Minnie spotted Whiz slipping on to a stool in the Energy Diner. “Well if it isn’t Whiz!” Minnie Sota announced; she loves ribbing Whiz Connsin. “Haven’t seen ya since the big game.  Say, you okay?  Looking a little pale there pal.”  Minnie grinned as a few other neighbors - Moe Surrie, Illiee Noye, and Aye O’Way looked on.

        Whiz did feel a bit punky, and he knew why.  It’s his diet.  He gobbles up most anything that’s put in front of him - mostly coal and natural gas.  No wonder he belches noxious fumes!  Only about 1 in 10 things he consumes is clean renewable energy.
 
       Glancing at his neighbors, Whiz noticed they were quite chipper.  He knows they regularly consume more renewable energy than he does.  Take Minnie for example, almost a third of her diet is environmentally friendly clean energy. 

       Whiz shrugged and was about to order his usual when Newt strode in.  Trim and buff, Newt Yorkk glided across the room to the end of the counter.  “Gosh! He looks healthy,” Whiz thought to himself.  “I wonder what’s in his diet.”

       Turns out Newt is very particular about what he consumes.  He doesn’t just gobble up whatever fuel sources the utilities offer on the menu.  Newt has a plan with a goal of using 50% clean power.  His energy dinner is based on the REV* (Reforming the Energy Vision) diet. 

       Whiz watched carefully and saw that Newt’s REV plate includes a balanced mix of centralized and locally distributed electrical generation.  Home owners receive financial benefits to either install solar on their homes or to join a neighborhood or area shared renewable energy project.  Many homes have their own battery storage and “smart technology” thermostats and devices.  With these job-creating 21st century choices in place Newt can avoid the expense and environmental problems of building a new high-capacity electrical transmission grid. 

       “Golly,” Whiz said to himself, “I didn’t even know something like REV was on the menu!”  When the waitress came to take his order, Whiz pointed at Newt and said, “I’ll have what he’s having!”

       As he left the diner, Whiz realized that he didn’t have to settle for the same old same old.  With a little planning, he could eliminate many of the noxious fumes he belched.  Who needs ‘em?  Here on our only home where we’re forever…Earthbound.” 
 
*https://rev.ny.gov/

           Frequent readers will remember that Hugh Mann recently realized that just by his enormous size * he was often damaging the Earthly home he so dearly loves.

             “I know I should change my ways,” Huey thought to himself.  “But I like the way I do things now.  And besides, I really don’t know where to begin.”  This troublesome thought nagged at him all day.
 
            That night, tossing and turning in a fitful sleep, Huey dreamed he’d shrunken down to the size of just one small Hugh Mann living in the beautiful Driftless Area of Southwest Wisconsin.  A gentle snow was falling and there, standing in front of him, was the Ghost of Christmas Present.  “I know what’s troubling you,” she winked. “Let me show you something.” 

           The next instant, they were standing outside a large kitchen window peering at a cozily dressed family decorating Christmas cookies. “The Olsens lowered their thermostat a couple degrees; now they wear an extra layer,” the ghost explained.  “In the summer, they set the AC a few degrees higher.  It’s their small gift to us all for a healthier planet.”

            All through that night, the Christmas Ghost showed Hugh many ways Iowa County families were giving similar “gifts” to their neighbors across the globe.  Anna was purchasing weather stripping to cut down drafts and reduce her energy use.  She toted her items out in cloth bags she’d brought with her.  In the coffee shop, Ralph sipped his beverage from an aluminum thermal mug.  No single-use container with plastic lid for him!  Behind him, Maisie filled her water bottle at the fountain instead of buying a single-use plastic bottle of water.
 
           At the Schneider’s, Tom was helping the twins finish their bath.  Earlier he had turned down the thermostat on the water heater.  He’d also wrapped it in an insulated heater jacket.  Downstairs, Chrissy was collecting recyclables for pick-up the next day and flipping off light switches as she left each room.

         “You see,” said the Christmas Ghost, “it’s easy to shift to more Earth-friendly habits.  Each small change we make toward a more thoughtful use of Mother Earth’s gifts is, in turn, a gift to us all.  This season, plan on sharing your gifts for our common home where we’re all forever…Earthbound.” 
 
