No More Time

 

No More Time

For they have sown the wind, and they shall reap the whirlwind.

Hosea 8:7

I've been planning to write this column on Climate Change for quite some time. Now Bill Gates has a new book out and I thought I'd better get with it so I wouldn't sound too derivative. I have watched and read a large number of things about Climate Change and even went so far as to name last year the year I would focus on that issue. As the old saying goes, “If you want to hear God laugh just tell Him your plans.” Certainly, the pandemic and the response to it became so overwhelming that it sucked all the oxygen out of whatever room you happened to be in. We still don't know if we are going to get ahead of this virus but even as consequential as it is Climate Change is going to make it look like a Sunday in the park.

Yes, that's a pretty bold statement. We just passed half a million dead in the United States alone within the last few days but the costs of Climate Change could easily beat that by an exponential factor. We still have those who say it is a hoax perpetrated by China to disrupt the hegemony of the United States in economic markets all over the world. That is a bigger lie that the one that said Covid 19 was a hoax.

Houston, Texas is a city of 2.3 million people and growing rapidly. As a matter of fact, Texas is now the fastest growing state in the union and we have just witnessed the complete paralyzing of that 2^nd largest state by a snow and ice storm. The electrical grid went down due to demand when the frigid temperatures, unknown in many parts of Texas, rendered inoperable gas and oil machinery. The fossil fuel advocates tried to blame it on wind power but there was an infinitesimal number of those producers that failed. Why did this dramatic weather even happen? It happened due to the disruption of normal weather patterns that have existed in Texas for centuries. Now look at the terrible weather events that have hit Houston in the past decade.

Wildfires in California that burn the vegetation and then mudslides that wreak havoc on residential communities. California is called the breadbasket of America due to the production of so much of the food that we eat and drought wiped out much of that this past year. The avocado shortage got all the press but if you were paying attention you saw grocery prices jump 25% to 50% or more. Climate Change. It is here, it is impacting us and it's going to get much worse no matter what we do. We have dawdled so long that all we have a chance to do is limit how bad it can be.

Recent years have seen floods in the upper Midwest that prevented farmers from planting and then drought that killed what managed to grow. No, these are not normal weather cycles. These are the effects of Climate Change. Here in Kentucky we may be somewhat insulated from the worst effects but those of us who grow food and farm are experiencing the impact of the unpredictability of the weather.

Now, consider New Orleans, Miami, Charleston, New York and other coastal areas that are subject to the vagaries of the seas. A few years ago we saw a tropical storm inundate New York City. North Carolina is still trying to recover from floods. I could go on and on but these things are only harbingers of what is to come.

Diseases that have previously only known in sub-tropical or tropical climes are moving north with the changing weather. Right now President Biden is introducing legislation that will attempt to alleviate some of the suffering and some of the effects and the costs are in the trillions of dollars. Look at where we are financially as a nation right now and ask yourself from where will the resources come?

What happens when the demands at home become so much that we can no longer afford to keep naval fleets all over the world. As a matter of fact, what happens if the sea level rises even a little bit where our naval bases are? How will Climate Change affect our ability to do business and generate taxes to operate our government? Will we have to cut social services at a time when the need will be greater than at any time in our lives and maybe in the life of humanity? We can get through this but not by doing things the way we have been doing. Likely we will have to change economic models if we are to survive as a free nation. We will no longer be able to afford to allow 1% of our population control 90% of the resources. The possibilities boggle the mind and will require the participation of our entire nation if we are to be able to pass a free nation on to our children and grandchildren.

My Take is that I could go on and on boring you with “what ifs” and statistics but there is not enough space here. As a nation we are going to have to get smarter and you and I are going to have to get smarter too. We have no choice but to do so or witness the decline of our nation and our species. Climate Change is here and it is awesome in its power.