On the Environment

I am not in the bag for human-induced global warming. That claim is man-made hubris. Worse are the public policy implications for subscribing to the remedies proposed to save us from global disaster. Scratch a devout environmentalist and you will find a stink-eye socialist. That does not mean, however, that I reject climate change. Nor does it mean that I reject respect for Nature or relieve individuals from genuine stewardship responsibilities. The planet will survive us but there is no reason to trash it while we are renting the premises. I am sure that the Earth’s climate is changing, just as it has changed for eons.

What has happened to my lake over the course of the year has shocked me. Instead of receiving our normal 60 inches of rain this year, East Alabama received about 30. As a result, my lake is about five feet low. It has taken on a bizarre shape as it literally dries up before my eyes. I know that the fate of a micro lake in the Deep South is minor in relation to the larger questions of drought throughout the South and especially in Texas but it worries me. The stream that once fed the lake has quit running. My neighbor, Mr. Jimmy, thinks that the water table has dropped because of all the new folks punching the aquifer to obtain water to drink, water livestock, fill pools, and wash trucks. One of my plans is to put a pump off the dock and run water up to an elevated storage tank near the gardens. If we fail to get monsoon rains this winter, I can forget that idea. The moment I run that line, though, I am admitting a fundamental climate shift – my grandparents never considered running a water supply line from the lake to the garden. An organic farmer friend of mine told me that if I was serious about growing produce for market I had no choice but to irrigate. Remember, Alabama’s average annual rainfall is about 60 inches. Something is out of whack.

Then, as I was thinking about the lake drying up, I opened an email from a gardening group of which I am a member. I am linking you to the information I found. Check this out: www.arborday.org/media/mapchanges.cfm. It shows that the frost dates are dramatically different than they were just two decades ago. If the trend continues, I will be able to grow tomatoes outdoors year-round. Now that is some kind of climate change.

Every time I start getting serious about environmental degradation, I listen more carefully to weather report. Every event, tornado, flood, heat, cold, snow, ice is always report as the worst or most or highest or lowest SINCE sometime in the recorded past when the environment was rebelling more intensely than now. Worst weather SINCE …

I am torn on the extent to which modern living costs the environment. Since I believe all change begins with me, I removed all of the air conditioners from the house because they gobble energy. I use low wattage bulbs. I cook on the grill as often as possible. I use as little hot water as hygienically acceptable. I wear more clothes in winter and fewer clothes in the summer. The redo of the house is focused on energy conservation, from extended eves to beefed up insulation. Not surprisingly, I enthusiastically support locally produced and organically grown food. I produce them myself. So, I send in my dues to the Sierra Club every year even though I ignore every suggestion it offers on candidates and “calls to action”. I like the Club but don’t want them running the country.

I put most of my hope in the theory that Nature is indifferent to us. It is what it is. Inexorable. The Universe is ruled by the laws of physics, chemistry, and biology, perhaps some mathematics. The stars and planets are still exploding and that rate of outward movement is accelerating. Who knows where that will lead?. What we do on this little jewel of a planet is meaningless in the cosmic scheme of things. It does, however, matter to us right now. For that reason, we should behave ourselves and respect Nature. Walk gently on the Earth. Enjoy her incredible beauty. Celebrate her bounty. Marvel at her mysteries.