Climate change is one big fat lie! (me provoking, you see)

 Deutsche Fassung)

Yesterday I took part in the “Energy Day” workshop of the city of Grimma (Saxony, Germany). I was positively surprised by the great effort the city of Grimma put into developing a 150 page Climate Concept and the willingness of almost 20 representatives of the solar-, wind- and bio-power industry, farmers, city-planners, politicians, and scientists to achieve a change from conventional to renewable energies for the whole region. 
In Saxony, the traditional brown coal state of Germany, this is very big thing to do. Yet, everyone in the room wanted to take part, but I had the feeling that we were standing in our own way a little. I don’t want you to think that I have some great insights into politics, or diplomacy, or that I would know how people should behave in such a situation! On the contrary! And don’t believe for a second that this post is addressed to the people I met there. I’m addressing YOU! And your neighbour, your mayor, and greetings to all the people you do or don’t know, you can just give them that thing here to read as well.

Dear Politician. You are part of the governmental machinery. You govern us. You don’t need to be afraid of regulations, as this is your expertise. Yet, also you receive orders and have to obey laws. Sometimes, you might not really see the common sense in them. We neither. But when your regulations touch the topic of climate change and renewable energies, please stop for a moment and think. What is the ultimate goal of these regulations? Exactly! Ultimately, we have to lower our CO₂ emission to 2 tonnes per person annually. Don’t forget, we all want the same. At least all of us, who are aware of climate change. You are right, that's not so many people. Not to loose sight of the ultimate goal can sometimes be hard. I just wanted to tell you that it is not just the government’s job to safe the planet. It everyone’s job. Therefore, it would be nice, if you could keep two things in mind, when you implement or even make a new law: (1) The ultimate goal. (2) There are people that want the same, they are important! Join forces!

Dear Scientist. There is but one thing I want to tell you, but that is of utmost importance: SPEAK SO THAT PEOPLE WITHOUT A DEGREE UNDERSTAND YOU! That should be doable, don’t you think? If no one gets what you are talking about, how could anyone understand how ugly climate change is?

Dear Farmer. Life is hard on you. You work and work and work and one litre of milk costs not even one Euro. And now all these nerds come running, they want to protect the climate and they need land to put Giga watts worth of solar panels on your field and want to grow hectares and hectares of corn for fuel. That’s impossible, you say? Yes, you are right! We can’t just always want more and need more to fix our problems. But you are also a little bit wrong. You have more pull than you think. It’s not just the people that buy your products that decide about the future of agriculture. You have the greatest influence! I’m not demanding that you switch to organic farming now. (you can do that later) But one thing is very clear: We need to close cycles to survive. I mean that in an economical and philosophical way. Everything that you have to import from far away, everything that you discard, is absurd. Find another solution. Where do you want to buy your phosphorous fertilizer, when Earth’s phosphorous reserves are gone? You think, you don’t live that long to run into that problem? OK, if you are over 70, you may not. You have the power! Close the cycles! Re-cycle! That’s also cheaper.

Dear Industrialist or Economist. Nope, the answer to a weak economy or recession is NOT to produce more and to sell more. Stop telling people that only your product will make them happy and sexy.

Dear Others (I didn’t want to call you consumers): Get off the couch! Do something! Think! You are the grass roots! You are the origin of many revolutions! I don’t need to tell the former East Germans how to make things change! I know, life is hard for some, and fine as it is right now for others. So why should you change anything now? Why should you suddenly buy those ugly wrinkly dirty carrots from the organic store (they actually look normal, believe me, I was there, I bought them, I know what I’m talking about). 
You think climate change is something some nerds in lab coats came up with? And temperature fluctuations are a natural thing for our planet? You are right! Climate change happened before. There was one major climate change about 55 million years ago. Geologists proved that through studies on sedimentary rocks, but let’s not go into detail just now. 
Here is what happened: About 1500 Giga tonnes of CO₂ were emitted into the atmosphere through a natural catastrophe. Back then, the poles had no ice that could have melted. Yet, the sea level rose by several metres, everything that gets warmer gets bigger, you know. The British islands, for example, got quite tiny during this process. A lot of animals drowned or starved to death. The oceans got acidic, because all the CO₂ dissolved in the sea water, turning into carbonic acid (think of your sparkling water). Water animals and plants couldn’t tolerate that and died – mass extinction in all oceans. The new coast lines must have looked quite disgusting with all that meat rotting away. By the way, we (us humans) already released more than 500 Giga tonnes of CO₂ by now. We must find a way of NOT releasing another 750 Giga tonnes CO₂ in the next 50 years. If we don’t, we know what’s going to happen! You can’t discuss with the evidence! It is absolutely insignificant, whether the recent climate change is of natural origin or caused by us. We are putting more CO₂ into the atmosphere now. CO₂ causes climate change. Period.

You are the masses! You can move a big mountain if you want to! Fuck normality! Use your brain! Just a few examples to make your little grey cells buzz: Buy your stuff at the organic store. The organic producers are closing energy and matter cycles, the re-cycle, usually nothing gets wasted here. Re-cycle your waste. If you are building a house, use natural materials such as wood, straw, and clay. With that, you even store CO₂. Do you have any idea how much CO₂ is emitted during cement production? You can trust me, I did build with straw, wood, and clay, and I build cheaper than the ‘normal’ builders. But you will have to use your brain. Use a CO2 neutral search engine, like http://ecosia.org/. Avoid Styrofoam, it’s an environmental catastrophe. Grow your own veggies. If you don’t have a garden, use your balcony. Look at the label on the fruits you buy. Do you really need to get those pears that flew across the Atlantic? Remember: When you purchase something, you tell the producer and the merchant “There you have my money, I like what you are doing”. You think you can’t afford being environmentally friendly? Are you really sure? Actually, I just want to tell you one thing: THINK!

Dear organic store customers, climate protection freaks and eco crazy people. Thank you! Keep going, don’t give up! In the end, we will owe you big time. And don’t hate the “normals”, they’ll get it. One day. I’m sure.