About 3 years ago we jumped in the car and drove 1500 mile to a family thingy way out yonder. Some family also invited their friends. Over 3 days of picnics and dinners and huddled at kitchen tables we had a ball. One couple (friends of distant family) my wife and I really liked, and they us. Had we lived near by there is no doubt we would have been hanging out together, it was friendship at first sight.
A few days ago we heard that a suddenly discovered liver cancer took the mans life. He passed away a couple of weeks ago.
He had a most extraordinary job. For 20 years he worked for the petroleum industry, to educate the top executives on global warming. There is an umbrella group they pay into which does all sorts of unsavory things I suppose, he worked for them, but as the voice of the real science.
He traveled all over the US and Canada visiting the offices of managers and presidents and lawyers, giving them the real science on temperature increases, pollution, sea levels, predictions.
He said privately, in their offices, these guys were eager to have a session with him, they never challenged the data he cited or the gloomy predictions he gave. Their most common question was “how long do we have?”, sometimes it was how long until we screw up the whole planet, and sometimes it was how long until the public and governments make us stop, but it was always “how long do we have?”.
Our friend of three days was so happy, I ask him how can you be when these guys set through your lecture but keep damaging the planet? He said "privately these are nice guys, I have to believe some of them are going to do the right thing soon”.
They know, they absolutely know, and they will fill their pockets for as long as they dare, or as long as we let them.
Darrel,
ReplyDeleteThose that deny science, global warming, and climate change will come around when the pressure of the people and the burden of undeniable fact becomes too much to handle -
Not Until.
Then, people like Senator Inhofe (R-Ok) will just simply do what Bush did over the non-existant WMD - shrug and say,"We had that wrong".
It flat-ass amazes me how people can ignore the drought in the SW and the searing hot temps in Dallas and Wichita - and just write it off as a
"really hot summer"...
As you taught me- Amazin, absolutely fukin amazin.
Bests,
Ron
Darrel, I wish it were so but alas it is not....
ReplyDeleteAs long as profits can be made by adding pollutants to the air it will be done.
And if the Republicans get their wish, with less restrictions on water and air pollution it will get a lot worse before any turnaround happens if any at all ever.
I hope they will live out this legacy of this friend and do the right thing.
ReplyDelete