Somebody here, can't recall who, placed some blame for You Know What on Politicians and the Media...

Well, yes and no.

Yes, both groups are responsible for evading the topic, ignoring it, and generally not helping it. Boooo. Damn librul media again, mucking things up!

But in the end, both groups are made up of... that's right, people. And both groups depend on... uh... that's right, people. And despite appearances, both groups really do care about the people, if only because it's people who keep them in power.

Major corporations aren't destroying the environment because it's fun and they're really looking forward to buying up beachfront property, they're doing it because, like most people, the folks that run 'em are short-sighted and are looking at their profits. So? Cut out their profits.

Buy the most energy-efficient appliances, the most fuel-efficient cars you can manage. (I believe there are subsidies...?) Then write to the companies (or write and email simultaneously) explaining your decision. Make your actions and words prove your point - there's money to be made in these products. Heck, write to the OTHER companies, explaining why you didn't buy from them - how you'd love to buy a product they make, if it doesn't mean having to invest in a submarine a few years down the line. (Though, I dunno, being able to wake up every day singing the "Yellow Submarine" song might be kinda fun. Do they make environmentally conscientous subs?)

Write to your representatives. Write to your potential reps, the ones starting to campaign now. Make it clear to them how important this issue is to you, and how very much you care about it. And don't vote for the failures in the area.

Write to your local news media. Write to national news media. Be a nuisance, in short. I'd talk about organizing the standard forms of protest, but considering the lack of media anti-war protests are getting (write about that too, why don't you?), I want to leave this on a high note.

I mean, when it comes right down to it, blaming politicians and the media is fun, but it's more fun when you know it's their fault and not yours. Lead them to water first, then you can whine about the fact that they didn't drink.

I have another post coming on You Don't Have To Do Everything - hang on a bit and I'll bother to type it.

Incidentally, the wuthering wind (love that word) is cheering me up immensely. I really do like winter. All that snow, when we get it, and wind, when we get it, and cold - it makes me feel safely alone.

Here's the other thing I really really wanted to say before I forget.

You don't have to do everything.

Sure, we could save the world in three days or less if some enterprising group blew up all the oilfields and power plants (other than windmills and solar cells, of course!) and car factories. And cows (do you even know how environmentally unsound big cattle farms are? Do you want to know?) too.

But is that really necessary? At this point, I'd like to say no. Yes, it's good if you can get your house off the grid (that's just a good idea anyway), and it's great if you can convince your municipality to switch to more renewable energy sources.... But it doesn't have to be all or nothing.

I remember two different, unrelated articles I've read, with funnily congruent quotes. One was about a Peace Corps worker who had observed that there were people who could do everything, and would - for three months until they burned out. Then they were useless, and had to be trucked home, while the less obsessive workers got more and more shit done.

The other was about convincing people to go vegetarian. As one person said (paraphrase), you do more good if you convince three people to eat half as much animal products than if you concentrate on convincing one person go give this stuff up altogether. (Or if you don't even convince that one person because you're just going on and on about it, all the time.)

And that goes for anything. If you can't switch your lightbulbs, that doesn't mean you can't drive less, or carpool more. If your neighborhood isn't really dense enough to make a complex bus system sensible, that doesn't mean you can't start a movement for sidewalks and school busses.

If you can't convince people to change their entire lives, you can at least get them to change some part of it. I was talking to the mom of one of Ana's friends yesterday about this. She said "I'm not too concerned. I don't know why, I'm just not. I guess because I'll be dead by then."

Well, no, based on my very unscientific calculations, she won't be dead, she'll be seventy. I don't know - a few decades, a century - that seems unimaginably close to me, but so distant to her. And I'm younger than she is. So I don't know if I could convince her to change everything. But maybe I can get her to make one change, or two - her kid's only three, she'll be bound to be alive then. And grandkids? Sheesh.

On the other hand...

A rise in sea levels could mean that....

"Most of the village of Kennebunkport along with President Bush’s family home on Walker’s Point could be completely submerged."

Now, that's what I call funny. I mean tragic, and sad. But still funny.

I was talking to somebody else about this, and they say "Well, I won't be here then, I'll have moved." Moved where? Inland? Like that'll save you. What does she expect, that she's the only one bright enough to get while the getting's good, that all the poor sods on the coast (most of humanity - for some reason, they just keep putting major cities near shipping! Imagine!) will just wait while the water goes up higher, and higher, up to their necks, and submerges them? Why? Because, wait, don't tell me, they have faith in God.

People don't think.

I found some maps...

They're not all that easy to read, but NYC seems to get fairly swamped.

Well, the beauty of New York is that now that we don't depend on the port, we're actually a pretty portable city. Unlike New Orleans, which would just fold if the need for that port vanished. (And which is probably only hanging on because of that port - otherwise, even the token help they've gotten doesn't seem likely mihi.)

At any rate, it seems to me like now is the time to move inland, or at least as soon as I can possibly manage. Preferably inland to some area without fuel reserves - I like to make my safety nets free of hidden snags. Best to get while the getting's good, I always say - move now, and avoid the rush.

So, here's my plan. Pick a spot, probably (unfortunately, due to their oil) in Canada. Move there - maybe for college. Stay there. Become a citizen, stat. Buy up lots of land, pretty far inland. Cheap land - as long as I can substinance farm, I'm good. Plant lots of fruit trees - that fights global warming and makes fruit. Build a castle to defend myself against displaced invaders. I like castles. Include many secret exits and passages, why not? Invite others to come, pool our resources. Buy more land (and fruit trees). Repeat as necessary.

It'd have to be a castle that can also withstand massive storms, no? I can do that.