Global Warming Discussion

This week I held my first global warming discussion group meeting.  It came off pretty much as I expected.  We agreed on much and disagreed on other things. We have much to learn and much to share.  We managed to learn a lot from each other, and I got plenty of ideas for future blog posts.  All in all, it was a highly successful discussion.

Common ground included the belief that action is urgently needed.  What forms the action should take and how the methods get started are still vague in our minds, particularly how to convince the vast majority in the middle (80% of the population?) that action is needed now.  Questions abound as to what to do.  How much do we have to convince individuals to change their ways and how much do we need to focus on electing the right leaders?  How much can individuals acting alone to reduce their personal carbon footprint?  Is the cost worth it when others don't follow suit?  How do we get industry to do their part without government regulation?  There are no easy answers, of course, which means we have lots of work to do, so much to discuss.

Details, details, details. In any discussion it is easy to get sidetracked and bogged down in the minor details and peripheral issues. Global warming and its solutions are no exceptions.  Whole books are written which only scratch the surface, leaving out tons of detail information.  A face-to-face discussion doesn't have a book's relative luxury of depth.  Although often interesting, the excursions into more minor points should be kept from overwhelming the big picture when having a discussion.

Quite often I hear an interview where the word "conversation" is used.  Some social topic is often framed with something like, "We need to have a conversation about ....."   Global warming is a social issue.  It needs more conversation.

Such discussions, if carried out throughout the country, could be a starting point of a grass roots movement toward the economic and social policies needed to avert disaster. Consider starting your own periodic discussion group.