            *Current Earth population = 7.7 billion compared to 1 billion just 200 yrs. ago

        A long, long time ago, Hugh Mann found himself in a lush and bountiful paradise.  As abundant as that land was, Hugh still often struggled to put dinner on the table.  But slowly over time, by using his inventive mind Huey found ways to increase harvest yields and manipulate the abundant resources to make a more comfortable life for himself. 

       Huey loved tromping all over his world.  He relished in its wonders as he consumed the seemingly endless supply of goodies.  Generally speaking, the tracks he left behind were small and inconsequential, scant evidence that he’d even been there.

       Usually not one to pay much attention to his appearance, Huey recently just happened to glance down at his feet.  They were enormous!  Then he looked at his arms, hands, torso, and legs; they too were gigantic.  When and how did this happen?

       Huey rushed to find his most recent selfie.  It was taken a mere 200 years ago.  He compared it to his reflection in the mirror, and his jaw dropped!  Compared to that photo, he’d not just doubled or even tripled in size.  He was a whooping seven times larger! *

        This shocking realization made Huey stop and take stock of his world.  He found that the vibrant, verdant surroundings he had enjoyed for tens of thousands of years was rapidly disappearing.  It didn’t take him long to realize that as a giant, every movement he makes has an impact on his environment.  Now, those huge feet of his are definitely leaving their mark!

       As he looked more closely, Huey found that over the past half century, 60% of the world’s wildlife has vanished.  Pollution and temperature rise from burning fossil fuels has decimated half of the Earth’s shallow reefs.  They’re the oceans’ incubators for millions of sea creatures.  Pollinator insects like bees are declining too, threatening production of the very food crops he depends on. 

       “Whoa! I’ve got to make some changes, and fast!” Hugh thought to himself.  “With these big feet, it’s important to be much more careful about every step I take.  Not only that, I’ve got to repair the damaged areas.  If not, I’ll lose this paradise.  Then where would I tromp?  Because this is the only home I’ll ever know.  I’m here forever…Earthbound.” 

*Human population – 1800 AD (approx. 200 years ago) – 1 billion      
Current human population – 7.7 billion

       Millie Microbe and her billions of relatives live a quiet life in rural Iowa County happily “fixing” nitrogen for their plant partners.  (To “fix” nitrogen Millie combines nitrogen with another element like hydrogen or oxygen so that it’s useable as fertilizer for plants.)

        Millie is grateful for the good life she has but a twinge of jealously occasionally nags at the back of her mind.  It’s her cousins, the Rhizobias.  You see, Rhizobia bacteria live in the root nodules of legumes like beans, alfalfa and clover.  Farmers are always bragging about how those bacteria help fertilize their soil.  Millie’s family works hard too, but they never get any recognition. 

       Then one day a surprising letter arrived.  It was from the Secretary of Bacteriological Research at the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture.  The secretary indicated that she had an important assignment for Millie’s family, and she’d be calling the next day!

       “Yes Millie, this is Secretary Ima Germm from the USDA.  So good of you to take my call.”  Secretary Germm went on to explain that the earth was suffering from an overload of factory-made nitrogen fertilizer.  Excess fertilizer washes off fields into water systems causing algal blooms that suck the oxygen out of the water.  The result is more than 400 so-called “dead zones” around the world.  It’s estimated that over 200,000 tons of sea life die each year at the mouth of the Mississippi River.  Not only that, it takes huge amounts of energy to manufacture the world supply of synthetic nitrogen fertilizer.  It’s more than all the wind and solar energy produced worldwide last year!  “We just can’t keep doing this,” Germm fretted. “That’s where you come in.

       “Humans have figured out that you and hundreds of other kinds of microbes live inside LOTS of different plants and fix nitrogen for them.  You consume a plant’s sugars and in return, produce nitrogen fertilizer that’s available exactly when and where each plant needs it.   Soon you’ll be commercially available.  And then, no more excess fertilizer run-off.  Huge energy savings too!  We knew that sooner or later they’d learn to value your work,” Germm winked.

