An inconvenient truth
By PAT WICK
© Another Day in the Country
Almost every weekend the three musketeers from Ramona — that's Tooltime Tim, me, and my sister — are at the Art Center Cinema in Salina. The only time my sister and I waver is when they are showing a documentary. This week, not only was it a documentary, it was a documentary by Al Gore about global warming which was to put it mildly exposing oneself to "An Inconvenient Truth."
We all know it's getting warmer in Kansas without seeing the film. My mother routinely says, "Winters in Kansas are so much milder than they used to be." She's right and I rather like the fact that it's warmer around here in the winter months.
However, as I was reminded as I watched the film this weekend, I don't like the fact that the polar icecap is melting at an alarming rate nor do I like the fact that the ocean is also warming and rising and what kind of impact that will make on the world land mass in a few years. We used to joke about the fact that our home in the Napa Valley may become beach front property in California and felt insanely safe in the middle of Kansas, but it's no joke.
We all reeled as we watched the news on television about Katrina and the toll it took on New Orleans. We all flinch when we see Marion County or Ramona listed on the teletype ribbon running across the bottom of the television announcing a storm watch or a tornado warning. And, folks, the bottom line is that we are going to be reeling and flinching more often if we don't stop and pay attention to the planet we live on, the environment we are responsible for and say to ourselves, "I can make a difference, even though it's inconvenient."
While TTT and I sat in the movie waiting for it to start, I fidgeted. I knew this wasn't his cup of tea as far as viewing pleasure was concerned. I wasn't even sure it was mine but I'd read a review in Time magazine about the film and a sentence in the article jumped out at me. "You owe it to yourself to see this movie," it said. So, I figured I'd better go. "I hope they don't just scare us to death and then not give us any suggestions as to how we can do something," I muttered to Tim. Tim listened impassively to my discomfort because his list of things to do (most of which I'd instigated) was already full with little room for environmental add-ons.
It was inconvenient to sit and listen to "An Inconvenient Truth." It was like being called on the carpet by the teacher when I was in grade school. "Patricia, did you do this?" and I had to admit, "I'm guilty!" I had tried replacing my regular incandescent light bulbs with compact fluorescent light bulbs which use 60 percent less energy, and decided I didn't like them. There's an inconvenient hesitation when I turn them on which bugs me. The light is not quite as bright and that bugs me. They're more expensive! I decided I wouldn't buy any more of those and then I saw this film and I recanted of my stubborn ways — I want this planet, this country, this state, my little town of Ramona to be around for a long time so I'd better attempt to become one of those "carbon neutral" souls who is not endangering our ecosystem.
It was inconvenient to hear that humanity (that's us) is sitting on a ticking time bomb and that if science is right, we have about 10 years to avert a major catastrophe (and I'm not kidding around either) that could send our entire planet into a tail spin of extreme weather conditions that is worse than anything we ever remember experiencing! We all know about the weather here in Kansas and, friends, we don't need it to be worse!
Check it out for yourself! If you have Internet access, log onto www.climatecrisis.net and see for yourself what you can do to become an active participant in saving our planet! You owe it to yourself to go see "An Inconvenient Truth." Meanwhile back at the ranch there's a list of things you can begin doing like: Use a clothesline instead of a dryer, wrap your water heater in an insulation blanket, turn off electronic devices when you're not using them, clean the air filter on your furnace, plant a tree, recycle, buy fresh food instead of frozen, buy locally grown food, keep your car tuned and tires inflated — the list goes on and on of things YOU can do! I'm doing it! I'm walking to the office and buying another package of those weird light bulbs because I want my kids to be able to spend another day in the country, 10 years from now!
