Blogging Class Discussion

Over-haunting

Vincent 's unintentional idea of "over-haunting" the ocean fascinated me - the idea that there could be too much haunting of a place where many creatures have died and are dying. Think about "over-haunting" as a key term to describe something like a poetics of climate change. The humans are the living ghosts circulating through the wastelands of former life. The living haunt the dead, instead of the other way around. The living who may soon be dead, too?

Blocked Transition

Yes, according to James Hansen in The Global Warming Reader the gas companies are blocking the transition into a new future of renewable energy. They burn dirty, toxic fossil fuels and promote a lifestyle of driving and waste based on those fuels - everything from plastic toothbrushes to gas stations. Yet what transition would otherwise await us? And what would happen in the gap between the fossil fuels and the miracle technology that saved the planet? Do those technologies exist on a scale that we could achieve rapidly enough to maintain the "way of life" billions are now living or seeking?

At the same time, isn't it worth it on some level to survive at all rather than die, in the millions, while the lights go out? Is the last generation supposed to give up on dreams of a better life for those humans that follow us? Or aren't we smart enough - and brave enough - to imagine a new future, and one that breaks the technological and philosophical barriers that keep us from finding a better way? If one says that one isn't willing to change, isn't one basically agreeing to die, in the future, in a smoky, hazy world?

Since everything is at risk, including us, why not risk it all trying to save it all?

Add your thoughts below -- if you dare!