Undone
By Justine C. Tajonera
The heat has stolen my words.
At noon, the air is still and humid and presses
against me as I leave the building. I shield myself with
an umbrella but my head has already started to pound.
Last Tuesday I heard in the news that the temperature
in Quezon City was the same as a slight fever.
Last summer was the hottest on record.
It may just be eclipsed.
I try to remember days as hot as these. I cannot.
Another thirty days like this is unbearable.
In the poles, I imagine ice shelves sliding into the sea.
I can almost see the arms of coral reefs bleaching
in agony. I have something to do with this
that cannot be undone. Forgiveness will not soothe
the earth, the air, the oceans. But it is forgiveness
that I ask for in this enveloping, inescapable
hell of heat.
Showing posts with label earth. Show all posts
Showing posts with label earth. Show all posts
Wednesday, April 10, 2013
Monday, October 22, 2012
Sustainability # 8: Handprints, An Empowering Context, and Deserving To Inherit The Earth
My Sustainability posts spring from my forum posts in the free Sustainability Course, offered by the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, which I am participating in.
After watching Jared Diamond's talk on TED, I was struck by his observation that the short term goals or views of the prevailing leadership of a society greatly impacts the long term survival of that society. Most of these societies did not see their coming demise because they (or their leaders, in particular), had horse blinders on and were focused on their short term goals. I see the same thing in my immediate environment. Most Filipinos have a vague sense that there is something wrong. This is why we have frequent floods in cities (more than in the past). We are starting to get a sense that the seasons have changed drastically, affecting our farmers and their patterns of planting and harvesting. But many of us go on with business as usual because we lack the education about sustainability and we lack alternatives. Sometimes, it's structural: not all cities practice waste segregation and recycling. Sometimes, it's prioritization. With all the bills that need to be addressed by the government...fish catch shares and proper implementation of automotive emissions are not at the top of the list. Overall, despite the Philippines being one of countries low on the list of GHG contributors, there is no sense of urgency in addressing sustainability.
It's easy to have a pessimistic view of our sustainability. There seems to be a mixed view: developed countries are lowering emissions, use of energy and consumption...but will they lower it to the right point at the time needed? Will developing countries also follow suit at a quicker timeline as well? It's also easy to see it as contentious: why should developing countries be forced to comply with new standards when it was the developed countries that created all the consumption and waste that has resulted in climate change? But neither pessism nor contention will get the job done. What is needed is an empowering context.
I go back to my first question when I started with this Sustainability course: Do we deserve to inherit this earth? There is no right or wrong answer. But the only answer that counts is the one that leads to action. So, for me, this earth is a blessing that neither I nor my children and my children's children deserve....it is not deserved but it is a gift worth preserving. I look at my children and I know that I will do everything within my power to leave them an earth where they will be healthy, happy and productive.
Which leads me to handprints. There actually is a website and a movement called handprinter.org. The idea of handprints was started by Gregory Norris, a lecturer from Harvard School of Public Health. He noticed that when his students learned about their footprints they started thinking negatively: they wished they were never born. This kind of thinking is self-defeating (and scarily self-fulfilling) which led Norris to start handprints...measuring our positive contribution to the earth vs. just measuring our rate of destruction. This is the kind of thinking that I want to propagate with my children and my own community: we can do something to preserve the earth (and ourselves) and we can do it NOW.
After watching Jared Diamond's talk on TED, I was struck by his observation that the short term goals or views of the prevailing leadership of a society greatly impacts the long term survival of that society. Most of these societies did not see their coming demise because they (or their leaders, in particular), had horse blinders on and were focused on their short term goals. I see the same thing in my immediate environment. Most Filipinos have a vague sense that there is something wrong. This is why we have frequent floods in cities (more than in the past). We are starting to get a sense that the seasons have changed drastically, affecting our farmers and their patterns of planting and harvesting. But many of us go on with business as usual because we lack the education about sustainability and we lack alternatives. Sometimes, it's structural: not all cities practice waste segregation and recycling. Sometimes, it's prioritization. With all the bills that need to be addressed by the government...fish catch shares and proper implementation of automotive emissions are not at the top of the list. Overall, despite the Philippines being one of countries low on the list of GHG contributors, there is no sense of urgency in addressing sustainability.
It's easy to have a pessimistic view of our sustainability. There seems to be a mixed view: developed countries are lowering emissions, use of energy and consumption...but will they lower it to the right point at the time needed? Will developing countries also follow suit at a quicker timeline as well? It's also easy to see it as contentious: why should developing countries be forced to comply with new standards when it was the developed countries that created all the consumption and waste that has resulted in climate change? But neither pessism nor contention will get the job done. What is needed is an empowering context.
I go back to my first question when I started with this Sustainability course: Do we deserve to inherit this earth? There is no right or wrong answer. But the only answer that counts is the one that leads to action. So, for me, this earth is a blessing that neither I nor my children and my children's children deserve....it is not deserved but it is a gift worth preserving. I look at my children and I know that I will do everything within my power to leave them an earth where they will be healthy, happy and productive.
