Not your typical Earth Day post
There are only two roads in life, growing and dying. Tolbert McCarroll, Notes from the Song of Life
Earth Day 2022. If you want to know how it all started, you can read last year’s post on the first Earth Day. If you want to know how we’re doing (così così — so so in Italian), you can read Jeff Goodell’s article in Rolling Stone this week entitled, The Climate Fight Isn’t Lost. Here are 10 Ways to Win. And if you want to know where to hide until it’s all over, read Paul Greenberg’s Is Anywhere Safe From Climate Change which is a solution for maybe less than one half of one percent of us, but I totally get the sentiment. The real truth is, Environmental Justice is critical as Adele Costa tells us in her article Hog Waste Plastic Petals, and Cancer in the Air: The Intersection Between Environmental Justice and Women’s Health, and if we don’t take care of the most vulnerable among us, it will be lights out for all of us.
When Al Gore wrote An Inconvenient Truth in 2006, the world yawned. Honestly, I don’t understand why no one takes that guy seriously, but I guess it’s a testament to how fractured society has become thanks to many things, but mostly, just how much money there is to be made in politics and how politicians will do anything to stay in power, including disgracing, dishonoring and discrediting even the most noble the truth tellers. If we would have taken most or all of the steps Gore recommended 16 years ago we probably wouldn’t be staring into the abyss right now, but many in Washington, including some that are supposed to be on the side of We the People come at climate change as if it’s all a game and we aren’t really at the 11th hour Before the Flood.
Is it time for despair? Well, yes and no. Despair has been on the menu for years now. The whole climate change issue has become a fait accompli, and that is Goodell’s point, but you know what? If you live in Tonga, or New Orleans, or any other coastal or island paradise where sea level rise is chipping away at your security a little bit each day, perhaps you don’t see it that way.
In The Social Dilemma, a 2020 Netflix documentary, the filmmakers discuss how everything we do online is being tracked, how tech giants like Facebook are able to influence social behavior through their algorithms, and worst of all, how disinformation travels six times faster than real news, making it difficult for Truth to find a voice in the face of such adversity.
Maybe some don’t think this is so bad, especially if you are a fan of authoritarian regimes. And yes, reasonable minds can differ; problematically, many people today are not reasonable.
So what to do? Well, maybe it’s too little too late, but I think we could start with bringing back the the fairness doctrine. The FCC fairness doctrine of 1949 required broadcast licensees to provide both sides of controversial public issues. Ronald Regan abolished it earning him the moniker The Father of Fake News and while it only applied to broadcast licenses, it did require a level of truth telling that is not apparent in the world today. Just look at Sydney Powell’s no reasonable person legal defense when called before the court to explain her rhetoric regarding Trump’s allegations of a stolen election. Why were her admitted lies given such a large platform? This is what Fox News does everyday; they don’t report the news, rather, give their slanted opinion. Well, I have to tell you, folks, there is no space for a slanted opinion when it comes to the State of the Earth in 2022. There is only space for the truth, and the truth is some scary s#i+.
Bring back the Fair and Balanced Act. Make news newsworthy again. Tell We the People the truth and let The People make their own decisions about what we value. Because I’m pretty sure the most of us would choose to keep living on this planet rather than watch it all blow up so some small percentage of the world can survive.
Tell the truth about climate change, that is, if we don’t reign it in now, there very well might be 1.2 billion climate refugees on the borders of those lands that are still viable and livable. We have time. It’s barely minutes in the earth’s rotation, but they are precious minutes. Tell the world the truth and let’s all work together and DO SOMETHING STAT. It’s now or never. The planet’s people can’t wait.
Although, spoiler alert, if we do nothing, the Earth will be just fine; it’s just We the People that will become extinct.
pam lazos 4.22.22
Green Life Blue Water 
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Thanks for the repost. ;0)
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That last sentence says it all, Pam. Very thought-provoking post.
