ALL THINGS THAT MATTER

Somerville, Maine---There are an estimated 295 million English speaking internet users and somewhere around 1,000 million users worldwide.  Within the internet there are thousands of groups, chats and forums.  What would happen if internet users joined into one overwhelming group to lobby for action to reduce global warming?  What would happen if millions of emails were sent, on a given day, to the world’s policy makers?  What would happen if the U.S. Congress, the White House, members of Parliaments, Prime Ministers and other world leaders received hundreds of millions of emails, in a single day, demanding that action be taken now to end the pollution of or planet?

This year, Earth Day is April 22^nd.   An author and blogger by the name of Philip Harris in Maine has come up with the idea of circulating his “OPEN LETTER TO WORLD LEADER ON GLOBAL WARMING” throughout the internet to try to get users to flex their email muscles.  His plan is to ask internet users to send his letter, or one of their own, to policy makers on April 22^nd and to show decision makers the extent of worldwide concern over the issue of and support of the UN’s recent IPCC report regarding global warming.  Mr. Harris’ letter has been featured in the on-line newspaper, The American Chronicle where he is regular contributor.  It also appears on his blog, http://philipharris.blog.com and has been run on numerous blogger web sites and Ezines.

Mr. Harris said that,” response to the letter on climate change has been excellent.  In just a few short days the letter on the Chronicle received over 4,000 views.  Comments to the letter on various blog sites have also been very supportive with only a few negative comments like global warming is a myth and a government plot to take over the world.”  He went on to say that he will circulate the letter and this release to internet groups in the hope that they also will pass it along to other groups so that views will grow exponentially.  “This could be the environmental shot heard around the world,” he added and he urged forward thing media to help publicize the effort by running this release.  The letter he wrote is as follows:

AN OPEN LETTER TO LEADERS OF THE WORLD ON GLOBAL CLIMATE CHANGE

The debate is over can we get to work now?  The UN report on climate change should put a lot of issues to rest and perhaps even silence the censors of the scientific community.  The bottom line, this planet is in trouble.  Even if we all act now we will are going to experience major climate change.  Anyone with a rational mind has known this for decades.  We, humans, are causing change and those changes are not going to be very positive for many unless we deal with the problem in a positive way now!

Time is not on our side.  What we have sown, we shall reap.  The question is do we want to keep planting the same polluted seeds and make matters even more dire?  It is unfortunate that most people and governments seem to need a calamity before they will act to solve a problem.  Can we afford to wait for another climatic catastrophe before we get our act together?  How many will have to die in some weather disaster before we believe what the leading scientists of the world are telling us?

The White House said that they are considering the information but see no change forthcoming in policy.  How arrogant!  Will the weather killing field have to strike even more on U.S. shores before our so-called leaders wake up?  Katrina wasn’t enough so what will it take?  We cannot afford not to act because the cost of potential and probable disaster will far exceed any cost to address greenhouse gas emissions now.  Retrofit is always more costly than building from the ground up.  Exxon’s recent profit statement makes it obvious that money is available from the oil giants to tackle the pressing issues now.  What good are record profits without a world to spend them in?

Can we truly afford to wait for governments to ‘study’ the findings and then take years to debate the facts?  We are near, if not already past, the climatic tipping point.  If the climate begins to spiral out of control, nothing we do will stop it for generation upon generation to come.  That, of course, assumes there will even be generations.  We have the technology to make change now.  Setting standards that will not be met for ten or twenty years will be too late.  Look at the rate of industrialization in China.  They are using the very technologies that got us into this mess in the first place.  Add Africa and Asia to the mix and we are really in deep trouble if we do not halt the use of greenhouse emitting technologies now.  The world cannot afford another industrial revolution unless it is based on renewable and non polluting energy sources.

The citizens of the U.S. and the world must demand immediate action on the parts of their respective governments to end the polluting madness.  We are talking about our lives and those of our children and grandchildren.  This issue is not some distant event.  This issue is now!