       “When the humans work out the details, we’re happy to be of service,” Millie smiled.  “Anyway, who wants a bunch of dead zones on the only home we’ll ever know?  After all, we’re here forever…Earthbound.”

       “Betty!  It’s been ages!” Cecilia Seedmuncher gushed. “So glad we could do lunch.  But you look so thin!  Everything all right?”
       “Well,” Betty Buggobbler hesitated and then replied, “it’s nothing.”

       Cecilia and Betty chatted about old times as they flitted from branch to branch.  Eventually they settled in the fronds of a coconut palm. “I declare,” seed-munching Cecilia said stifling a burp, “I couldn’t eat another bite!”  But Betty hungrily continued to scan for some flying or crawling morsel as they spied a couple of humans making their way through the undergrowth.

       Ray Searcher was explaining the survey his team had recently concluded here in Puerto Rico’s El Yunque national rain forest reserve.  Juan T’Know, a sixth generation Puerto Rican, listened intently.

       Ray related how his team had been in this same area in 1977 surveying the quantity and variety of invertebrates living there including the insects, spiders and centipedes.  They had also inventoried the number of insectivores (insect eaters) - the birds, frogs and lizards.  Now, 40 years later, they returned and conducted the same type of survey in the same place.

       The results were shocking!  They found only 1/4th as many creatures creeping through the vegetation as compared to 40 years earlier.  And the loss of ground crawling creatures was far greater still.  In area after area where they’d previously found several thousands, they now found only a few hundred critters.

       “No wonder you’re so thin,” Cecilia cried.  “Poor thing! There’s nothing here for you to eat!”  They continued to listen as Ray explained that temperatures in the tropics stick to a relatively narrow band, but over those 40 years the average high temperature had increased by 4 degrees Fahrenheit. The invertebrate critters that live there, likewise, have adapted to this narrow band of temperatures and don’t do well outside them.  Bugs can’t regulate their internal heat.

       “Besides pollinating our food supplies, these little guys form the very base of our food web.  When they decline, so do all of the creatures who rely on them,” Ray continued as he looked up pointing to Betty, “including buggobblers like that one.”

       As Betty flew off looking for a bit more lunch, she hoped that Ray and Juan would find a way to restore this jungle to the vibrant home she had grown up in.  Because where else would she fly?  She’s here forever…Earthbound.  

       The Friday night card game attracted a handful of the usual suspects.  Japan was there and Brazil, India, China, and even Saudi Arabia.  And of course, with the tallest stack of chips and the world’s largest economy, America sat in the corner.

       The betting and negotiations had been hot and heavy.  Each country maneuvering to grow its stack of chips, all the while aware that at some point the “house” would be looking to take its cut of their profits.  You see, in this game countries wager that the extra profits they can squeeze out of their economies by not paying for the damage carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions cause, will be greater than the price they’ll pay for the “social costs of carbon.”

       The social costs of carbon are the expenses incurred from rising global temperatures including higher health and energy costs and damage to property and agriculture.  It’s a complicated calculation that puts a price on the future damages resulting from fossil fuel emissions.  These future social costs of carbon are calculated in today's dollars.

       “All right boys!”  It was Ma Earth, proprietor of the establishment. “Time for the house to take its cut.”  She looked around the room until her gaze fell on India.  “Sorry Indie, but the latest reports show that you’re really going to get whacked.  I’ve gotta charge you $86 per ton for the carbon you add to the atmosphere if you want to stay in the game.  Sorry, but these rising temperatures are going to hit you hard!”

       Then she turned, “And don’t look so smug, America.  You’re next!”  Ma Earth explained that for America to avoid the added future costs caused by today’s fossil fuel carbon emissions, the U.S. should be investing $48 per ton of carbon it expels into the atmosphere to increase its energy efficiencies and for transitioning to clean energy.  (For example, burning 100 gallons of gasoline produces about one ton of CO2.)  Ma Earth held out her hand.  “Pay now and save yourself a bundle of trouble, or pay later and suffer the consequences.”
 
       Shrewd gambler that she is, America weighed Ma Earth’s ultimatum.  In the end, it wasn’t a tough decision.  Investing now in a cleaner, healthier future is a gamble well worth taking.  Because Ma Earth runs the only card game in town.  There’s no place else to play.  We’re here forever…Earthbound.  

