Good News on Global Warming

I heard George Manibot on Democracy Now ( http://www.democracynow.org/ ) last night- his book is "Heat: How To Stop the Planet From Burning". My housemates had already heard of the book, but it's new to me- and I thought the interview was thrilling. For one thing, he's talking about, in some detail, the actual nuts&bolts of how changing human habits can reduce global warming; he's even optimistic. Well, maybe not optimistic- at least his ideas seem reality-based and well researched. Possible. We hear quite a bit about how impossible it is to reduce emissions without destroying The Economy, imposing dreadful hardship on Americans, etc; this guy tells us, very simply, that that's NOT true and then goes on to tell us why- and more importantly, how.

I agreed with everything he said with one major exception: when Amy Goodman asked him what individuals can do, he said that green lightbulbs are all well & good, but it's more important for us to see ourselves as citizens rather than consumers- right on, I say- and organize, push & pressure politicians to toe the save-the-planet line. Well, if that's the case, a lot of us are doomed to ineffectiveness, since we don't organize or demonstrate or, some of us, even vote. Not to say that's right or wrong; some of us just don't. Maybe we can become Citizen Consumers: vote directly with our little dollars, write to corporations we buy products from- thank them for less packaging and anything they do to curb emissions; decry them for continuing bad practice; contact information is usually in the box, isn't it?

There was a pretty recent statement or report from the UN on global warming- it said in part that individual efforts ARE important. I'll try to find that reference; meanwhile I'm trying on metaphors like" individual efforts are the sands that make the beaches, the cells that make our blood..... the drops that make the sea...... the leaves that make the tree! The bees that make the honeywee! OK enough. We get it. My point is that when we think our actions don't count, watch News in horror and think but what can I do?, we get overwhelmed and stop even looking at it, much less try to behaviors. At least I do.