And we just don't get it!

We just don’t get it.

Or, maybe we do understand but feel overwhelmed and impotent.

Or, maybe the busyness and demands of modern leave our pool of worries full to overflowing.

“What frightens us most in a madman is his
sane conversation” - French novelist, Anatole
France wasn't talking about Australia's PM,
Scott Morrison, but he could have been.

Or, maybe we have faith in our decision-makers and leave it to them believing they have the answers.

Or, then again, maybe we just don’t care.

Well, whatever, we still don’t get it

We are facing, and yes, “we” includes all of us here in the Goulburn Valley, is an existential crisis.

Extreme, over the top? Well, not really as we, and again that, of course, includes all of us here in the Goulburn Valley, have had complete disregard for the global commons as we use it as a place to dump whatever it was we didn’t want.

The science we all champion, but interestingly not “all” of us, particularly when that same science refutes personal ideologies, has toted up the cost of our flagrant abuse of Earth’s commons illustrating that humanity is now saddled with a debt beyond its means to pay.

There is, however, just the slightest of chances that we can settle that debt and it won’t be with money, rather, it will be with hitherto unseen changes in our behaviour.

Writing in The Washington Post about this unfolding dilemma and how to confront it, author Bruce Beehler said: “One thing is for sure: We need to believe so to be able to function at full capacity as concerned citizens.

“We should all spend more time outside to breathe in the fresh air, salute the songs of birds and trills of toads, and savour nature. The fact is, the antidote to the depressing true stories purveyed by the news is the joyful abundance of thriving nature all around us. Nature isn’t dead; even our backyards tell us so if we’re willing to pay attention.”

He added: “Only smart collective action, led by courageous people working with intelligent and well-funded organizations and agencies, can mount the necessary effort to keep our Earth from peril.”

“With an inoculation of the magic elixir of bountiful nature, we can engage with spirit on behalf of our wildlife and forests, our bays and seas, and our one and only atmosphere. Despair is not an option”, Beehler concluded.

People here in Goulburn Valley may imagine themselves remote from the problems of a changing climate, but they are wrong as any observant soul will have already seen changes in weather patterns.

Many of our decision-makers insist Australia’s contribution to the worsening of climate change is so small that as a nation we can do nought, and as we can have no impact we should simply continue with our present energy-rich consumptive lifestyles.

Anyone prosecuting this argument, from our Prime Minister down, is misleading us, relying on “thoughts and prayers” when scientific facts illustrate, conclusively, that what we need are decisions and actions, such as phasing out all fossil-fuel energy favouring renewable sources and the incorporation of a climate emergency/crisis into the decision-making process.

That’s high level, but what can people here in the Goulburn Valley do?

Leave their car in the garage, walk or cycle whenever possible; only fly when there is no alternative, and then only when it is absolutely necessary; plug up the gaps in your house making it cheaper to both heat and cool; encourage the City of Greater Shepparton to declare a climate emergency; become active, make a noise and push for changes wherever you can.

Listening to our PM Scott Morrison following the outcome of the  recent Pacific Forum, I could think only of what the late French poet, journalist and novelist, Anatole France, said: “What frightens us most in a madman is his sane conversation.”