To the benevolent energies in the universe: Is this some kind of joke?
I can’t believe I’m scheduled for a daily drive-a-dog-to-the-park as 30,000 more young people are ordered to kill and die for the oil pipeline, while other young folk have convinced themselves that participating in air travel to attend the Copenhagen Climate thing will actually make any difference.
How will I ever maintain my smug “I’m doing more to save the planet than you” attitude if word gets out about this driving the car thing ?!!
I’ll admit, it’s true – I think cars are awesome. They’re an incredible invention, offering much independent travel freedom. But, in an effort to make a small difference in this beautiful eco-world, I made the big sacrifice and sold my car in the early 90s, after becoming vegetarian and learning to buy food in bulk while re-using plastic bags. And sure, a decade later I became vegan and travelled only over ground via buses and trains, and yeah, I share an energy efficient two bedroom apartment, blow my nose into cloth napkins, wipe my washed hands on my jeans in public washrooms, and launder my cotton girl things. And blah blah blah buy local and organic, carry a mug, print double sided, think global act local ….
But maybe, despite all that, my promise to live true to my radicalized college values is fading? Maybe I’m compromising, settling into middle aged complacency? Am I fooling myself into thinking that, just because I’m now the proud owner of a groovy cool electric bike and soy milk making machine (two separate devices, though I hear that next year’s electric bikes will be equipped with soy latte technology), I can somehow feel good about the increase in my hydro bill? Am I just another of those green-washers, secretly hoping to make it to the end of my lifetime unscathed and leaving whatever mess to the next generation to contend with?
Because, if I really look at it, there’s those short plane rides between Mexico and Cuba I’ve taken the past couple of years, after hour upon hour of riding through the Excited States on a schoolbus, part of a humanitarian aid delivery to a small few of the millions of people affected by their foreign policy.
Higher electric bills, airplane rides to Cuba, and now this …. chauffering dogs to the forest for their daily walkies. Me and the Tar Sands, we’re national embarrassments.
But hey, it’s tough to stay on the enviro-track when people all over the world are excited because a global environmental meeting is scheduled to take place in Copenhagen, a few days AFTER the WTO meets in Geneva. Keep on occupying those federal offices, I say, keep on working the grass roots, keep on guilting hypocrites like me to get out of the car once in a while …. because the big guys’ economic plans will already be set in stone by the time their limos arrive at the cocktail party in Copenhagen.
.