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🙏 thank you 😊 and here’s to Mother Earth 🌍
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great post, Pam — whatever happened to Al Gore?…
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He’s still kicking’ it, da-AL. I think he wrote a sequel to an inconvenient truth.
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You have given us food for thought Pam, especially that last line which is a gut punch. Perhaps that line will resonate with more people than what is happening overall with Mother Earth. Or perhaps we are more mindful if we learn about climate change in small pieces, like via the Earth Day Google Doodle – the rest is overwhelming, not to mention scary, to we, the people who have been around at least a half-century and witnessed it personally.
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I know, Linda. People freeze up at the enormity of the problem. Bite-sized pieces would certainly help! 🙏💕💜
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Bite-sized pieces and images … the old adage of a picture paints a thousand words. Seeing a slideshow comparing then and now sure helps get a grasp.
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You are so right, Linda. 🙏💜
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Well said. I agree with you on all points, so I guess you’re preaching to the choir. Good question in general to ask yourself: Why were her [anyone’s] admitted lies given such a large platform? I’ve no answer but it infuriates me to no end. I am inclined to prefer the truth, inconvenient or otherwise.
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Can’t wait to see what happens with Twitter now that Elon Musk is in charge, huh, Ally?!
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Wow, Pam, so much great info here. Of course, you’re preaching to the choir here, but information is power! I saved this post so I can come back later and take my time. As well as share it with my husband. Thank you!
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Thank you kindly. 🙏 That is just peachy! 😂😂😂 I’m sorry, I can’t help myself. You have the best name!!💜
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Ha ha. I know. I’ve heard it my whole life. 😀 And great post. I guess I’ll have to think about moving to the Adirondacks. 🙂
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If there’s any space left, that is. 🤨
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Thank you so much, Rose!
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Pam, I’ll be sharing your post on my blog tomorrow, April 24th.
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Aw, thanks, Rose. 🌹🙏
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Truly an effort! I’ve always found these … day for a kidding! What you and the likes do is excellent worth, and I appreciate them. I wish there were an “Earth Days” every day, just as everyone cares about their home. 🙏💖😘💖
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Yes, Aladin! Earth Day should be every day!!💕♥️💜
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Hi Pam – lots of information and references to look at … I do wish we’d all pay more attention and act like the leaders we’d prefer our lives to be ruled by, those who take responsibility for their and ours lives. As is mentioned – the planet will survive … I’d like humans to survive – and I’d like to live long enough to find out what happens … not to be. Cheers Hilary
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I’m with you, Hilary, especially the living part, but wondering how it’s all going to happen when most elected leaders are funded by fossil fuel interests. 🤔😳🧐
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Wouldn’t it be lovely to know news coverage is balanced for all. I absorb the BBC and admire the struggles to be balanced on something like Ukraine by interviewing Russian MPs to get their perspectives. Its hard to try and hear both sides and make up ones mind. I remember seeing Al Gore at Wembley at an environmental concert back in 2008. Why do we not listen? Indeed you’re so right.
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Actually, we love the BBC because it’s as close to fair and balanced as you can get. As to why we don’t listen, Geoff, not a clue 🕵️♀️ but sad for us all.
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Good post, Pam. Thank you 😊🌍
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Thank you for reading.🙏
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You are welcome 🙏🌍
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I hate to say this Pam, but I don’t think humans will wake up and want to make changes until it’s too late.
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😱 😱 😱
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Ours is a perplexing species. We’re capable of doing so much good. But we’re also capable of being tremendously shortsighted and of not caring about things. Would it be hard, physically and economically, to generate the vast majority of electric power via wind, water and sun? I don’t think so. But in order for that to happen the big players will have to step up and do the right thing. I have little expectation that this will occur, but you never know.
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That’s the most catastrophic part, Neil. How do few have so much power. 😳🤨
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Excellent post, Pam. Truth tellers are silenced. When climate chaos hits us on all fronts like Russian bombs on a peaceful country, where will we flee to for safety?
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It’s crazy to think k about, Rose, but that’s what’s happening.
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