Mother Nature invited her old friend, Benjamin Franklin, to a virtual “tea” somewhere in the heavens far from the reaches of any earthly virus.
“So good of you to drop by,” Mother greeted Ben while pouring him a cup of divine ‘spirits’. “What’s your view of this Covid-19 commotion taking place all around my Earth?”
“My dear lady,” Ben began, “I have to say that I’m gratified to see my fellow earthlings finally pulling together to battle a common global threat. But at the risk of being what they call a ‘Monday morning quarterback’, I have to say that countries such as my own U.S of A. were lax in following one of my favorite adages - ‘A stitch in time saves nine.’ A few timely precautions taken back in January could have greatly lowered the health and economic damage. Now they were compelled to create a 2 trillion-dollar economic stimulus package. TWO TRILLION! That’s a thousand billion…TWICE!”
“Humans are an interesting bunch,” Mother sighed. “Shaken hard enough, they pull together to take on global problems. I just wish they’d take notice of the signals I’ve been sending them concerning another global crisis, human-caused climate disruption. If they did, they’d be sewing a few ‘stitches’ now to prevent even more disastrous financial and environmental problems later.
“I’ve been raising dozens of red flags,” she continued. “For example, globally the five warmest years on record have been these past five, and the 20 warmest all occurred within the past 22 years. The heat wave season across 50 major cities is now 45 days longer than it was in the 1960s. Global floods and extreme rainfall events occur four times as frequently as in the 1980s. In 2019 global extreme weather events fueled by climate change have cost an estimated $140 billion! And it will only get worse until humans take the hint and start stitching. It’ll save them a literal world full of grief later,” Mother concluded.
“I’ve heard that clever folks are promoting a Congressional bill - H.R. 763*, the Energy Innovation and Carbon Dividend Act,” Ben replied. “It would address the climate issue and grow the economy as well. Instead of lamenting, ‘Too bad we didn’t act sooner,’ 10 years from now, this would be a savvy stitch to sew right now. After all, this sewing circle is our only home. It’s where we’re all forever…Earthbound.”
*https://community.citizensclimate.org/resources/item/19/232
“So good of you to drop by,” Mother greeted Ben while pouring him a cup of divine ‘spirits’. “What’s your view of this Covid-19 commotion taking place all around my Earth?”
“My dear lady,” Ben began, “I have to say that I’m gratified to see my fellow earthlings finally pulling together to battle a common global threat. But at the risk of being what they call a ‘Monday morning quarterback’, I have to say that countries such as my own U.S of A. were lax in following one of my favorite adages - ‘A stitch in time saves nine.’ A few timely precautions taken back in January could have greatly lowered the health and economic damage. Now they were compelled to create a 2 trillion-dollar economic stimulus package. TWO TRILLION! That’s a thousand billion…TWICE!”
“Humans are an interesting bunch,” Mother sighed. “Shaken hard enough, they pull together to take on global problems. I just wish they’d take notice of the signals I’ve been sending them concerning another global crisis, human-caused climate disruption. If they did, they’d be sewing a few ‘stitches’ now to prevent even more disastrous financial and environmental problems later.
“I’ve been raising dozens of red flags,” she continued. “For example, globally the five warmest years on record have been these past five, and the 20 warmest all occurred within the past 22 years. The heat wave season across 50 major cities is now 45 days longer than it was in the 1960s. Global floods and extreme rainfall events occur four times as frequently as in the 1980s. In 2019 global extreme weather events fueled by climate change have cost an estimated $140 billion! And it will only get worse until humans take the hint and start stitching. It’ll save them a literal world full of grief later,” Mother concluded.
“I’ve heard that clever folks are promoting a Congressional bill - H.R. 763*, the Energy Innovation and Carbon Dividend Act,” Ben replied. “It would address the climate issue and grow the economy as well. Instead of lamenting, ‘Too bad we didn’t act sooner,’ 10 years from now, this would be a savvy stitch to sew right now. After all, this sewing circle is our only home. It’s where we’re all forever…Earthbound.”
*https://community.citizensclimate.org/resources/item/19/232
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