December
10, 2013 – Picking up where we left off last week, businesses at the leading
edge of climate change understanding have discovered that the cost of climate
change inaction is greater than the cost of grappling with climate change. No surprise to climatologists, this is
a concept badly in need of promulgation.
The response in Washington is and will always be, but where do we find
the money? The answer is simple. No one wants to be the first (or
second, or third) to say it out loud, but it has to be said. The money will, and must, be taken out
of the defense budget. Smaller
percentages will come from entitlements’ budgets. These are all tough pills to swallow, but the alternative is
unimaginably worse.
The
defense budget currently stands at $530 billion, not including any ongoing
wars. That number needs to be cut
dramatically, and it needs to be cut right away. Halving the defense budget within five years would afford
the United States $265 billion per year with which to mitigate climate change,
and ameliorate its ever-increasing consequences. Helping poorer, more vulnerable nations would also be a
possibility. Decreasing the
defense budget by $200 billion dollars, with the remainder coming from entitlements,
could accomplish the same thing.
Speaking
as an older American with only a few years left in my working life, I guarantee
you I understand how these changes could impact those of us looking forward to
retirement. I’ve worked for 27 of
the last 38 years, and paid into social security for 21 of them. Doug and I hope to move to the Pacific
Northwest, but only if we feel comfortable with regard to our future
income. A decrease in social
security payments could very well scuttle those plans, but what choice have we
got? The correct answer is no
choice.
There
will be those who will argue that decreasing our defense budget is impossible;
the United States has acted since World War II as the world’s policeman. This is a fact that will not brook
argument. The problem with this
argument is that it only takes into account the past. It gives not even a nod to the catastrophic changes we face
in the not-distant future. Then
there are those who will exclaim yes, exactly! How much more will our military might be essential to a
functioning world?
To
which one can only respond that beyond a certain point, the breakdown of
civilization precludes functionality.
We must and can address environmental issues with the greatest
priority. To simply accept that we
will be overwhelmed by events, and that the one decisive answer comes out of
the end of a gun, is to relegate ourselves to the dustheap. To accept eventual irrelevance by means
of inaction fails to recognize our responsibility to make G-d manifest in the
world. Our gorgeous planet was
given to us as a gift, bequeathed to us by a loving Creator. Accepting responsibility may not be
much fun, but it makes a worthwhile future a possibility.
With thanks to thewashingtonpost.com .
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