Bill Gate has made headlines again. Bill Gates, in my opinion, is one of voices on climate change. When he said that there is an overreaction to climate change the headlines made it sound like he has made an about face and has turned into a climate change denier. After reading the article he really was not saying the climate change was a hoax. The one statement he made was “the world was going to be ok”. I have said that many times myself. The world is going to be around until our sun destroys us. Nuclear War, Climate Change, another Ice Age, none of those things is going to stop the world from spinning on her axis or from circling the sun. Over the millions and millions of years of this planet’s existence it has change many times and the dominate species has also changed many times.  

In the article Bill Gates does mention that it is our existence on this planet that is in jeopardy. I too have said the same thing. Whenever there is a crisis there is an opportunity to solve that crisis and for advancement of the human race. I think that is the message the people like Bill Gates are projecting. Not an image of doom and gloom but an image of opportunity and hope. There have been people in our history that has challenged us to do something great. John F Kennedy challenged us to put a man on the moon and we did. That challenge changed the world. Many of the innovations that were created to put a man on the moon are now just part of everyday life that most of us take for granted. From air purifiers to shatter proof sunglasses to freeze dried food all come about because Kennedy challenged us to put a man on the moon. I think Bill Gates is saying, with challenges come opportunity and the challenge of climate change is the same thing. My question is, are we up to the challenge?

What is getting in our way and what will get in our way in the future is greed. Plain old greed. It seems like everyone’s economy is driven by oil, the one thing that we need to get away from. Oil has made a few people very rich and a few countries very powerful. Always with money comes power. I could say the illusion of power but today it is no illusion. It is those people with money that control the narrative and control the governments. I have said for quite some time, “If you want to drain the swamp that is Washington the first thing you have to get rid of is the money”. Money doesn’t just influence policy and legislation it also buys influence and dictates legislation. Money is affecting all three branches of our government. Does it affect both the Democrats and the Republicans? Yes is does. It just seems like the Republicans have positioned themselves as the party of big business so they get a lot of money from our fossil fuel companies. Those are the companies any climate change legislation affects the most so they invest a lot of money so people in government will deny that there is a climate problem. The first step in solving any problem is knowing that you have a problem.

I would love to see all of the money out of Washington. Not just the fossil fuel money or the pharmaceutical money. All money from everywhere. Our lobby system is just a form of legalized bribery and that is not good for the people or the country. It is also really scary when you have billionaires buying gifts and trips for our Supreme Court. You can no longer convince me that there are some decisions like Citizens United that was not bought and paid for by billionaires and corporations. To get rid of the money you would have to get rid of Citizens United too.

If you can get the bribery out of Washington, then maybe, the creative people like Gates talks about can shine through. Any problem presents an opportunity to find solutions and Climate Change is not any different. It really has to be fought on two different fronts. One front will have to deal with the problems that are occurring that can’t be stopped like the rising seas and the already more powerful storms. More shoreline protection and better built structures. Improvements to infrastructure to handle the changing weather. I lived through Hurricane Ian and know firsthand the power of nature and how little we are prepared to deal with these more powerful storms. The second is challenging the country to change over to a more green economy. New businesses and new ways of doing things that will benefit the planet, our place on it and the economy. Our economy should be able to flourish just as well with a Green Economy as with what I would call an Oil Base Economy.

Kennedy gave us less than a decade to complete the challenge to get to the moon and we did it. I remember as a teenager watching Neil Armstrong take the first steps on the moon. I will probably not live long enough to see us truly flourishing with a green economy. I am willing to bet that if we really make up our mind to meet the Climate Change head on we will be just as successful as landing on the moon.