            Two political campaign workers walk into a bar.  They’d just jockeyed for the same space in the parking ramp.  The quiet lounge had only one other patron nursing a drink at the bar.  Connie needed a friendly ear, so she slipped onto the adjacent stool.  Meanwhile, Libby brushed past them and settled in at the far end.

            Connie introduced herself, and soon she and her new friend, Lovey, were deep into conversation.  Connie related how her values inspired her political work.  Meanwhile, Libby looked on from a distance imagining the drivel being spewed.  She’d seen the bumper stickers on the other woman’s car; very different than hers, to say the least!

            When Connie stepped away to take a call, Libby quickly slid down the bar next to Lovey.  “Well, she sure got chummy with you!  I imagine she was plying you with her candidates’ propaganda!  I saw her looking at me; probably thinks I’m an ignorant tree-hugger.  How can you listen to that blather?” Libby asked.

            “Hmm,” Lovey replied, “if you’re a tree-hugger, you’ll find this quite interesting.”  Lovey explained that Connie is a member of ConservAmerica, an organization whose motto is “Conservation is Conservative” and whose mission is to find “common sense, economically sound approaches to today’s environmental, energy, and conservation challenges.”

            What was once a Republican organization, ConservAmerica, is now non-partisan.  Its members admire Theodore Roosevelt who created the U.S. Forest Service and the first national forest.  TR’s North American Model of Wildlife Conservation inspires them.  Politically, many ConservAmerica members support the "radical middle.”  They acknowledge that a healthy environment is essential to our nation’s prosperity so they advocate for reducing emissions and increasing energy efficiency as a means to strengthening America’s economy.

            Libby was shocked and embarrassed about the false assumptions she’d made.  Connie returned and extended a hand.  “Hi I’m Connie; my friends call me Con. I’m Con Cer’Vativve.” 

            “Glad to meet you, I’m Libby…Libby Raal.  I’d like to learn more about that group you belong to; maybe I’ll join!”

            With those two chatting away, Lovey D’Land quietly slipped out the door and scanned the clear blue sky.  “Good thing those two are hitting it off because our common values of prosperity for all and environmental health are too important to be toyed with for political advantage.  After all, this is the only home we’ll ever know.  We’re here forever…Earthbound.  

        “What the…?!?   Grandpa Tennessen?  It’s great to see you!  What’s it been, almost 50 years?  What’s that…go for a ride?  You bet!

       “Yep, you don’t hear the engine because we’re riding in a hybrid car.  The electric motor is powering the car with batteries charged by the solar panels alongside our house. 

        “You won’t believe the changes in transportation since you’ve been around!  Back then the dream was two cars in the garage with V-8 engines under their hoods.  Today, my three children’s families (your great-grands, all successful and in their 30s) own just 2 cars altogether!  And people in their 20s these days, drive about 20% less than their parents did when they were that age.

        “Part of the reason is that the population is shifting more and more to urban areas.  Now, about 4 of every 5 Americans live in cities.  We rural folks in Iowa County don’t notice some of the many transportation changes taking place in the cities.  But many city folks are tired of fighting traffic, paying for parking and owning an expensive piece of equipment that sits idle perhaps more than 90% of the time.  One estimation predicts that in 10 years U.S. car sales will fall about 12 percent. 

        “For many folks, a new option called ‘ride-sharing’ through companies like Uber and Lyft is easier and less expensive than owning a car.  Worldwide, nearly a billion people are choosing these types of services.  Many car companies are anticipating declining vehicle sales, so they’re investing in ride-share and similar alternative ways of providing transportation.

        “And those of us who still need to own vehicles have cool options like this hybrid car we’re riding in.  Before long fully electric cars will be commonplace.  By 2020 GM plans to produce more than 20 different electric vehicle models; Ford will have 40 by 2022!

       “These are good trends, Grandpa.  You see, we’ve learned that we can’t keep pouring combustion engine fumes into the air we breathe.  It makes us sick and even affects weather patterns.  Using clean energy sources and reducing the number of all types of vehicles will help.  Someday, when I come back to visit my retirement-aged grandchildren like you have, I hope to find them living healthy lives on a vibrant planet.  After all, this is the only home they’ll ever have.  We’re all here forever…Earthbound.”  

