My Summer of Discontent
At long last it seems we’ve put the question about global warming to rest. After all, the ten warmest years in modern history have occurred in the last 14 years – i.e., since 1991. As Al Gore points out in his new movie, An Inconvenient Truth, out of 925 recent articles about global warming in peer-review scientific journals, there was no disagreement. Zero. Happily, this scientific consensus is now filtering into the media and public consciousness and it is likely we’ll see more significant changes in energy policy at the state and federal level.
But in reality, it can be pretty depressing. Global warming is a lot like my own mortality. I prefer not to think about it. Oh sure, the bigger impacts like the melting of the polar ice caps bothers me, as do larger and more powerful storms and drought in many parts of the world. But I’m really affected at a deeper level when I think about global warming’s personal effects on my life in Gloucester.
I think about how in 15 years we won’t be skating every winter weekend on Magnolia’s West Pond, playing hockey with my kids and grandkids. I think about how we won’t be able to enjoy the beach because sea level rise has wiped out most of it, except at low tide. And I wonder how we’ll deal with the loss of homeowner insurance when the industry decides that we live too close to the coast to insure.
I’m not much of a worrier. But if you ponder the implications too much, you could really get twisted. Think about how climate change and sea level rise could affect Cape Ann. With ten feet of sea level rise – perfectly plausible under current scientific understanding -- Gloucester’s wastewater treatment plant, high school, the boulevard, and most of Rogers Street would nearly be under water. And with warmer ocean temperatures, we’re bound to have bigger and bigger storms. And then there’s the cost of energy – my electricity bill already tops $100 per month.
But I refuse to wallow in my discontent. Just like I exercise and try to eat good foods in an effort to push back my own demise a few years, I’ve been trying to reduce our family’s energy use. We installed a wood-burning stove last winter that cut our oil use and carbon dioxide emissions in half – and saved $900 to boot. We’ve installed 12 energy efficient bulbs, reducing our electricity use helping to keep our bill from rising to stratospheric heights. And I’m trying to stay under 65 mph on 128 – after all, every 5 mph slower you drive reduces fuel consumption and saves you 10 cents per gallon thanks to improved efficiency and lower aerodynamic drag.
And I feeling a bit less glum having just read an article in the July/August issue of MIT’s Technology Review, which says that immediate steps to sharply reduce emissions could still prevent the worst consequences of global warming. So just as I’ll get out to play basketball with a bunch of my buddies this summer -- to stave off the spare tire that wants to grow around my waste -- I’ll be searching for additional ways to reduce my energy use. After all, who could stand for a summer of discontent on Cape Ann – its just too gorgeous around here to mope, or in seamen’s terms, to stay stuck in irons!
Tim Greiner lives and plays pond hockey in Gloucester. He is the coordinator of the Cape Ann Climate Action Network (www.capeannenergy.org). His next My View will detail steps readers can take to to do their part.
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