The experts got it wrong with climate change. Ever since NASA scientist Jim Hansen told Congress in 1988 that climate change posed a serious threat to life on Earth, we've been told a lie.
The lie is simple and straightforward. It goes like this: you and me and everyone else on the planet are bad because we use oil and gas and coal, and those fossil fuels are trapping the heat that's warming the very Earth that supports us.
As we all know, the best lies contain partial truths. Yes, we all use fossil fuels. We drive cars, we fly in airplanes, and we use fossil fuels to heat our homes and to cook our food, among other things.
And yes, climate change is already producing crazy changes to our weather and our landscape – and in Alaska, that means warmer salmon streams, less snowpack and receding glaciers, and eroding coastlines.
But here's the lie: we're bad people because we use fossil fuels.
Since we came into being, humans have used whatever resources we could to fashion a basic livelihood. It's our nature; we're an amazingly smart and resourceful people, and we'll make
use of everything at our disposal to make our lives more productive and successful.
Humans starting pulling oil from the Earth more than 4,000 years ago. Later, with the advent of the steam engine and modern drilling technology, we came to understand the truly incredible
energy potential of fossil fuels.
So we did what humans do – we made it work for us. In the blink of a geologic eye – less than 250 years - we transformed our planet into a fossil fuel economy. And never before in the history of the planet had so many people enjoyed such a high standard of living.
Then we learned a disturbing truth: pumping all that carbon from the ground into the atmosphere is creating a veritable blanket around the planet. Some ask how we humans could have such a profound effect on such a large Earth; the real question is -- knowing our planet has grown from a billion people in 1800 to 7.3 billion now -- how could we not have such an effect?
The two biggest hurdles to our planet's climate problem are the collective guilt we feel because we all use fossil fuels, and the enormity of the challenge we face in shaping an energy future that doesn't rely on them.
So, first things first. We cannot let our collective guilt stop us from addressing climate change – even as we fly and drive and heat our way through our everyday lives. It was OK in 1970 to put the fossil fuel pedal to the metal, because we didn't know better. Now we do. It's called learning, and we humans are good at it.
But breaking the fossil fuel habitat is, to put it mildly, hard. Waves of cash from powerful special interests wash over our politicians and politics to create inaction. Exxon is a perfect example; it knew 40 years ago burning fossil fuels created climate change. Not only did Exxon suppress the information, it spent millions of dollars to deceive the public about it.
Alaska has prospered greatly from oil and gas. But that was then. Today, we're staring down the barrel of a fiscal gap because we didn't diversify our economy – and the only options on the table are to double-down on the failed policies of the past.
But there's another way. Climate change is here, now. The longer we deny it, the more it will cost us, with larger storms, coastal erosion and melting permafrost. We can create jobs and
revenues now and lay the groundwork for a new economy simply by investing in clean energy. I have two young kids, and I'm afraid we've pushed the planet that will support them too far already. We can do better. Alaskans are a smart and resourceful people. Just take a 10th of the proposed gas line's budget -- $5 billion – and put it toward education and incentives that will bring us clean and affordable energy – and make Alaska the training ground of the world for renewable power.
We're not bad because we use fossil fuels; but now that we know what's happening, we have an opportunity to address the consequences and make a better life for our kids and grandkids.
Bob Shavelson is the executive director of Cook Inletkeeper, a public-interest organization working to promote clean water, healthy salmon and a vibrant democracy in the Cook Inlet watershed. This year marks Inletkeeper's 20th anniversary.
The views expressed here are the writer's own and are not necessarily endorsed by Alaska Dispatch News, which welcomes a broad range of viewpoints. To submit a piece for consideration, e-mail commentary(at)alaskadispatch.com