Commentary: The Climate and Personal Responsibility

You don’t need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows.

— Bob Dylan

It has gone largely unreported that the Middle Keys have been inundated by an extraordinary amount of rain this year. Early June was marked by downpours of biblical proportions and the month’s very unofficial total was more than triple the average amount. July has begun in the same way and Marathon has again – already — amassed more than the monthly average amount.

Even more surprising – and again very unofficially – the city’s total rainfall for 2013 has exceeded the average for an entire year. And the year is only half over.

So what, you say. OK, it’s raining. It’s just weather. It’s the rainy season in the Keys.

Nope. This is more than just weather. Scientists have long been predicting that while the earth heats up as a result of global warming the atmosphere holds more moisture. What’s of concern is that their predictions have become reality much more quickly than even they thought.

The self-absorbed media has generally ignored serious and unusual weather events. They haven’t reported in depth on the massive rainstorms and the resultant flooding all over the world this year. Europe, particularly France, Germany and Czechoslovakia, received inordinate amounts of rain this spring resulting in unprecedented flooding. The monsoon rains came to India much earlier than normal and over 1000 people died in the ensuing floods. And then there are the forest fires out west, the severe drought in the Midwest and much higher than normal temperatures everywhere, particularly in the Arctic.

Now we have Tropical Storm Chantal. According to Weather Underground:

“Chantal’s formation on July 8 is an usually early date for formation of the season’s third storm, which usually occurs on August 13.”

Everyone knowledgeable about climate change agrees that one or two extraordinary weather events cannot be directly attributed to global warming. But when the events cluster as they have this year, there can be little doubt about the source of the cataclysms. And we’re seeing it right here in the Keys, right now.

What has been even more extraordinary has been the giant yawn emitted by the mainstream press after President Obama’s speech about climate change. Even though, for the first time really, Obama spelled out in very clear language that the climate is indeed changing as a result of human activity, coverage of the speech disappeared after only half a day. By contrast, the George Zimmerman trial gets daily coverage.

Although the president outlined actions he will take to force power companies to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions and other steps that the government can undertake to do likewise, he didn’t reach out to the country to suggest that people reduce their own energy consumption.

It would take a very brave politician to ask people to consume less. The ensuing uproar would dwarf the debate. Yet, all our actions contribute a significant percentage of the greenhouse gases that are causing the climate to change. I am continually surprised by how little my intelligent, well read and, yes, liberal, family members, friends, acquaintances have modified their behavior to reduce their impact on the climate. Most are doing almost nothing.

It takes far, far more than recycling to reduce one’s impact. While people must make a much greater commitment to use less energy and consume less we know from the failed experiment at voluntary recycling in Key West that voluntary efforts don’t work no matter how much education is delivered. A year-long education effort resulted in a miniscule increase in recycling.

So what to do to have any possibility of reducing carbon emissions? Charge more for consumption, thereby rewarding conservation. If the power companies charged more for higher levels of consumption, their customers would use less. The first 250 kilowatts at a base rate. The next 250 at a higher rate. And so forth. There would be generalized outrage and accusations of hurting the poor but people would use less. Same with water. And trash. The Pay as You Throw model for trash pickup works in other places and it would work here. When gasoline prices go up people drive less. It’s a fact.

It’s probably much too late to reverse the climate changes that have already occurred. We should have taken dramatic steps 10 or 20 years ago but we have to do something for future generations to have any hope at all that they’ll be able to enjoy the benefits previous generations have taken for granted. But the clock is ticking. Loudly.

[Author’s note. This is not just talk. By paying attention and making some inexpensive adjustments, we reduced our electricity usage by two-thirds before we installed solar panels and cut our water consumption by 75 percent. It can be done. You should do it.]