In the narrow sphere of our present political debate there is a rogue elephant
that no one wants to see. While both the Democratic and Republican wings of the
ruling party engage in political theater about budget cuts and deficit
spending, the beast is trashing around backstage destroying the props of a
failed system. The initial damage caused by hurricanes, floods, droughts,
fires, tornadoes and sea rise are measured in the billions of dollars. Soon it
will go from tip-toeing in the background to rampaging through our social
fabric. The mounting ecological crisis caused by global warming, environmental
contamination, species depletion and deforestation of the rain forests will
destroy the social and economic structures on which human existence on this
planet depends. Unfortunately no one is taking the coming disaster
seriously—even the environmentalists.

All of the predictions based on the best science available just a few decades ago
have fallen woefully short. The corporate media of the time ridiculed these
‘doomsday’ ecologists for exaggerating the problem. Why let these academic
types interfere with business (profit making) as usual? Unfortunately the
doomsayers underestimated by several magnitudes the speed and ferocity of the
coming catastrophe. They could not predict the interconnected positive feedback
loops that are presently accelerating our effect on the planet. CO2 emissions
heat the planet which causes more ice to melt which decreases the heat
reflected back into space which causes more heating which thaws the tundra
which releases more methane which causes more heating which changes climate
patterns which causes record droughts which leads to more wildfires which
releases more stored carbon which causes more heating… We are looking through
the fog at the tip of an iceberg poised to destroy our titanic ship of fools
and we have sent a pair of brain dead zombies to the prow armed with toothpicks
to push it out of the way. Really!

Every American owes it to themselves and their progeny to read Eaarth by Bill
McKibben. In it he argues and supplies the most up to date scientific evidence
(2010) for the fact that we have already altered the course of our planet. The
disasters are coming and they are unstoppable. Unfortunately there is a
disconnect between the seriousness of the problem and the solutions offered.
However laudable the local, sustainable farmers market type movements, they are
peripheral to the task of stopping the present direction of the central culprit—the
United States of America. A real solution needs to take on the entire
political, social and economic structure that has created the problem. However
important the campaigns around 350ppm and the Tar Sands Pipeline etc., there
needs to be a thorough going program of economic and political changes that
could actually make a difference. While continuing the protests, we need to
point out what tasks need to be done to prepare humanity for life on Eaarth.

The failure of the Obama administration to address this issue shows that even the
most ‘liberal’ of the ruling elite’s administrators cannot even begin a serious
discussion about this looming crisis. It is up to the 99% to take control of
the debate and make sure that it does not get lost in the false dichotomy
between right-wing (Democratic) and ultra right-wing (Republican) posturing in
the 2012 elections. The economic solutions and the political will to carry them
out is alien to either of the parties of the 1%. Their sole purpose is to limit
debate and ensure the continued profit mongering by their masters on Wall
Street.

This chasm, between the reality we face and the scope of the solutions offered, is
even reflected in the demands of independent environmental groups. There is a
well-organized movement to limit CO2 emissions to 350 parts per million.
World-wide demonstrations and consciousness raising actions organized by
350.org have broken some of the corporate media silence around this issue but
unfortunately the central demand—cut carbon emissions 80% by 2050—lets everyone
off the hook. The period after these mobilizations saw the steepest rise in CO2
emissions (33%) in recent memory. Kicking the problem down the road to the
middle of this century is not a serious approach.

Americans need to take responsibility for the fact that we have caused this problem. We
are the main polluter by far and we have spread the economic system responsible
for the global disaster far and wide, often by force of arms. Americans need to
make a bold move in the opposite direction. The United States of America should
pledge to cut their CO2 emissions by 50% by 2020 instead of postponing any
serious action till that date. Most would say that is impossible, but it is a
realistic goal. It only seems absurd when viewed through the blinders of our
present way of doing things. If Wall Street and the banks continue to own the
political and economic structures, then any meaningful change is impossible. On
the other hand if we tap the creativity and strength of the other 99% there is little
we cannot accomplish. The impossible will become commonplace.

