OK, this is going to sound like a strange question, but why isn’t the government or more private investors or giant corporations investing in things like solar, wind, bio-mass, and bio-diesel? I mean, I know the reason is that there has to be a huge return on any investment for these people, but there could be a fortune to be made in investing in green initiatives if it is done right…so what are we waiting for? If I was a millionaire or billionaire, I would be so heavily invested in this kind of thing for a single, solitary reason - I don’t want my kids or grandkids or great grandkids have to deal with my inactivity on the matter. In the last 100 years or so, we went from having our carts pulled by horses to flying spaceships to the moon. 100 years! If we could accomplish all that so quickly, why can’t we start working with that kind of enthusiasm on alternatives to transportation, building codes, product creation, etc? Imagine what we could do if we stopped focusing only on “how much is it going to cost up front” to “how much is it going to cost if we do nothing”…I think the change would come barreling down the pipeline like never before in our history.

Are we waiting until we actually run out of oil to start doing anything about it? There are different estimations as to when this might occur, but before it disappears, oil will become prohibitively expensive for anyone other than the very rich, which will slow down depletion.

Are we waiting until we have depleted the rainforest entirely, wiping out thousands (if not millions) of species and possible cures for very common ailments?

Are we waiting until the oceans are no longer habitable for marine life or a vacation spot for humans? Due to the rain this past week, my city has told us to stay out of the ocean for 3-4 days. Scary that 3 days of runoff can actually damage the big, bad ocean.

Are we waiting until we have millions and millions of climate change refugees to take care of, due to increased dangerous weather conditions around the world?

Are we waiting until every kid born in the next 100 years has asthma because of how polluted the air is, because we could not come together and figure out a way to clean up power plants or our cars’ emissions?

Are we waiting until we have contaminated our ground water so much with household cleaners that is no longer drinkable?

Are we waiting until 2020 to up the MPG standards in this country, to both reduce pollution and reduce our demand for oil? Oh right, we are - both Obama and Clinton don’t want to change that until 2020, which is absolutely ridiculous.

Are we waiting until the North Pacific Subtropical Gyre, or “plastic island” in the middle of the Pacific Ocean becomes big enough to serve as a vacation spot?

I do not know for sure what we as a species are waiting for, but I am excited by the actions of regular people who want changes made in policies regarding the environment. I am not saying that the average person on Planet Earth needs to do more than their fair share and I understand that not everyone has the resources or the money to make big changes - I don’t either! But we all can do our little parts which DO add up - don’t forget it. But what about the governments, the wealthy, the corporations - when are they going to step up and make change happen? The government wanted to go to the moon, they made it happen. When a corporation wants to come up with the next greatest widget, they make it happen. The wealthy find the money to build brand new $300 million dollar yachts, just to have one a foot bigger than some other wealthy guy. (Anyone else see what kind of “envy” this really is?) Truly, I believe the motivation for these type of entities will only come when we the people start making real noise about it in our elections, the products we buy, the companies we support, the hotels we stay in, the types of cars we buy, etc.. The more people that make it known that they want something done, the more apt they are to listen. So ask questions, sign petitions, encourage family members to make the small changes, write to your Congresspeople, donate to decent charities - it is what us “regular” people can do to try to change the course we are on before the earth turns into an even more overly-polluted, chemical-laden place that no one would even want to bring a new child into. Let’s make it happen - be heard.

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