Just got back from yet another depressing lecture at MIT on Carbon Capture and Sequestration. Not familiar with CCS? In a nut: We are in the global warming shitter because we drive too much, fly too much, and can't control our rate of needless consumption. All of this requires energy, much of which comes from burning coal in power plants, and results in a runaway train of carbon emissions that's destroying the earth and the air we breathe. So scientists are trying to figure out a way to suck the carbon from these plants and then inject them deep into underground geological formations or even beneath the ocean -- which if they ever do figure out how to make work, then has the potential to wreak even more catastrophic results, like ocean acidification, ecological destruction, blah blah blah. On top of that, if they do miraculously figure it all out, it's only a fraction of what we need to do to make it all...not so bad. Because no matter what, it's gonna be bad.
I spend my time learning and obsessing about this problem, the enormity of it and perhaps the futility of trying to fix it, wondering if I'll ever be able to use a disposable plastic fork without feeling overwhelming guilt or not despise a culture which perpetuates mass retailers of overpriced superfluous junk. But mostly, I wonder why so many bikers have to be killed by cars and their drivers.
This morning, when I pedaled across the intersection of Harvard and Cambridge in Allston, like I do almost everyday, I saw yet another ghostbike chained to a light pole, memorializing the life and death of a 23-year-old girl who was killed riding her bike a week or so ago. Her friends had covered the street corner with flowers, notes, pictures, even a giant graffitied message saying, "Kelly, we love you." Bikers, you see, whether they are conscious of this or not, are doing us a huge favor by choosing not to pilot giant heaps of gas-guzzling, carbon-emitting, war-inducing metal. Yeah, I'm a biker, so it sounds like I'm just wanking one off, but you can't really argue with it. Just try to.
So, wear a helmet, ride a bike, ride safe, save the world.
I spend my time learning and obsessing about this problem, the enormity of it and perhaps the futility of trying to fix it, wondering if I'll ever be able to use a disposable plastic fork without feeling overwhelming guilt or not despise a culture which perpetuates mass retailers of overpriced superfluous junk. But mostly, I wonder why so many bikers have to be killed by cars and their drivers.
This morning, when I pedaled across the intersection of Harvard and Cambridge in Allston, like I do almost everyday, I saw yet another ghostbike chained to a light pole, memorializing the life and death of a 23-year-old girl who was killed riding her bike a week or so ago. Her friends had covered the street corner with flowers, notes, pictures, even a giant graffitied message saying, "Kelly, we love you." Bikers, you see, whether they are conscious of this or not, are doing us a huge favor by choosing not to pilot giant heaps of gas-guzzling, carbon-emitting, war-inducing metal. Yeah, I'm a biker, so it sounds like I'm just wanking one off, but you can't really argue with it. Just try to.
So, wear a helmet, ride a bike, ride safe, save the world.
posted by Claudine Ko at 8:49 PM
5 Comments:
I was at the bicycle film fest art show tonight, reminded me of you.
Ultimately I think sequestration, especially in the ocean, is unfeasible. We already see the effects of added carbon dioxide to oceanic bodies as natural carbon sinks are becoming overwhelmed, apparently.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/science/article1805870.ece
I don't believe sequestration can occur in the geologic strata without effect on upwelling currents, and life at that depth. Look at black smoker vents, which form a crucial part of the oceanic ecosystem, especially in sending nutrients from deep upwelling currents to the surface. Geological and biological.
We need a radical rethink of our ethical, moral, spiritual, and economic values. Even if we find stopgap technological measures.
And these things are connected; bicyclists die overwhelmingly due to cars... Not just cars, but the attitudes of people who believe that a car is an individual fortress like extension of themselves.
Instead of being overwhelmed by guilt, realize that you're one of the able, capable, and intelligent people who actually cares enough about the issue to feel such and don't forget you're trying to be part of the solution. That doesn't absolve you, but it does mean you've taken a step most haven't.
Thanks for that. You nailed it -- we need a complete overhaul of our cultural values, and a greater respect for our fellow humans. People think they're minding their own business while coveting and collecting things, when really everything we do effects somebody else and then comes back to slap us on our asses time 10: breathing, eating, all of it. Biodiversity is key, not only in nature, but in humanity, our urban metropolises, our comfortable Ikea-turned out homes --so it behooves us not to run each other over and think more about what is essential to life, liberty and happiness.
I ride a harley.
I was hit by a Muni bus in SF. On purpose. I hate cars for a lot of reasons, but the top one may be that they bring out the worst in people: selfishness, aggression, laziness...
PREACH ON! Nicely put Claud, and I agree with Aaron on both counts: the tech fix isn't really going to cut it, and that guilt isn't too constructive but action, which you're clearly taking by educating yourself and working to educate others (along with pedaling!) is...
Ride on.
Oh, not to be add more fire to the dire, but the equity concerns that go along with climate change are pretty staggering in their complexity and scope. A good framing of the issue can be found in "One World" by Peter Singer or in writings by Dale Jamieson and a report by the Pew Center on Climate change which can be downloaded on the web (it's called "Beyond Kyoto" I think?)
Post a Comment
<< Home