[Originally published on Transition United States in October 2009]

Climate change says we should change
whereas peak oil says we will be forced to change.
– Rob Hopkins
Here in the U.S., the film “An Inconvenient Truth” made awesome strides in informing the general public about the reality of global warming. The April 2007 Step It Up campaign got people in 1,400 U.S. sites involved in activism. This month’s 350.org campaign will advance public awareness in two ways: Firstly, the Oct 2009 350.org Day of Action is unfolding internationally, so it is an opportunity for citizens in non-U.S. countries to get involved, and secondly, it informs the general public about the target, the end goal.
350 is aptly being called “the most important number on the planet.” 350 parts-per-million carbon dioxide concentration in the upper atmosphere is what NASA and Columbia University scientists say we must attain. We’re currently at 385ppm and climbing. All these figures tell us that we’d better severely reduce our carbon emissions immediately, in order to have any hope of preserving the type of planetary climate upon which all life forms on the planet are dependent for survival. (See the 350 animation.)
But how do we do it?
All of these programs — “An Inconvenient Truth,” Step It Up, 350.org — are marvelous awareness-raisers. However when it comes to solutions, they dodge the real answers.
The “solutions” which rolled with the credits to “An Inconvenient Truth” are painfully inadequate when compared to the magnitude of the gap (385ppm vs 350ppm). Changing to CFL bulbs is important, but it isn’t nearly enough. (more…)