A Response to Bill McKibben's Eaarth

After reading the first few chapters in McKibben's book "Eaarth Making Life on a Tough New Planet" I was struck with a mixture of emotions, anger, fear, and frustration. Human impact and its affects on climate, and the environment for me as I'm sure for many others seemed so far into the future that I never really thought I would see the impact in my lifetime. Our ocean temperature's are rising, the glaciers and ice caps are melting, (at surprisingly alarming rates) and the results of those warming temperature's are harsher storms, and stranger weather. McKibben not only puts climate change into an immediate perspective, but he also presents the issue from an economist's point of view. Why would an insurance company pay to re-roof a house if its just going to blow off in the next storm a year later. He points out that there is a huge chain of events that happen with the constant change of climate on our new planet, and part of the larger picture is that we spent so much time and money building up the old world, that to change it to accommodate the new is either going to be extremely difficult, or impossible. One of the reason's I felt angry after reading these chapters is because so much of the third World is not only hit the hardest by the new changes in climate, but also the fact that they have so little to do with whats actually changing our planet. Third World countries like Haiti don't have the money to rebuild after violent storms, and places in India are losing their sources of fresh water, as snow packs are melting too early. I feel my frustration on this issue comes from many different things. I feel powerless, is there any way to change all this, the coal fire plants are not going to stop, it will be too late before any real change happens, and by then the first world will look very much like the third. I also feel frustrated because people cant see past their privilege, so many people are not willing to give up what they already have. America's culture is a disposable one, buy something new and throw the old one out. I see dumpster diving as not a sustainable path for everyone but as a way for me to at least do my part. I dumpster dive not only to keep things from reaching the land fill but also because I'm too broke to buy most of the things I find anyway. If it keeps me from going to the store, and consuming what I could find for free, and I could save a little space at the dump, than why not.