Every April 22nd since 1970, humanity has come together for a special day to celebrate our collective home. Earth Day has reached its forty-fourth anniversary and its importance has never been higher. Started by peace activists, and adopted by a Democratic Senator, Earth Day has become an active period of participation in almost every country. Communities, cities, and countries all over the world have activities to teach their citizens the importance of taking care of the only planet we can currently live on. The Earth Day website claims that in 2012 over a billion people were apart of deeds and efforts to conserve the environment. But meer educational seminars and picking up trash at a local park isn’t enough.
Everyday an Earth Day:
The amount of activism and awareness produced by Earth Day alone cannot stop the fatal tide of climate change. As Lazy Activism has already covered, climate change is very much real, and denying the issue only hurts humanity’s chance of surviving in the future. But Earth Day 2014 is accompanied by real progress toward taking the steps needed to curb manmade, destructive behavior in the future. Renewable energies have never been cheaper and this is being noticed by many countries.
France gets 75% of its electricity from nuclear power and has the world’s lowest carbon emissions in relation to GDP. Costa Rica brags that it will be the world’s first carbon neutral country as soon as 2021. There is also Iceland, which plans to use 100% renewable energy by 2050. Not to be outdone, Sweden wants to become the first oil free country by 2020. These are all amazing goals and strides forward, but there are some caveats. Unless there are major breakthroughs in the science and technology of renewable energies, large industrial countries like the U.S., China, and Russia will have a very hard time becoming carbon neutral.
There are those that have stakes in destructive energies that see new forms of energy, such as solar and wind, as competition and try their hardest to stymie their advancements, but the free market will hopefully be the judge of who will energize the future.
If the market does not pick renewable energies than governmental action will be needed. Many people think the economy is the biggest issue for governments to fix, but what good is having a steady job when climate change related calamities are affecting the Earth? There needs to be comprehensive legislation to ensure that America, as well as the rest of the world, respectively, surge into the future with sustainable tactics in mind.
One would think that taking care of the Earth would be beneficial to all mankind, and thus supported by every politician. This is, of course, not the case in America. The National Journal has revealed that not a single Republican has said the words “Earth Day” in the Senate or House since 2010. It should not fall to a single party, or a single country to enact meaningful policy changes that could help stave off the negative effects of climate change.
The World At Large:
For more Earth Days to occur, humanity needs to come together to clean up this planet before it becomes obsolete. People can do simple tasks such as taking shorter showers, buying energy efficient appliances, and driving their cars less. With the advent of electric cars and solar panels fitted for homeowner’s roofs becoming widely, and cheaply, available there is hope that trends of sustainability take hold.
Here are some other practical, more in-depth, solutions to achieve sustainability:
- Rainwater collection systems,
- Compost kits,
- Gray water filtration,
- Bike riding for local transportation.
Weaning ourselves off of foreign, dirty energy sources will help the atmosphere as well as hurt certain unsavory oil producing nations. This can also lead to America becoming the pioneer in research and manufacturing of renewable energy technologies. A boost to the economy while saving the planet seems like a real win win.
There are many domestic projects that can be undertaken as well to use less and save more. Fixing our energy infrastructure reduces spillage of harmful materials into the world as well as providing means to efficiently obtain such materials. Any step to reduce carbon emissions is a good step. America needs to hold itself to a high standard even if other countries won’t. History is clear in the fact that winning ideas become lasting ones. Let’s hope that for future Earth Days, America is leading the way.
Lazy Activism 