In the Philippines, a dormant volcano suddenly erupted, spewing fire hundreds of feet into the sky, sending nearby residents running away in panic; families were separated causing chaos, anguish and despair.

In Japan, a devastating tsunami wiped out a whole village, leaving nothing but debris; the few survivors counted the horrific story how they hung to life; they can’t believe everything is gone.

In Taiwan, powerful typhoons sent houses, cars, trucks and everything in its passage hundreds of feet up the air landing miles away, causing damages to cities not even in the path of those typhoons.

In Ecuador, the shifting of the tectonic plates opens up sections of the region like giant wounds, deep bottomless pits the size of a state, sending earthquake waves from one end of the planet to the other.

And yet, climate change seems like a remote concept for those who have prided themselves to stay uninformed, indifferent or plain stupid. Climate change is not a topic for political debate but somehow it’s made such.

For the past seven decades, every issue, every topic of social importance has turned at best into a political debate, at worst a political fight lining up two distinct camps not just of politicians but also of party adherents. Everything boils down to Democrats vs (or against) Republicans. As such, most everyone has lost sight of the very reason for which s/he exists.

There was a time when parents used to consider it a sacred task to take care of their offspring, educate them, provide for them, protect them. Today, children are no longer part of the calculation; everyone looks for and is after immediate rewards or satisfaction which makes it possible for politicians to rally huge crowds of morally blind constituents who can barely recite the national anthem let alone understand the constitution or even rationalize simple ideas. It is thus no surprise that the debate over climate change has also taken the allure of a political fight; blood will be shed, people will die. But who cares? As long as we satisfy our civic duty of supporting a party, our party, right?

Seriously!

The United States is recognized as one of the few countries in the World with the best and most renowned Colleges (The Ivy League Schools) and yet the people who make up the constituents seem to be among the dumbest in the world. It doesn’t take a genius to see the changes that have occurred in our environment over the past few decades. Forget about the Arctic melting away (a verifiable fact), forget about sea level rising (a verifiable fact), ignore all the talk about the planet is getting hotter, take a stroll down the climate history lane. Then again, why should one care about climate change?

Suppose one is too stupid to understand how mankind has contributed to drastic climate changes; suppose one is so gullible and must believe everything Fox Opinion (known by most as Fox News) puts on the air regarding the topic, would one be also too darn stupid to err on the side of caution, thus helping save the planet for future generations, the kids and the grandkids?

Well, I guess we have not much to talk about.

You see, if one sets politics, fanaticism and stupidity aside for a moment, it’s not difficult to see that the climate has changed drastically. Without much help from science, one should be able to reach similar conclusion science has. Even if science were wrong about climate change, there is plenty of reasons to err on the side of caution. What would one lose to work towards preserving the planet? If science happens to be wrong, nothing is lost but if science is right, mankind has a lot to lose.

The dinosaurs, remember them? Well, they only exist in pictures, images and fossils today. Remember them? Well, if not for your sake, at least for the generations to come, for your kids, for your grandkids, stop the stupidity of standing in the way of preserving the planet; stop the stupidity of politicizing an issue that may determine the fate of the human race. There is nothing Democrat or Republican about the Arctic melting away; there is nothing Democrat or Republican about sea level rising; there is nothing Democrat or Republican about hurricanes, volcanoes, tsunamis, typhoons or earthquakes. The human race, Democrats, Republicans and everyone else, is bound by the same fate.

It is true there is climate change; the reluctance to accept it, ignorance and stupidity do not change the fact. I simply lament there is no way to separate the fate of the fools from those who are cautious and wise. Stupidity is not a strategy to tackle climate change; ignorance is not a solution.

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Email me at: mducheiney@gmail.com
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