The newly released report by the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change is frightening.  International policy makers must pay heed to its findings and act now to prevent untold disaster.  The debate is over-climate change is happening and will get worse if our nation’s leaders do not act now.  Time is not on our side as we are currently experiencing massive economic and social impacts of a changing global climate.  These impacts will only get worse if we continue to put off the inevitable changes we must all support.

Money must be diverted now by governments to address global warming.  Laws must be passed now if we are to avoid massive loss of life and population displacement.  How many Katina’s can we endure?  How will the Australians survive without water?  As the glaciers melt how many people will suffer and what conflicts will arise?  Economies are suffering now-this is not a future scenario.

Exxon reported record earnings.   Other oil companies are sure to follow.  Tax these usurious profits and put the money into alternative, no polluting fuels.  Force the auto industry to mass produce green cars and give massive tax breaks to the consumers.  Force to coal fired plants to stop their pollution now.  Will this cost a lot of money?  Yes, but the cost of not acting will cost even more to economies and lost lives.  If the world were to unite to stop certain disaster, untold new jobs ands industries would be created.  

What good are all the wars and conflicts if the battles are won but the planet dies?  What good are the oil fields if there is no one left to use the oil?  What will sectarian violence win if there are no children left to inherit your victories?  Look at what is happening to our world and stop playing the fiddle while our planet is being destroyed.

We must unite as citizens of one planet and make our leaders address this most pressing issue.  Health legislation, ethics reforms, tax code changes and any other rule we can think of making means nothing in comparison to the climate changes we now face.  People often come together when faced with disaster.  From ice storms, tsunamis, floods, hurricanes and other disasters, the best of humanity surfaces when catastrophe strikes.   But if the catastrophes strike the entire planet, will there be able anyone to help?  Who will send food, clothing and shelter if all are stricken?  Ignoring climate change will not make it go away.  More studies will not make it go away.  Only strong action by all the governments and all people will solve this crisis.  And as the IPCC report says, even if we ended all pollution now, there will still be consequences.  Are we ending all pollution now? 

Please, save the lives of our children.  Please, do not let this planet die!

The debate is over can we get to work now?  The UN report on climate change should put a lot of issues to rest and perhaps even silence the censors of the scientific community.  The bottom line, this planet is in trouble.  Even if we all act now we will are going to experience major climate change.  Anyone with a rational mind has known this for decades.  We, humans, are causing change and those changes are not going to be very positive for many unless we deal with the problem in a positive way now!

Time is not on our side.  What we have sown, we shall reap.  The question is do we want to keep planting the same polluted seeds and make matters even more dire?  It is unfortunate that most people and governments seem to need a calamity before they will act to solve a problem.  Can we afford to wait for another climatic catastrophe before we get our act together?  How many will have to die in some weather disaster before we believe what the leading scientists of the world are telling us?

The White House said that they are considering the information but see no change forthcoming in policy.  How arrogant!  Will the weather killing field have to strike even more on U.S. shores before our so-called leaders wake up?  Katrina wasn’t enough so what will it take?  We cannot afford not to act because the cost of potential and probable disaster will far exceed any cost to address greenhouse gas emissions now.  Retrofit is always more costly than building from the ground up.  Exxon’s recent profit statement makes it obvious that money is available from the oil giants to tackle the pressing issues now.  What good are record profits without a world to spend them in?

Can we truly afford to wait for governments to ‘study’ the findings and then take years to debate the facts?  We are near, if not already past, the climatic tipping point.  If the climate begins to spiral out of control, nothing we do will stop it for generation upon generation to come.  That, of course, assumes there will even be generations.  We have the technology to make change now.  Setting standards that will not be met for ten or twenty years will be too late.  Look at the rate of industrialization in China.  They are using the very technologies that got us into this mess in the first place.  Add Africa and Asia to the mix and we are really in deep trouble if we do not halt the use of greenhouse emitting technologies now.  The world cannot afford another industrial revolution unless it is based on renewable and non polluting energy sources.

The citizens of the U.S. and the world must demand immediate action on the parts of their respective governments to end the polluting madness.  We are talking about our lives and those of our children and grandchildren.  This issue is not some distant event.  This issue is now!