What is it going to take?

I am not optimistic at the progress being made ahead of the crucial conference on climate in Copenhagen later this year. Indications are that everyone is in there looking out for their own agenda, with the US and EU leading the shameful lot, not willing to agree to anything binding, looking for loopholes left and right, trying to exempt entire sectors known to pollute excessively, etc...

I have many questions. One is where are our leaders? What do they think their job really is? Is getting re-elected so important that they will make sure not to piss off their sugar daddies, aka lobbyists and corporate backers, even if that means going against the will and best interest of humanity?

The other question is: What will it take? Because let's be clear. This is not an if, it's a when. These guys will try to punt to the next guy until one day it's truly too late and we have to face up to it. This will be true for Social Security reform. It will especially be true for global warming.

So what will it take? What will be the tipping point? Will a hurricane 5 times as strong as as Katrina need to kill 100,000 people? Or wipe out Florida? Or when some US states have to do rotating water outages, similar to what California did when Enron was toying with the grid, because they can't meet demand?

What about if the rest of the world decides to challenge the sovereignty of our decision not to act? With less than 5% of the world population we generate almost 30% of the world pollution. If any other country in the world did that, we would deem that a threat to our national security and would likely commit them by force to change their ways. The US is strong, but what if all of Asia, Africa and Europe decide to unite against us to finally make us act? Would we nuke them all (I'm sure someone has already suggested that nuclear winter would be one way to stop global warming)? What if the entire world goes on a coordinated boycott of American products? What if China and Korea and others stop buying our currency and treasury securities, and instead threaten to dump their trillions of dollars of holdings, a move sure to collapse our economy?

I sincerely hope none of these things happen. My point is that this is like a tooth cavity, it will never get better on its own. The longer you wait to go to the dentist the worse the decay will get. But you know it's coming, it's just a matter of time.

Our leaders need to hear from us that we will hold them accountable for their inaction. And they need to hear we accept that this isn't just about making the hard political decisions, it's about following through with some real changes in our lifestyles, consumption habits, etc... From all of us. Starting now.

I recently read the book 'No Impact Man', in which the author says he never thought he was someone who could make a difference, and what he learned is that he is someone who is sure willing to try. That applies to all of us.

Write your elected representatives. Join a cause in your area that is going beyond talk and taking the message more directly to those in power. If you're not sure where to start, click on one of the badges on the right of the page to learn more about the Seal the Deal campaign, Tck Tck Tck or 350.org, among others. But do something.