We had just started filling the kitchen sink with hot water when the doorbell rang. After answering the bell, we became distracted, forgetting the running water. The sound of water hitting the floor brought some* of us back to the kitchen. One started mopping the floor. Another began to cast blame and a third refused to shoulder any responsibility for the overflowing sink. A fourth dialed 911, while another called a plumber. Certain that the floor would buckle, another called a flooring company. One changed into a swimsuit. Another reached for a six pack of beer. Another opened the back door. And yet another prepared to move to a new house. One, a water company stockholder, smiled, and another shrugged and returned to the living room to watch the Olympics. Several made posters and began a protest against small sinks and gravity. ** No one shut off the water.
Absurd, but this is exactly what we are doing vis a vis Climate Chaos. We create cooling centers for the over heated. We blame oil and coal companies. We deny our cars contribute to a hotter climate. We look for government to solve the problem. We rely on technology to save the day. We raise the height of levies. Some of us welcome warmer winters while others party on into numbness. Some take inane measures, as others look for distant planets to host humanity. We argue the economy will be ruined, we fatalistically return to distractions and we stage public protests.
Some of these responses are appropriate, ONLY after turning off the kitchen tap. Our consumption is the Climate Chaos tap.
* The others, the deniers, refused to believe that the sink would overflow.
** List of responses omits the ‘action’ committees formed, the prayers said, the crystals held aloft, the petitions signed, the proclamations drafted, the studies launched, the measuring the depth of the water, the updating of policy manuals, and many others.