Quintessential Climate Change: A Call For Action

“Climate” is a word with several definitions. From Answer.com, here’s the dictionary definition:

1. The meteorological conditions, including temperature, precipitation, and wind, that characteristically prevail in a particular region.
2. A region of the earth having particular meteorological conditions: lives in a cold climate.
3. A prevailing condition or set of attitudes in human affairs: a climate of unrest.

For additional clarity (at risk of exceeding “fair use” restrictions), here’s the thesaurus listing:

1. The totality of surrounding conditions and circumstances affecting growth or development: ambiance, atmosphere, environment, medium, milieu, mise en scène, surroundings, world.
2. A prevailing quality, as of thought, behavior, or attitude: mood, spirit, temper, tone.

So, to truly address “climate change” in today’s world, should we not address both functional definitions — namely, not just the meteorological but also the social/political?

There are many good diaries, articles, posts and reports that help highlight the various ways that we see evidence of human-induced climate disruption and our overall impact upon our world. Several of them regularly address some of the key issues that have brought us to the mess we are now in, particularly with regard to the human race’s thirst for energy and our capacity to waste and destroy.

A few deal with the insidious evils imposed by those vested interested who seek to squeeze every last centavo out of an industry or market in spite of the impact to the earth and humanity. This is often tied back to industries deeply tied to fossil fuel related energy production but it includes and extends to our food production, consumption and waste systems too.

Whatever befalls the Earth – befalls the sons of the Earth. Man did not weave the web of life – he is merely a strand in it. Whatever he does to the web, he does to himself.

Nothing exists in a vacuum in our little biosphere, and if we cannot find a way to establish a common thread to help us weave a new attitude to accompany our efforts to save our planet, we may yet find ourselves stranded on a barren rock in the cold expanse of space.

What I haven’t yet seen, however, is a unified effort to coalesce both the evidence and the efforts to deflate the defrauding “debunkers.”

The netroots have already put together an effort to address energy concerns called Energize America. There is a group formed for DailyKos Environmentalists. We’ve spurred the growth of citizen journalism and spawned organizations such as ePluribus Media to help restore a degree of integrity to a faded, jaded, and journalistically challenged traditional media.  There’s even an organization that helps us invest in a more progressive future.

What we lack — at least, in my perception — is a “Reality Wiki” or forum where we can have a way to watch the several topics and discuss strategies of how to effectively address the organized propaganda machine of the misinformed and malicious organizations that oppose developing a responsible, ethical and sustainable future for our planet.

This is a call for those involved in each of the disparate areas — and particularly for those who spread their efforts across several — to come up with some ideas about how to address the formation of a progressive anti-propaganda group that can help us stay on top of the multiple issues and attacks in an organized fashion.

What do you say? Any takers?

Crossposted to DailyKos, ePluribus Media and Docudharma.