Floored by the Shock About Paris Climate Accord

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Well I'm going to have to swear. I have to admit to being flat-out stunned that so many people are stunned about the POTUS pulling the US out of the Paris Climate Accord.

I didn't realize so many people gave a shit about the environment.

We don't act like it.

It's only early June, and businesses already have the AC set to 63 degrees. We buy and then throw away mountains of garbage and food. People leave their cars running for no reason whatsoever. We buy enormous houses and vehicles, drive everywhere, recycle very little, and conserve almost nothing. We engineer cities to be inefficient. We want the economy to keep growing - on a finite planet.

We are not living lifestyles that say we care. So why is everyone suddenly so upset?

And climate change is only ONE of our major environmental problems that already are causing and will lead to more strife, disaster, death, destruction, and war. How that unfolds is yet to be determined. The US' move this week will certainly play a part, but there is much more going on here than just climate change.

I wrote a piece last year on my own motivations for the work that I do - work to help build resilience. The piece references five threats to national security. I'm adding a sixth threat. Here's the updated list:

Six Threats to US National Security:

• Climate change
• Increasing world competition for food
• Increasing world competition for water
• The increasing number of failed nation-states
• The increasing world population
• A demagogue in the US presidency.

With last week's developments clearly shifting the world's power structures, I would say these things are a threat to stability of the republic, as well as to the world.

The science and other reference information is cited in the "Why" post. It's systems science, environmental science, ecology, biology. Physics.

We are better able to face risk and address it effectively when we understand it. We will be better able to deal with these crises if we see them coming than if we panic at the last minute. We can counter fear. We can make big pivots.

We can also actually change some of our own behaviours to have an impact.

EVERY. THING. WE. DO. AFFECTS. THE. PLANET.

We can start with ourselves. We can make changes that DO matter. Are you willing to go without? To be a little too warm, or too cold? To buy recycled? To buy less?

Energy goes where attention flows.

Anchor and flank.

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