Erryday is Earth Day
Have you ever read a book that changed your will to be curious? For me it was, Bill Bryson’s, A Short History of Nearly Everything. It widened my comprehension for how rare life, earth and evolution is. It also inspired me to continue learning through exploring, building off the foundation my parents set for myself and my brother (more so
my brother — Bear Grylls of Tahoe).
Thanks to my parents, a lot of my childhood was spent fishing, camping and being outdoors in Tahoe and Montana. After returning back to California from college in Kentucky, I decided to take that up a notch. My friends and I have made an effort to compulsively plan backpacking trips throughout the year across Northern California. Yearning to explore beyond, the past year I went as far north as Iceland, Nootka Sound / Vancouver Island and as far South as Patagonia. Kayaking, diving, fishing in wildlife rich oceans and trekking amidst giant calving glaciers. I knew there would be a positive personal gain on the other end of these trips, but I couldn’t grasp how real and at what magnitude. It’s an investment in myself that will hopefully come full circle to benefit our planet through my daily decisions.
The more we understand the ecosystem, the more we respect its delicacy.
Earth Day is Erryday
Earth Day is everyday. To cooperate, not compete (as the Natives did). Past generations decisions have caused ‘irreversible’ systemic damage to the longevity of this planet for economical gain. However, there are opportunities left for us to decide the outcome. These are the ‘reversible’ opportunities and we are making optimistic progress to reverse the reversible damages. Its a “moral imperative”.
Intelligence is Ironical
For being the most intelligent life on Earth, we are inversely the most unintelligent at the other end of the spectrum. We are selfishly short-sided and often so radically blinded by the belief of a higher being that we lose sight of morality and decisions effecting the now. On a path to self-destruction. No other organism, virus or living being exists to self-destruct. Sorry, that was depressing. There have been incredible efforts to re-spark hope and optimism on the climate front (I’ve included a few examples below).
“Intelligence is the ability to adapt to change.” — Stephen Hawking
Colonizing other planets is more than a moon shot and I’d be surprised if humanity was able to survive long enough to have that be a viable option.
Have you seen Mars with Matt Damon? It’s like being stuck in Black Rock City wearing a meth cooking suit with no water, no oxygen and 100x the frequency and power of the dust storms. That looks like a real fun Plan B. Plan A sounds much nicer. Raising a healthy family only to grow up hiking along side glacial lakes/rivers, eating fresh trout and looking up at a star filled sky (while you subconsciously breath oxygen). I choose Plan A for myself and for the generations behind us. Let’s do our part.
Tangible Hope
I’m hoping for a future where we sensibly use technology (bio, energy, etc), intelligence, and empathy to sustain a world full of mutual respect for each other human and the planet.
Energy Wise — Global leaders like Richard Branson, Elon Musk, Taylor Wilson, etc. give me more hope. Today it makes financial sense for governments and corporations to migrate to renewable forms of energy.
This is due to the fact that we have grid parity (Renewable energy costs are cheaper than those of fossil fuels). Fusion R&D efforts by the 17 year old Reno phenom Taylor Wilson also paint a clearer picture of the future of energy…Yup, I built a Nuclear Reactor — Taylor Wilson
Where to start? I would say with curiosity. That will hopefully lead to appreciation, awareness and understanding. The action to make an impact will come where and when it makes sense for you.
“When any great moral challenge is ultimately resolved into a binary choice between what is right and what is wrong, the outcome is fore-ordained because of who we are as human beings. Ninety-nine percent of us, that is where we are now and it is why we’re going to win this. We have everything we need. Some still doubt that we have the will to act, but I say the will to act is itself a renewable resource” — Al Gore | Ted Talk, April 2016
Some amazing thought provoking media to enter the weekend
- Short History of Nearly Everything — Bill Bryson
- Let My People Go Surfing — Yvon Chouinard (Patagonia Founder)| Example of how capitalism can be profitable while being environmentally conscious |
- Vice HBO — Future of Energy (Elon Musk) | April 2016
- Ted Talk by Al Gore — The Case for Optimism | April 2016
