Climate Change: The Cost of Doing Nothing
There are things in life that we regret (in hindsight). Like the song goes, “If I didn’t know now what I didn’t know then…” If we could see into the future and know “now” what will will surely know “then,” no person on earth would fail to do whatever it takes to stop global warming. As a Santa Barbara chiropractor, I make every effort to go that extra mile for my patients, not because I am a saint, but because I have experienced far too often in the past the awareness of futility and the horrible knowledge of an irretrievable loss embodied in feelings of “regret.” And, though we can regret things we’ve done, I believe the worst regret is our failure in doing something we could and should have done.
Some things we didn’t do, we didn’t do because we were ignorant. Some things we didn’t do, we didn’t do because we were lazy. And, some things we didn’t do, we didn’t do because we thought they were too expensive. But sometimes our “regrets” include all three, as the regret of inaction on global warming will certainly include.
There are those who are ignorant (most often by choice) about the future catastrophic effects of global warming. And, there are those who know that something needs to be done and that that something includes every human being’s participation. But, let’s face it, doing what needs to be done not only takes time and energy away from things we’d rather be doing, but interferes with many of them as well. And, finally, there is the question of cost. If we measure cost in terms of money, whether it is ceasing to burn and pillage the land in Third World countries or funding a new climate agreement among world powers, then the staggering $100 billion or more a year that it will cost by 2020 would put doing what needs to be done in the category of just “too expensive.” But if we measure “cost” in terms of what kind of planet will be left if we don’t take action, then not doing what needs to be done is far too costly!
As world leaders look to work out a new global climate accord in Copenhagen in December, their only task won’t be getting big polluters like the US and China to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, but the cost of change in many countries and among many people of the world. They’ll need to figure out financial incentives for fast-developing countries like India and Brazil so that they will convert to costly, but cleaner, technologies as they industrialize. And, they’ll discuss the money that will be needed to assist the poorest countries in coping with the consequences of current climate change, like droughts and rising seas. Many developing countries have made it clear that they won’t sign a treaty unless it includes money to help them adapt to a warmer planet.
It is my hope that when the future arrives we, people of the planet, will have no regrets. Rather, we will know “then” what we may not be certain of now. That the cost and sacrifice that we all made was worth every dollar, franc, pound, rupee, etc.
Comments
I am in total agreement, we must act now so we and our children don’t suffer with regrets and worse.
This is an important post concerning our childrens futures. Thanks