Coincidence…I Think Not

     The general population have been warned about the dangers of continuing practices of pumping carbon emissions into our planets atmosphere for decades now.  The constant debate of the effects of global warming have gone back and forth between scientists, researchers, governments, politicians and of course, commercial corporations.  As more and more information gets released as to the negative effects of human actions on our environment and climate, it's harder than ever to ignore the real consequences of these actions.  There aren't too many places in the globe that hasn't felt these negative climate impacts directly.  Many communities have experienced record breaking floods, snowfalls, droughts, forest fires, hurricanes, tornadoes in recent years, it begs the question as to WHY this is happening.  At this point, I think we know why, but the bigger question becomes how do we make changes to slow down these effects.  Common sense says that we must pass legislation, increase awareness, and fund further research and development for alternative fuel sources and limit our carbon footprint.
     As I mentioned before, there is a constant debate…and that debate comes in the form of some of the largest companies in the world that have been taking in record-breaking profits based on humans consumptions of fossil fuels.  These fuels emit these dangerous carbon emissions.
The corporate opposition spends gobs of money with lobbyists to discredit and down play the effects of carbon emissions in our environment.  Some companies even try to act as if they're trying to help and want to be a part of the solution rather than be the main cause.  These corporations and lobbyists have a huge hand in influencing legislation and being major road blocks in environmental laws getting passed.  They simply make too much money to allow those profits to be compromised by bills that get passed that could affect their agenda and major sources of profits, which is selling fossil fuels.  If I sell gasoline as a major source of income, why would I support any initiative that promotes alternative fuels, even though it's for the better of the common good?  Because I make too much money and society as it is today, is completely dependent on these fuels so we can live our everyday lives.  It's a dilemma that needs to be addressed and its starts with the general public understanding the information, asking more questions, and forcing our government and corporations to be more socially responsible or else we won't have a viable world to sustain our future.
     What spawned my little rant was this sarcastic video done by Stephen Thomson that was based on a Washington Post editorial by Bill McKibben on connecting the facts from recent extreme weather conditions in the US as well as globally.  You can either be part of the solution, no matter how small the action, or we can continue to ignore the glaring problems at hand until a tornado or flood changes your life forever.  The full editorial article is here and the article discussing the piece and video by Lindsay E. Brown can be found here.