Going Off Fossil Fuels

So in the newspaper yesterday it said Canada has agreed to go off of fossil fuels by the year 2100. Which is, um, 85 years from now. Isn't that leaving it kind of late? Apparent a global rise in temperature of more than 2 degrees would be disastrous, and so the G7 have agreed to cap the permissible rise in temperature at 2 degrees. Right on the edge of disaster. It brings to mind that story they tell of the man who wanted to hire a driver. He interviewed three men; the first two bragged about how close to the edge of a cliff they could drive without falling over. The third man said he didn't know how close he could drive to the edge because he always stayed as far from it as he could. Of course he got the job.

I'm glad they're talking about it. I'm glad they are setting goals. I'm glad they're acknowledging a looming problem. I just wish they would act a little more, and maybe be a tad faster about it.

Meanwhile, I'm using my curly lightbulbs and solar panels and taking public transit and using a push mower and turning off my air conditioner and switching to on-demand hot water heating...and wishing I could do something more. Give me the technology and I will welcome it. Give me an electric car I can afford that won't leave me stranded in the middle of Manitoba. Give me permission to build a greenhouse and raise chickens in my suburban yard so I can provide more of my own food. Give me permission to get rid of the grass on my boulevards and replace it with something practical. Change the zoning so I can install a small windmill. Let office buildings have windows that open. Help develop jobs in my community so I can bike to work...or make housing affordable where the jobs are. Require developers to install solar panels on all the acres of roofs they're building. Good grief, Mississauga only recently allowed the use of outdoor clothes lines. We need to get with it. My curly lightbulbs alone won't save the planet, any more than hiding under our desks in kindergarten with our hands on our heads would stop the earthquake from bringing tons of cement down on us. We need to demand our governments take decisive action now.

My soapbox for the day. As I sit at my computer in an air-conditioned office two hours away from my house...