          The adoptive parents of Idle Dee and Idle Dum choose to retain their daughter’s and son’s respective Korean names.  Family names in Korea are stated first, before the given name.  In this tale, we’ll discover how Dee and Dum have grown to embrace the English language meaning of their family name.  Read on…
 
        Perched on the bus stop bench, Idle Dee watched the traffic whiz by.  More than a few drivers were glancing at their phones as they drove.  Most passers-by were likewise staring at their screens.  Only one of her seatmates was not doing the same, so Dee struck up a conversation.

        Both young women commented on how “plugged-in” people were these days, constantly rushing and seemingly unable to be alone with their own thoughts.   Dee shared the results of a recent survey of college students.  Fifty-two percent reported feeling hopeless and 39% said they’d had a severe bout of depression the previous year.  They wondered if Americans were short-changing themselves on the “down time” critical to emotional health.

        As they parted, Dee’s new friend joked, “Your family name is spot on!  I’m going to reserve some mental ‘idle time’ each day to refresh my soul.”

        Meanwhile, Idle Dum slammed his car into park, left the engine idling, and ran into the fast food joint.  He was only going in for a couple minutes; with the engine running, the AC would keep the car cool.  Over the year, his car engine idled a lot.  In the winter, he’d warm up his car far in advance of actually driving it and then usually leave it running between short errands.  “Hey, it matches my name,” Dum grinned.  “Nothing wrong with leaving the engine idling!”

        What Dum didn’t realize is that modern car engines don’t need “warming up” in the winter and that it does NOT take more fuel to restart a car as compared to leaving it idle.  It’s the10-second rule.  If you’re going to be out of the car more than 10 seconds, turn off the engine.  You’ll save money and wear and tear on your engine, and prevent unnecessary pollution from escaping the tailpipe.

        We can be smarter than Dum.  Foster a healthy soul by reserving some idle time each day.  And foster a healthy planet by reducing engine idling.  It’s a savvy combo; here, where we’re forever…Earthbound.  

           Rain poured down at my sister-in-law, Patty’s, home just outside of Stitzer.   Before long a cascading torrent filled the little creek just beyond her yard.  Moments later, it breeched the lowest bank, and what had been a confined channel of water suddenly became a rapidly expanding lake whose leading edge was working its way up the driveway.  Suddenly, our ’68 VW Beetle was in jeopardy of being set afloat.  Even more concerning, the new lake would soon be lapping at the patio door. 

          It was an amazing phenomenon that I’ll never forget.  In a few short minutes the topography was transformed. Up-stream, each little brook and gully had contributed its small share of water that, when added together, created that flood.  Unexpectedly, a whole new landscape was unleashed.

       Forty some years later, sitting high and dry on Capitol Hill, current members of the House are poised to introduce the first Republican sponsored carbon pricing bill.  The concept of placing a fee on greenhouse gas producing carbon-based fuels has been kicking around for a few years.  The general concept is that, like a fee paid to dump garbage in the landfill, a fee would be charged for dumping pollution into our shared atmosphere.  One popular version of the bill actually provides an economic stimulus while it cleans our air.

        An objection sometimes voiced is that any such fee would have such a miniscule effect on the amount of greenhouse gasses emitted as to be virtually worthless.  A recent analysis asserts a carbon fee in the U.S. would prevent only a 0.07 degrees Celsius average rise in temperatures by 2100 – a trifle.  But I wonder if the researchers considered the potential cascading effect a carbon fee might unleash that would bring about a much greater difference.

        The rains subsided, and Patty’s property suffered only minor damage.  Karen and I drove off the next day in a dry and fully-functional Bug. 

        A price on carbon in the U.S. today could act a bit like one of those small rivulets upstream in Patty’s creek.  By joining other carbon reduction actions world-wide, it could become part of a cascade that frees us from our fossil fuel dependency.  That additional nudge might foster an unforeseen flood of new, cleaner energy options.  It’s a plan to consider because this is the only home we’ll ever know.  It’s where we’re forever…Earthbound.