Kameron Golbaz

Have you been noticing the recent harsh weather? As if Mother Nature is going through a midlife crisis and is venting on us. She seems to be playing a sizable game of "What's the worst that could happen?” with hurricanes, tornadoes, floods, droughts, and temperature rise. Conversations about the environment can be pretty bleak and heavy, but that doesn't mean we can't find a way to laugh through the tears or melting ice caps.

 Every day we burn emissions that contribute to climate change around the world. How can we stop these emissions? Can Tesla save us all? Can the technology that we possess save us? Can electricity beat out the oil-fueled machinery? I guess we’ll see how our air quality turns out, if we’re still alive. Having all these fancy cars with advanced technology and still not being able to figure out how to reduce our carbon footprint is like putting a fancy hat on a pig and expecting it to turn into a unicorn. 

The end of the world as we know it is caused by climate change. A gigantic, all-consuming monster is threatening to engulf us. But don't panic—not all is hopeless. We might even get to experience some really spectacular post-apocalyptic Mad Max-style adventures if we don't act quickly. Imagine the excitement of searching through trash for water and canned food while avoiding mutant animals and roving bands of robbers. Fun, right? 

We're still left with the question, “How do we stop climate change?” Truth be told, there is no stopping climate change. We can slow it down. Instead of climate change being the rabbit we can make it a turtle race. 

Have you noticed how businesses lately are hopping on the climate change bandwagon? Nowadays, it seems like every product on the market makes a green or sustainable promise. But let's face it, just because something has a green label on it doesn't mean it will always be healthy for the environment. It's analogous to expecting a broken bone to mend on its own after applying a bandage. Real, significant change is what we need, not simply a facelift. You think these top corporations actually care about the environment? If it’s not obvious enough, they only want our money. They could care less about how the world is going to turn out later, as long as they make millions of dollars.  

We need to confront the major problem of climate change. We can't just wait for someone else to take care of the problem for us. It's time for each of us to do our part, whether it be by lowering our carbon footprint, giving money to groups that fight for the environment, or exerting pressure on our elected officials to take significant action.

I say we have the federal government pass a law that each person that lives in the United States has to plant a tree at least once a week. Basically do the exact opposite as The Lorax. Instead of cutting down all the trees, every month the government should send each household a package of seeds to plant. By absorbing carbon dioxide from the air, storing it in the soil and trees, and releasing oxygen into the atmosphere as they develop, trees reduce the rate of climate change. What if we run out of space? There is no possible way to run out of space. Have you ever taken a road trip anywhere? As soon as you drive thirty minutes past the city you are in no man's land. There is usually just a whole lot of nothing that could so easily become a real green world and not just a label.