|
|
Earth Day |
Techno-Arc |
HOME |
|
The failure of 39 years of Earth Day
|
 |
|
(above) Once upon a naive time we thought the planet could be saved by cleaning
up littering 1-day a year. |
|
Earth Day, 2009
The first year of Earth Day was April 1970. As a young filmmaking student at New
York's School of Visual Arts it seemed like an exciting opportunity to shoot
some film. The previous summer, 1969, I had attended the Woodstock concert and
shot a lot of 8mm film. For Earth Day New York City closed 5th ave. to vehicles
from Central Park to Washington Square.
That is a huge open space suddenly transformed into a car free zone. People
flocked into the streets joyfully experiencing this wonderful event. I mounted
my Cannon 8mm camera on my bicycle handlebars, let the film run as I sped down a
car-free street.
People walked joyfully in that peaceful, carless corridor. It was exhilarating.
But like Woodstock, the Peace Movement, and all of the 1960s it faded away as
America exploded with industrial growth from the post WW2 baby boom. Cocaine,
speed and heroin ate away at the inner core of cities as sprawling nightmares of
traffic jams backed up to the soulless suburbs.
Today the world population is double what it was on that first Earth Day.
Atmospheric CO2 makes a relentless increase- carbon that will stay in the air
for decades (even if we cut emissions to zero) trapping heat.
The oceans are so polluted that large species are toxic with mercury and smaller
ones are being harvested to extinction. Current debate in biology is whether
there is 25% of the fish left or only 10%. Left? Yes, from what the ocean's fish
populations were 100 years ago. The billions of hungry humans cannot be fed from
the oceans.
Every indicator of global warming points to lethal changes in climate -
droughts, powerful storms, etc. Tropical insects with tropical diseases are
moving into larger areas.
No politician or Pope will talk about population control. We spay & neuter pets
yet allow humans to breed without any planning for the consequences. Now we have
to live with those effects - human made problems that are destroying the planet
in almost every aspect.
Australia has disastrous droughts that result in vast fires burning alive
hundreds of people who don't know where to go to safety. My state of California
is so financially broke it is near bankruptcy at the same time a drought forces
cutbacks on irrigation water that reduces the economy of the states agriculture.
Adults are scared about their economic survival, their children want to play
video games, politicians have no tools to create change. Healthcare is
disgraceful situation where the profit motives led to greed that allowed
insurance companies to profit while policy holders are denied coverage. Medicare
is a huge Government rip off scheme allowing the providers to mark up supplies
many times above retail - thus making medication & services unaffordable.
When I graduated from High School the world's population was 3 billion. In the
1960s there was awareness of the need for
"Zero population
growth."
That was so politically unpopular the concept was long ago buried. Today, as a
result of ignoring this, the world is struggling under the burden of nearly 7
billion people.
|
Film critics Roger Ebert and Richard Roeper gave
the Al Gore's film - "two thumbs up".
Ebert wrote: "In 39 years, I have never
written these words in a movie review, but here they are: You owe it to
yourself to see this film. If you do not, and you have grandchildren,
you should explain to them why you decided not to."
 |
 |
| 2 thumbs for this film |
|
|
|
(below) This CO2 chart makes it clear there is no way to stop global climate change.
"Sustainable anything" is futile in a runaway greenhouse. You can reduce your
carbon footprint all you want, go green, etc. but such actions are futile. The
tipping point, where it all runs away from human control, has already arrived.
Many scientists know this but cannot communicate it to
the public through the existing political system. After all, that system
prevented Al Gore from becoming President with the intervention of the US
Supreme Court. As a result 8 years of Bushenomics led to a global financial melt
down. And so it goes. |
 |
|
|
 |
The failure of Earth Day is the failure of population control. With
an overpopulated, undereducated world there is no way to solve the
problems because too few people have the skills as scientists,
engineers, educators, framers, etc. Instead there are too many people
profiting with financial scams, drugs, etc. who then corrupt public
officials, etc.
An overpopulated, undereducated world has too many people
partying and not enough competent crew members caring for the infrastructure.
Lessons from the current economic crisis has shown the world that "the
people in charge" were really just greedy crooks ripping off
everyone who had no clue what would be the consequences of their
actions. |
|
|
|
Earth Day |
Techno-Arc |
HOME |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
How would Matthew Henson survive today? He survived the Great Depression by
having a Civil Service job. What would he do today to
get by on Medicare? |
