Suppose there is a giant asteroid heading towards Earth, which will pasteurize the planet if we don't do something. (I'm sure you've seen one of the movies). And I go to my Congressman, and tell him, "Please co-sponsor the Giant Asteroid Impact Prevention Act". And he says, "I've seen the polling on this, and people just don't care about the giant asteroid. They're concerned about jobs. Doing anything on the asteroid will cost jobs." And I say, "I guess you didn't hear me the first time. There's a GIANT ASTEROID heading toward Earth, and it's going to sterilize the planet unless we stop it."
Well, there isn't a giant asteroid. But there is global warming, which, if you get into what the consequences look like 100 years down the road, amounts to about the same thing in slow motion. I hate to be so melodramatic - it tends to make people look at you as if you are a fanatic - but that is what the science is telling us.
My Congressman is Fred Upton. If you haven't heard, he wrote a bill to take away authority to regulate greenhouse gasses from the EPA. Actually, I'm guessing if you are reading this blog, you have heard about this.
Fred has not had an open town hall meeting with his constituents since before the Iraq War started. He met with a group of us from Kalamazoo Nonviolent Opponents of War back then, and from what I understand (I wasn't there) he expressed some concern for his safety from the group of elderly Quakers who made up most of the audience. At any rate, he has not held another open town hall since then - until now.
Yesterday, today, and tomorrow, he's been holding four or five town halls per day all across the district - a listening tour. Why the sudden change, I don't know. I must give him credit where due. This is what we like to see.
The forum in Kalamazoo City Hall was packed to overflowing. Not everyone who wanted to could get in the door. The subjects raised were on many different subjects, from support for rail service to student loans, to brownfield funding, to complaints about Social Security. But many of the questions were about energy and climate.
Here is the article on this forum from the Kalamazoo Gazette. I was one of the few directly quoted in both the online and print versions of the article. I've been working (on and off) on sustainability issues since 1975, and global warming since about 1995. I think the fact that I am a local elected official helps me get quoted.
My question
My question to Fred focused on the consequences, as well as Fred's obstruction. The format of the town hall was that Fred listened to all the questions and comments for an hour and a half, then answered everything in about 15 minutes.
Here is the relevant portion of his answer:
Fred's Answer
If you have the patience to listen to his whole answer, you will hear a lot about process, and a lot about how rather modest energy cost increases will cost jobs.
You will not hear one word either acknowledging, or even challenging, the costs of doing nothing.
I get climate denialism. I really do. If you intend to do nothing to change your comfortable way of life in order to save the future, if you intend to grimly hang on to the "American Way of Life" as "non-negotiable", then it causes less psychic pain to say "It's all a hoax", rather than admit to yourself that you would rather hold on to your SUV even if it means your grandkids are going to live on a far more hostile planet.
But if you actually understand the science - as Fred once upon a time admitted that he did - how do you then go back and say it's not worth doing anything to avoid the future that a six degree Celsius rise entails? That - I don't get.