Climate Change

It is widely accepted by scientists that the Earth throughout its history has endured multiple ice ages and cyclic periods of dramatic warming and cooling.  The one question I have yet to see asked and answered is, "Where were all the humans that caused those ice ages to form—and then disappear?"  And if we humans can reduce severe weather by reducing carbon emissions, then can someone explain to me why during the height of the COVID epidemic in 2020 when air travel and industry production practically ground to a halt resulting in some of the cleanest and clearest skies the Earth had experienced in decades, that 2020 was a record-breaking year of 30 named storms of which 14 became hurricanes??  If you want my attention regarding treating our Earth responsibly, then let's talk about pollution—that is a topic I can relate to. 

 

Although I am not against reducing air pollution, I actually think that reducing water pollution and increasing access to fresh water should be a higher priority for the world community.  I can see countries going to war much more readily to secure supplies of fresh sources of drinking water than they would for cleaner air.  Here in the United States we already have western states fighting one another (fortunately so far only in court) over Colorado River water rights as supplies have dwindled due to severe droughts.  Our Government most recently brokered a deal among these states to reduce water use for the next couple of years at a cost of over a billion dollars to taxpayers.  But at least this deal actually solves a problem and includes measurable ways to monitor compliance among the signatories.  However, this solution is only temporary and more money may be required in a couple of years or so i.e. shouldn't this be a higher priority for our precious tax dollars?  In the Middle East, water rights have always been a point of contention, especially between Israel and the Palestinian Authority.  Fresh water in areas of Africa is becoming more difficult to find leading to population strife and mass migration. 

 

Also, how come there seems to be so little world attention being paid to the "Great Pacific garbage patch" which is loaded with plastic debris—plastic that has entered our food chain?  Scientists believe that just about every bit of fish we eat contains microplastics ingested by the fish.  There is also a similar "North Atlantic garbage patch" that exists.  It is clear that our plastic recycling efforts have failed miserably because our plastic waste is ending up in the oceans.  In fact, it is no secret that the "triangle of arrows" symbol on most plastic consumer packaging leading one to believe it is recyclable is nothing more than a feel-good marketing gimmick with no relation to whether it actually gets recycled.  This issue I will pledge to take head on to ensure the public knows the truth about the lack of success of plastic recycling and engage corporate plastic producers and recyclers to come up with better manufacturing and recycling solutions.

 

Regarding reducing carbon emissions, what is the real cost are we paying to do so?  The current administration's vision is to replace all fossil fuel powered vehicles with battery powered ones.  But what happens when all of those industrial batteries filled with toxic heavy metals reach their end of life?  Where are we going to dump them and how can we be sure those toxic metals don't seep into our water supply causing all sorts of other health problems?  What about the risks to areas where these metals are mined and to the workers who mine them?  Has anyone done the calculations to determine whether our current electrical grid could support 100 percent electric vehicle ownership?  I'm thinking it can't and would require the construction of new power plants.  What about the national security risks to an all-electric vehicle society?  Russia is attempting to destroy Ukraine's electrical grid.  What if an adversary is successful in destroying or severely disabling ours via bombings and/or computer network attacks?  Even natural disasters can leave areas without electricity for weeks.  What's our backup plan?   I don't think any of this has been thought through and it very much needs to be!

 

Also for the record, I am for doing everything we can to stem the destruction of the Amazon Rain Forest.  I believe the evidence is overwhelming that it plays a critical part in the world's ecosystem.