One Sunday morning, you decide to go to the fair. Through all the noise, all the flashy games and the pushy carnies trying to get you to spend your money on their game, you make your way to back of the fairgrounds. Off in a quiet corner, in an inconspicuous tent, is a small table and a big wheel with a quiet, humble carnie running the game with one lone patron ready to lay his money down.
The carnie explains the game… “Spin the wheel. Pick a colour. If the wheel lands on your colour, you win.”
Standard game. But looking at the wheel you’re shocked… 95% of the wheel is red and there’s a single thin 5% blue slice. You look over at the other patron. He looks at you holding the biggest wad of cash you’ve seen.
“This is every penny of my kids’ and grandkids’ education savings,” says the man.
The man spins the wheel. He puts all his money on blue. The wheel keeps spinning… click, click, click, click, click….
You scramble to comprehend what you’re seeing. You try to think of some rational motive for the man’s actions. You think to yourself, “This guy must be idiot.”
Click, click, click, click….
You can’t keep it in.
You yell, “WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU THINKING!!!??? ARE YOU ABSOLUTELY CRAZY!!?? YOUR KIDS ARE GOING TO KILL YOU!”
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This is how this article makes me feel.
There’s so much noise around the climate change debate. It’s easy to get distracted. People will play whatever side of the debate that will get the most exposure or will make them stand out. Some people want to take the unpopular view just because it’s the unpopular view. Some people like to stir the pot.
We cut down trees. We put endless amount of carbon into our atmosphere from our factories, our power plants, our cars and trucks. No rationale person can see this going on and not think that it has an impact. Our climate is changing. Plain and simple. Independent scientists world wide agree that it is 90% to 99% likely that our actions are causing these changes in our climate.
That Senators and MPs in my country think there is something else causing this change or worse, that this change isn’t happening, and that they are willing to sabotage our future on this belief (for whatever personal/political gain they can muster), makes me sick to my stomach. It is an embarrassment and an injustice that these people are in the positions they in.
Please, don’t be a idiot. Don’t bet on blue.
