’s genetic code. That fact is important because once a person sees the light so to speak and becomes totally aware, and then this should lead to action. Leadership and education can help all people come to this self actualization.

What is amazing to me is that we actually posses the ability to understand we have a problem to begin with and understand it as well as we do. That fact is so amazing to me.

Our ancient ancestors were at the mercy of nature with no understanding or influence over their climate. That is not the case today. If we have the power to affect our climate adversely, then we also have the power to affect our climate in a positive way.

We have the ability to develop our climate modeling forecast to be ever more accurate with our computer technology that is ever advancing.

Have you heard of those crazy climate engineering schemes that seem scary but may have serious potential.

We have the ingenuity to place giant mirrors in orbit around the earth to reflect some of the sun’s energy away from the planet. We have the ingenuity to plant carbon absorbing plankton in desert areas of the ocean.

Now, I do not subscribe to these schemes as our primary focus at all so I want to make that point extremely clear. Renewable energy, conservation, and a change in lifestyle should be our first choice. The environmentalists are correct on many issues and I think we have to pay close attention to all environmental issues. Mark has told me of the importance to stay within the boundaries of planet ecology when we discussed this topic.

However, I do believe that these crazy ideas help us to know that it is not over till it is over. We have many options of research and it is best to research any and all ideas objectively and scientifically.

There will be a serious scientific debate over crazy engineering schemes in the UK this January. I believe it will be held in Cambridge. I wish I could be there to listen.

It has been consistently shown that research in one field of science or engineering cause breakthroughs for other fields of science and engineering. Our computers came about from the research to place men on the moon by our country.

Climate science advanced greatly from military research since the military wanted to know the precise weather of the battlefield with precision so the weather would not spoil their plans.

So, I believe that in the quest to save the planet from climate change, we can leave no stone unturned in terms of any ideas that may lead to success.

Again, those climate schemes I shared are only to illustrate the potential of human ingenuity in solving this problem for our planet. That is my only point in bringing this idea into this post. Our good Mark may shudder if we waste too much time discussing these schemes and I discourage that until the group of engineers brings this issue to light in a serious way this coming January. I hope I will learn of the results of their dialogue and see what they come up with.

My only hope in those discussions is that they remain very objective and that no potentially promising idea be tossed into the garbage heap prematurely from lack of vision or fear of the unknown. Again, I think all ideas have to be researched correctly until proven wrong and even that bit of knowledge may have unknown benefits.

Thomas A. Edison, the great American inventor of the incandescent bulb was once asked this question:

Mr. Edison, why don’t you give up in your quest to create this electric light? You have conducted 10,000 experiments and every single one of these experiments resulted in failure.

Mr. Edison’s reply: Sir, I have made tremendous progress. I know 10,000 ways in which it will not work!

Vicki, you are a study of human nature. And understanding human nature is critical for the success of our quest to save the planet.

You are aware of the problems we face. Many people over here are ignorant of climate issues. You know more right now than 1 in 10,000 Americans know about climate change. And that may be an understatement. So, I make my case clearly why I think you are important. So, we need all the help we can get.

I notice you have some expertise in finance. You made a comment about monetary policy. I assure you that being able to translate our climate concerns into financial language will be tremendous in influencing people who think only in these terms. In other words, people understand the language of the dollar (pound). It is all about proper communication. I suck at economics and I am broke. Money is power in our country so I can learn much from you.

Maybe you can help me later when I have to delve into economic calculations and help me know how to best present these ideas to influence people who need to make investments into energy efficiency.

For example, I went to a church function today for Mom. There was an elderly lady that was talking to Mom and I began talking about compact fluorescent lights. I confused her because I talked about climate and technical matters. She seemed very annoyed with me. You know how we technical guys can be. And I talked too much. Bet you are not surprised. Then, I explained how she could save money and bingo, her “light” lit up and now she wants to buy them only to save money. Yea, who cares about climate-change! We need to save a few pennies. That is important. Right!

I do want to plant seeds of enthusiasm and optimism. I am doing this mostly for myself because I need to have it. I have concluded that nothing worthwhile is ever accomplished without these positive emotions. We have to use our intellect to its maximum but it is our emotions which drive us.

Finally, I do get discouraged, depressed, cynical, and have all those negative emotions simply because I am a human being like everyone else. These negative emotions when I allow them inside cause me to be less productive and less creative and I have no fun.

I cannot be motivated at all if I think I am going to fail. It just does not work for me. So, I have to have a sense of faith and vision out of pure necessity for myself and I truly want to do everything in my power to help prevent climate change.

