Jeff and I just watched "Planet of the Humans", the new Michael Moore film, this morning. It is desperately depressing, heartbreaking, and infuriating. 1/25+ #ClimateChange
planetofthehumans.com
planetofthehumans.com
First of all, all these oil and gas enthusiasts have been throwing this movie around on social media saying it proves there is no such thing as "green energy", so we should just embrace oil and gas... 2/25+
I think they totally missed the point. Completely, and utterly, let the real intention of the film sail right over their heads. 3/25+
The point is, we have to STOP. The idea of green energy was that we can keep on living like we are without using fossil fuels. And maybe that is just not on. 4/25+
The film demonstrates how big money has bought into the marketability of equally planet-destroying technologies and they are running with it. 5/25+
Looking at what is being done in the name of "green energy" to power massive infrastructure, it is clear that this is not a solution. But, maybe, we are trying to solve the wrong problem. 6/25+
Maybe the solution doesn't lie in finding a replacement for fossil fuels so we can keep on keeping on. Maybe the solution is to change the way we live. 7/25+
The very idea that we can continue to grow, expand, get bigger and bigger industrial complexes and acquire more and more stuff is what is really unsustainable. 8/25+
Two hundred years ago, before fossil fuels were a major part of industry, people lived differently. They usually made their own clothes. They wove cloth in small cottage businesses. They darned socks. Many lived in smaller communities. 9/25+
They entertained themselves by reading, making music, putting on plays, playing games and sports, and talking to each other. People did not rush about in motor cars, because there weren't any. People didn't decide on a whim to jet off somewhere for a weekend. 10/25+
Because there were no airplanes. Business was mostly local, and long distance business arrangements were primarily made through letters. People walked, a lot. Some had horses to ride or to pull a wagon or carriage. 11/25+
Things happened slowly. Farms were small, by today's standards. Communities were closer. Markets did not have much in the way of exotics from far away, but they did have what people really needed. 12/25+
And I know, at this point, some of you are crawling out of your skins at the thought of that simpler life. I know some of you are itching to respond, "Yes, but, life was nasty, brutish, and short back then!" Not really. 13/25+
Life expectancy has statistically increased substantially since 1800, but not all of that is due to fossil fuel use. 14/25+
Medical science has improved. Our understanding of nutrition has increased. Social safety nets have been created to help the less fortunate. We care better for our children, over all. 15/25+
Diseases that wiped out many young people have been controlled or eradicated through vaccination. Labour actions have made workplaces safer. Sanitation and basic hygiene has improved immeasurably. 16/25+
No one is suggesting we should turn back the clock on any of these things.
In my genealogical research, I have found many people living well past 80, even 200 or more years ago. And many who died young, died from accidents or epidemics or in childbirth. 17/25+
In my genealogical research, I have found many people living well past 80, even 200 or more years ago. And many who died young, died from accidents or epidemics or in childbirth. 17/25+
Given the right conditions, people then could live as long then as people do now. 18/25+
And I know now some of you want to say that oil and gas made all these innovations possible. I disagree. The Romans built roads and bridges and aquaducts that lasted for centuries,even millennia... Without oil and gas. 19/25+
We need to look at other ways of doing the good things that keep us healthy. And we need to cut way back on the things we do not need. All the plastic packaging, plastic toys, plastic gadgets. All the disposable things with built-in obsolescence. 20/25+
If limited fossil fuel use continued to make the things we need for health care, and communications, and if we got rid of the other 90% of fossil fuel use, that might be sustainable. 21/25+
Of course, we would have to slow down. Getting anywhere would be slower, just for a start. Food prep would be slower. And the race to continually grow the economy, get bigger and bigger... Well, that would have to stop too. 22/25+
We would have to find a new measure of success, because people like to measure such things. Perhaps quality of life is a more human measure of success than GDP anyway. It might be a lot better for our mental health to not feel that we are constantly racing just to keep up. 23/25+
COVID-19 has taught us that we can make our own bread. We can mend our own clothes and cut our own hair. Or let it grow. And that is ok too. We need to change the way we interact with the world and with each other. 24/25+
This whole ridiculous "keeping up with the Jones'" mentality has to stop. We need to stop judging each other on the basis of what we own, what clothes we wear, how we do our hair, or make-up, what car we drive. 25/25+
We need a reset of our priorities. The goal can't be finding a way to sustain our unsustainable lifestyle. We have to find a new lifestyle. One that we can find joy in. We can do it. People are incredibly adaptive, incredibly ingenious. 26/25+
We can do this. If we want to. Or we will all die. 27/25+
