City Of God 18

Our use of energy has always been problematic. For centuries it was wood, peat or cattle dung, and lots of smoke was made, making our atmosphere increasingly unbreathable. Then coal was discovered and everyone knows what happened to the lovely air of London, later in Beijing. Oil was the deal breaker, and the invention and accessibility of the horseless carriage has resulted in gridlock, traffic jams, a further reduced air quality (with the exception of a few electric vehicles they are all run on gas) and now we are being warned that with luck we just might get through another decade, given that we are going to lower our carbon emissions to raising the global temperature by less than 1.5 degrees centigrade. in other news, they are wanting to ship liquefied natural gas from our province to China. The reasoning is that if china switches from coal to LNG, then that will considerably lower their carbon footprint. Our government always says things like that, not because they are true but to shut down debate. It is already known that the extraction and manufacturing process as well as the transport and burning of LNG is only going to be a little bit less harmful than bitumen, that dreadful thick tar they want to ship through this province from the tar sands of Alberta to be refined in China. There seems to be no window of hope in sight. now we have had a natural gas disaster near the northern city of Prince George. There was an explosion and the pipeline has been shut down, thus reducing the fuel supply to people all over the province, including here in Vancouver. Winter is coming. People relying on natural gas are being told to turn down the temperature, wear sweaters. Public indoor pools will not be heating their water. This God be God trying to talk to us, but not a lot of people believe in him these days, and they are not likely to listen. Even some of those who do believe are still going to turn a deaf ear. Hasn't it always been like this? What re they doing to develop and improve green technologies, such as wind and solar power? Not very much. How further ahead would we be had our governments taken the initiative years ago and used the truckloads of cash they have been wasting on fossil fuels for renewable energy? We would like have by now a robust renewable energy industry contributing to full long-term employment and a much cleaner environment, and possibly more time before the window closes, we are all left gagging on our emissions while fleeing from wildfires, floods, killer storms and rising sea levels. And all this because our government leaders don't want to see their friends in Big Oil and its various ilk suffer financial loss. This is, of course, beyond deplorable. But I would also like to focus a bit on the rest of us, our use of energy, our expectation that no sacrifices will have to be made in order to save the planet. We are for the most part soft, lazy, spoiled and selfish. We are addicted to our phones, computers, and comfort. especially in the cities where population density requires power grids so high and complex as to ensure a chronically threatened earth. When I was fifteen years old, and already the science was in about the relation between car exhaust and air pollution, I decided that I would never drive. This has made me in the eyes of some kind of a loser, since car ownership is considered in our culture a rite of passage into adulthood, like home ownership. So I have always gotten around on foot or by public transport. Perhaps I am also poorer because of this, but my conscience at least is clean. I do not see anyone willingly giving up their cars. This seems to them too much a blow to their self-esteem, I suppose, but isn't this exaggerated self-esteem what is already at the root of the damage that we are inflicting on our mother earth? Jesus said blessed are the poor for they shall inherit the earth. The City of God is made real when we have humility. Otherwise, the gates are closed to us.