Which leads me to handprints. There actually is a website and a movement called handprinter.org. The idea of handprints was started by Gregory Norris, a lecturer from Harvard School of Public Health. He noticed that when his students learned about their footprints they started thinking negatively: they wished they were never born. This kind of thinking is self-defeating (and scarily self-fulfilling) which led Norris to start handprints...measuring our positive contribution to the earth vs. just measuring our rate of destruction. This is the kind of thinking that I want to propagate with my children and my own community: we can do something to preserve the earth (and ourselves) and we can do it NOW.
image from danswin.files.wordpress.com
Wednesday, September 12, 2012
Sustainability #1: Sustainability, The Invisible Hand and Why We Should Inherit The Earth
Recently, I discussed sustainability with my husband and he asked me why I was so concerned about it. I said we have finite resources and I'm concerned about the legacy we leave for our children. For example, I said, are countries prepared for the day we run out of fossil fuel? It's not an immediate concern but we can't live in a fantasy that we should leave it up to fate.
And this is where he launched into the invisible hand. I looked it up and it's an economic theory that the market, unchecked, will adjust itself and will preclude any kind of real catastrophe from happening. I retorted that we need to be aware of our impact on the environment, nevertheless. I don't really believe in leaving things to chance.
My husband has a different view. He believes that things will work themselves out. For example, when the world runs out of fossil fuel, he believes human beings will naturally and gradually adjust. "Then we'll use bicycles and work closer to our homes. Society won't collapse. Things will work out. We don't have to worry."
I was reminded of this discussion when I was watching my Week 1 Sustainability lectures (Free Sustainability Course on Coursera.org offered by the University of Illinois, Urbana Champaign). Malthusian and Ne-Malthusian predictions have been proven wrong. But I beg to differ. The rise in global population can be pinpointed to different countries (from the "developed" to the "developing" nations). The impact of one country can also be shifted to another. Regulation will happen or is already happening. When more people are educated about the impact they have on their environment, a shift is possible.
So, where I differ, perhaps is in the source of the shift. Things will work out with human awareness and not inspite of it. Of course, worry is a state of mind. If no action is taken, it is useless. So I like to think that we should worry just enough to get us to inquire and do something about it. Sustainability is largely a human concern and only exists in human language. If humans were to disappear tomorrow, I believe the earth would go on and even recover more rapidly. So, we really need to ask ourselves why we deserve to inherit this earth.
And this is where he launched into the invisible hand. I looked it up and it's an economic theory that the market, unchecked, will adjust itself and will preclude any kind of real catastrophe from happening. I retorted that we need to be aware of our impact on the environment, nevertheless. I don't really believe in leaving things to chance.
My husband has a different view. He believes that things will work themselves out. For example, when the world runs out of fossil fuel, he believes human beings will naturally and gradually adjust. "Then we'll use bicycles and work closer to our homes. Society won't collapse. Things will work out. We don't have to worry."
I was reminded of this discussion when I was watching my Week 1 Sustainability lectures (Free Sustainability Course on Coursera.org offered by the University of Illinois, Urbana Champaign). Malthusian and Ne-Malthusian predictions have been proven wrong. But I beg to differ. The rise in global population can be pinpointed to different countries (from the "developed" to the "developing" nations). The impact of one country can also be shifted to another. Regulation will happen or is already happening. When more people are educated about the impact they have on their environment, a shift is possible.
So, where I differ, perhaps is in the source of the shift. Things will work out with human awareness and not inspite of it. Of course, worry is a state of mind. If no action is taken, it is useless. So I like to think that we should worry just enough to get us to inquire and do something about it. Sustainability is largely a human concern and only exists in human language. If humans were to disappear tomorrow, I believe the earth would go on and even recover more rapidly. So, we really need to ask ourselves why we deserve to inherit this earth.
Original post here.
The illustration of Adam Smith (above), to whom the invisible hand theory is attributed, is in the public domain in the United States. This applies to U.S. works where the copyright has expired, often because its first publication occurred prior to January 1, 1923. See this page for further explanation.
Friday, December 11, 2009
Al Gore's Poem
I had to write about this. It's rare to find an environmentalist who was a former politician who now expresses himself through poetry. In his book, Our Choice, Al Gore, of An Inconvenient Truth fame, wrote a poem which appears on page 28 of the book. It's actually quite haunting in its imagery. He takes the time to choose words carefully, like "Neptune's bones" and one of my favorite lines is constructed, thus: "Ice fathers flood for a season." And the line that follows brings to mind Ondoy: "A hard rain comes quickly."
Poetry truly is the only way to distill anything complicated in our lives.
One thin September soon
A floating continent disappears
In midnight sun
Vapors rise as
Fever settles on an acid sea
Neptune's bones dissolve
Snow glides from the mountain
Ice fathers floods for a season
A hard rain comes quickly
Then dirt is parched
Kindling is placed in the forest
For the lightning's celebration
Unknown creatures
Take their leave, unmourned
Horsemen ready their stirrups
Passion seeks heroes and friends
The bell of the city
On the hill is rung
The shepherd cries
The hour of choosing has arrived
Here are your tools
Image is the cover of Al Gore's book, Our Choice
Poetry truly is the only way to distill anything complicated in our lives.
One thin September soon
A floating continent disappears
In midnight sun
Vapors rise as
Fever settles on an acid sea
Neptune's bones dissolve
Snow glides from the mountain
Ice fathers floods for a season
A hard rain comes quickly
Then dirt is parched
Kindling is placed in the forest
For the lightning's celebration
Unknown creatures
Take their leave, unmourned
Horsemen ready their stirrups
Passion seeks heroes and friends
The bell of the city
On the hill is rung
The shepherd cries
The hour of choosing has arrived
Here are your tools
Image is the cover of Al Gore's book, Our Choice
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