Swans Commentary » swans.com February 14, 2011  

 

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by Jan Baughman

 

A Cartoon

 

 

(Swans - February 14, 2011)  

 

Despite all the evidence of climate change -- you can see it with your own eyes if you care to look-- whether melting ice from the Andes to the Arctic; the warming and rising oceans that are increasingly acidic; or the extreme weather patterns that directly affect us, whether heat waves, flooding, or record snow storms, we continue to do the same old thing -- that is, nothing. And while that evidence is provided by our very own government agencies, including the Environmental Protection Agency and NASA, our elected representatives fail to take necessary steps to address the issue, and in fact, the newly-emboldened Republicans plan to flex their alleged budgetary-constraint muscle with cuts to the EPA and the proposed high-speed rail, among others, as part of their "Pledge to America." On top of that, they've "vowed to stop or postpone the EPA from regulating the [greenhouse] gases, saying it will harm the economy,", ignoring the fact that climate change will harm the economy -- a fact upon which 84% of top economists agree...

So with the US government's failure to act (except to protect corporate America, as usual) the onus is placed on We the People to decrease our individual carbon footprints. But it's not enough to change our light bulbs, turn down our thermostats, and trade in our gas guzzlers -- at the same time, we should be demanding serious action from our politicians. Perhaps it will take us being affected where it seems to matter most, with an increasing number of football games postponed because of snow, or more Super Bowl weather chaos like that which threatened this year's spectacle, leaving stadium workers injured from falling ice and numerous fans stranded due to canceled flights. Or just imagine a World Series canceled because of extreme heat -- angry Americans would be marching on the Washington Mall, demanding that somebody do something! You hate to wish for it, but it may be what will have to happen to wake us from our collective slumber.

 

 

 

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About the Author

Jan Baughman on Swans -- with bio. She is Swans co-editor.   (back)

 

 

Other Cartoons by Jan Baughman

 

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Patterns which Connect

America the 'beautiful'

 

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