Take for example our current mode of transportation—the car, which is responsible
for about 25% of our carbon emissions. We need to forget the hybrid and forget
about raising gas mileage requirements. The only solution that will make a
difference is the electric car. By the end of 2013 we should only allow the
sale of electric cars in the US. The propaganda against the electric car has
been completely misleading. The main complaint is that battery capacity means
limited range. This is easily solved. The owner of the car does not own the
battery—any more than the owner of a gas-guzzling car owns the oil well and
refinery. A standard size battery could be swapped at automated stations in less
than three minutes and you are on your way. All public parking would be fitted
with charging ports and of course you charge the battery at home.

After switching to electric cars we would find that the competition to increase
battery life and efficiency would be fierce. While maintaining a standard size
for universal batter exchange, other features would drive innovation and
experimentation. If you want to drive a 57 Chevy just purchase the appropriate
chassis to fit on the standard frame. It could come complete with a
computer-controlled sound and hydraulic system that would give you the feel of
an actual 57 Chevy or a Porsche 911 or whatever. A whole industry could be
built on creating the retro feel for car aficionados.

The initial retooling and infrastructure work would require a major allocation of
resources. But with our current unemployment situation we need such a campaign
to get America back to work. The Occupy movement has shown that we are ripe for
a new direction. The present corporate and financial institutions backed by
their puppets in Washington have shipped our jobs overseas, increased
productivity at home by 80% and put our pay and benefits on the chopping block
just to fill their coffers with super-profits. They have gotten their way with us
for more than three decades and all they can promise is more of the same. It is
time to get them off our backs. We can still use free market mechanisms and
competition to spur innovation and efficiency but we need to strip the
super-rich of their power to determine our direction as a nation.

Another obvious area to cut emissions is in the military. Without the prospect of being
dependent on oil until it is completely depleted, which is the current plan, we
don’t need to fight foreign wars to defend the interests of our oil barons. By
immediately ceasing all hostilities and bringing our war machine home, we would
cut CO2 emissions dramatically. Even under Bush II his advisors in the global
strategy think tanks warned that it was not terrorism we should worry about but
global warming. The trillions spent on wars and weapons research could be spent
to find ways to cut emissions and prepare the world for an environment unlike
anything we have experienced. Even if we cut our emissions by 50% by 2020 and
the rest of the world takes up the challenge and follows suit, global warming
will run its course in unpredictable ways. We will need rescue teams, a
revamped healthcare system and ramped up medical research, not killing teams,
drones and a refurbished nuclear arsenal.

The United States has a long post WWII history of supporting the most retrograde,
repressive, anti-democratic regimes around the world either in the name of
anti-communism or anti-terrorism. This must stop. Instead of playing the
hegemony game with China, for example, why not challenge them to revamp their
socio-economic system in line with a race to save the planet. Such a move would
inspire people the world over. We should be sending soil scientists and
ecologists to Africa not marines and drones. Iraq doesn’t need a Green Zone of
mercenaries paid by US tax dollars, it needs to rebuild its sewage and water
systems that we destroyed during the first Gulf War. The US has been the main
organizer and supporter of terrorism around the world, now it is time to
promote justice and a sustainable future and make America a symbol of progress
not repression.

Many say that it would take the threat of an alien invasion to unite the people of
the world for a common purpose. Any sober look at the science of ecology and
the threats posed by global warming, environmental contamination, habitat and
species loss, and deforestation, especially of the rain forests, points to the
fact that we do face an alien invasion. The alien we face is the planet earth,
which we have changed beyond remedy. Future generations will live in a strange
new world and we need to prepare them as best we can. Nothing will change if we
continue business as usual. Only with a bold revolutionary approach to our
current situation, and an eye to our uncertain future, will our species be
united to deal with the invasion of planet EAARTH.