And concerning Bush and Howard and all those people who have done so well to create so many problems I have this to say which you might like:

Success is the best revenge against all those who would desire to dampen our spirits and defeat our noble cause!

In other words, we cannot let the bastards get us down!

Ok, I tricked you to read this but there is a method to my madness.

We can never use the word Global Warming again! Never! Never! Never! The proper word is Climate Change! I will repeat it again, the word is Climate Change!

Why you may ask?

Because George W. Bush hired a top marketing company and all the Republicans were told to do this. They were told to use the word Climate Change instead of Global Warming when they talked about the issue.

I just saw a TV documentary about advertising and marketing and how we respond to emotions rather than logic and reason. I took notes.

I said before that the Republican victory was worthy of study on how they were able to do it. The Republicans targeted people by demographics and tailored a message to exactly what the people wanted to hear. The Democrats also did the exact same thing but the Republicans had more practice at it.

All in all, marketing techniques were employed in this presidential campaign using research companies who compile information from census data and from data obtained through credit-card companies. Small computers, called palm pilots with a serious of 1 minute ads tailored to various issues were played to an individual during door to door campaigning. Only the correct ad was used corresponding to a voter’s own personal view. This did not occur in my state of VA but happened in the battleground states. This technique was used by the Kerry campaign.

So, for the uninformed people, Global Warming might sound like a Nice Spring Day during winter. But the word Climate Change invokes an image of undesired permanently changed weather patterns. I guess that was why the Republicans always used the word climate change. It also sounded like they were up on the issues.

So, for the people of this site who respond to reason we can use any word but to others we communicate with, we must use the correct words. So, it is again Climate Change not Global Warming!

I myself, being an engineer, strive for objectivity so this message is of particular importance to me. I can look at nuclear energy and wind power and evaluate them objectively without emotion. Advances in nuclear technology may address the problems with radioactivity and waste. I understand this easier than others can. I also understand how a coal power plant can burn a train car load of coal every minute so I look at the options we have. Even compact fluorescent lights contain the toxic mercury gas and their disposal will become an issue with their widespread use. So, it is easy for me to keep an open mind. This is true for most of us who strive to educate ourselves thoroughly on the issues. But mostly through our own human nature (a plug for Vicki), we respond to emotion.

In addition, I was mistaken in precious blogs when I promoted the use of positive emotions only. I stand corrected after further thought. I think it is good to remain positive to promote creative thought. However, the negative emotions have an important role to play.

The emotion of fear is extremely important. People need to fear climate change. They have to understand what rising sea levels really mean. For women who have children, they have to understand how their children will suffer.

The emotion of guilt, often used by churches, is important to employ. Guilt and shame are emotions that help humans take responsibility for their actions. Churches advocate correcting a sin by making amends.

All of us need to have a guilt-trip with regard to Climate Change. This is because we all must do little things that mean absolutely nothing by themselves but everything when applied collectively. Taking responsibility alleviates guilt.

Some negative emotions do us no good at all. Hate, revenge, and despair come to mind. However, I think the worst one is blame. I am talking about blame used to excuse oneself from their own personal responsibility. With respect to Climate Change, we have to watch this carefully.

Let me elaborate. Does blaming the USA for climate change help? What if America reduced their carbon emissions in half? Well, the world would still have 88 percent carbon emissions left to contend with and would this be enough by itself to prevent climate change? Personally, I think carbon reductions alone may not be sufficient and we need to include more comprehensive strategies other than just looking at carbon dioxide as the only mechanism we have to consider with respect to all the complex interactions of climate (see my blog on methane).

Now, how does blaming Bush help us? I am not sure it does. I was talking to a friend about Climate Change who has not taken personal responsibility toward this issue. She retorted by blaming Bush. I then used a metaphor she would respond to and that was We Are The Light! She got the message but will it be enough for her to take simple actions by not driving her car when she does not need to or buying one compact fluorescent bulb? I think she will come around and talk to others as well.

Now, I will close with this thought concerning the good people of this site. Who do we blame for global warming? Bush? America? Greedy Coporations? Indifferent People? No, I say we Blame Us!

Why do I say this?

I propose that the people who are most aware like the people on this site are the most responsible and that includes me as well. This is all the more difficult because as we learn more we then become more responsible for action and sharing our wealth of information with our neighbor and being successful in that effort.

We want to become responsible for being successful because there is no glory in failure, my friends. And the more responsible we become, the more important will be our friends who will be there to sustain us when the going gets tough. I make a concerted effort to make friends on this site for that simple reason since the more I learn, the more responsible I feel. The more responsible I feel, then the more lonelier I become.

And then I need friends like you who took the time to read what I felt important enough to share.