Do we need to know we are killing the Earth before we act?

As a child, I remember watching the Crying Indian commercial and feeling his pain.  At a very basic level, it made sense to me that I/we need to respect nature. Who would stand beside that Indian looking at the trash on the shore and argue it is a good thing or it really didn't matter?  Who could argue that smog choking  the cities was a benefit?

The first Earth Day, April 22nd, 1970 lead to the creation of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the passage of the The Clean Air Act and the Clean Water Act, and dealt with some immediate tangible threats.  Thanks to the call to action, people responded and the smog problem was reduced and Lake Erie started a healing process. 

For many people in the seventies, eighties and nineties, 'reduce, reuse, recycle' just seemed a rational thing to do.   It wasn't something needed to prevent global demise.  It just made sense at a basic level.  To others, it didn't seem overly important in their daily lives.  We had activism and apathy.

Now enters the global warming scare with a 'do or die' message and almost no tangible evidence to the common person.  Unlike a dark dome of smog over a city or the massive algae blooms killing Lake Erie, we don't see direct evidence of climate change.  There have always been summers that were unusually hot and winters in the north without much snow.  There have always been strong hurricanes, droughts and floods.  The Earth has gone through ice ages, and tropical rain forests have become deserts.  All of this has happened in the past with no humans around to cause them.  So, we can rationally challenge what we are being told is the evidence for man-made climate change.

On top of the plausible doubt, we have the massive changes needed to curb greenhouse gasses.  Energy will most likely cost more because of regulations on power plants, mining and drilling.  Our massive, fun to drive SUV's will have to be replaced with smaller, more fuel efficient cars.  Mass transit will become more prevalent, limiting us compared to our current freedom of mobility.   If we make a major shift in technology to solar or wind, many people will lose their jobs as the oil industry is declines.  The list of sacrifices is long.

Understandably, there is a lot of resistant to change.  Change is painful.   Now instead of activism and apathy we have extreme polarization:  the tree huggers vs. the deniers.  With polarization comes a war.  With a war comes cognitive dissonance.  With cognitive dissonance comes the end of rationality and the end of collaboration.

But is polarization the only path?  Why do we need to prove man-made climate change is real before we take action to make our world a cleaner better place?  It seems irrelevant.

Is there anything inherently bad about having cars that pollute less or use less natural resources to manufacture?  Is there anything inherently bad about appliances that suck up less electricity to do the same work?  Is there anything inherently bad about moving to sustainable/renewable energy sources.  If we built a cleaner, more efficient world and we're wrong about climate change, would we have done it for nothing? 

Imagine a house with no utility bill.  Imagine driving weeks without filling up your car.  Imagine cities without ozone warnings.  Imagine cheaper goods because shippers don't have huge fuel cost.

If we take climate change seriously and it turns out we were duped by an elaborate hoax, are we worse off?

The path towards sustainability by the average person is not that difficult.  I know I can't afford to put a large solar array on my house or a rain water harvesting system.  I have no choice but to commute to work everyday.  But as a consumer I can make some critical choices.  Collectively consumers  have vast amounts of power to change the direction of industry.  If one of the top questions asked at every auto dealership is, "What is the fuel economy?" and consumers walk away because they don't like the answer, industry will change.  If consumers only buy energy star appliances even if it cost a little extra,  industry will change.  If consumers buy products with less packaging, industry will change.

We don't need to believe the world is ending or wait until there is a tangible, immediate threat to start changing the world.  We don't need to become activist to make a difference. We can do that everyday with simple choices.

Oh, and shut off your lights when you're not using them.