The Importance of Being Green

Vanity Fair's new 2nd annual Green Issue is available at newstands and online:



It's all about "The Importance of Being Green," which is still a concept that some folks don't get. But, as I have noted here recently, these folks do and thank goodness for that. Take some time and start being part of the change that is neccessary, because the "Earth faces a grim future if global warming isn't slowed."

On Friday, the Bush Administration tried to whitewash the latest international reports warning of climate change repercussions. John Kerry shot back with this statement:

“This is the latest example of the Bush Administration trying to change the science to fit their ideological agenda. It’s an embarrassment. Restoring American leadership in the world means we should be the world's leading advocate, not the world's leading denier of climate change. We should lead the world to address climate change rather than joining with Saudi Arabia as the leader of the flat earth caucus. This is the latest chapter in the Bush Administration story of diplomacy at its worst -- ducking the difficult choices, substituting words for deeds, postponing the reckoning until the day after tomorrow. The world is changing and now the reckoning is real. Here's the bottom line: within the next decade, if we don't deal with global warming, our children and grandchildren will have to deal with global catastrophe. It is time to start leading, not retreating from our responsibility.”

Today’s report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change warns of the global effects of climate change, including extreme weather patterns, increasing droughts that lead to famine and disease, massive floods and avalanches in Asia, and species extinction unless significant action is taken on a global level to abate climate change.

During the past six years, the Bush Administration has made several attempts to block or censure government employees or reports that warn of global warming. The United States, Saudi Arabia and China worked to tone down the panel’s report, leading many of the report’s most alarming projections to be generalized."

The bottomline is we've all got to start doing the little things that add up to change, because we've only got "This Moment On Earth," and if we blow it... among other things, the worst effects of climate change "would be felt in regions that are mainly poor and already facing dangers from existing climate and coastal hazards."

We can all make a difference in little ways and that difference will add up to an important change. That's the message of the Kerry's new book, "This Moment On Earth," it's all about "The Importance of Being Green."