Tim Flannery
- Location: NY - 10003
- Marching Since: December 6, 2005
Professor Tim Flannery, scientist, explorer, conservationist and author of The Weather Makers
One of the biggest obstacles to making a start on climate change is
that it has become a cliché before it has even been understood. What we need now is good information and careful thinking, because in the years to come this issue will dwarf all the others combined. It will become the only issue. We need to re-examine it in a truly skeptical spirit--to see how big it is and how fast it's moving--so that we can prioritize our efforts and resources in ways that matter.
The best evidence indicates that we need to reduce our CO2 emissions by 70 per cent by 2050. If you own a four-wheel-drive and replace it with a hybrid fuel car, you can achieve a cut of that magnitude in your individual transport emissions in a day rather than half a century. If your electricity provider offers a green option, for the cost of a daily cup of coffee you will be able to make equally major cuts in your household emissions. And if you vote for a politician who has a deep commitment to reducing CO2 emissions, you might change the world. If you alone can achieve so much, so too can every individual and, in time, industry and government on Earth.
