Sunday, December 24, 2006

Eleven year old understands global warming!


I have been attending the unitarian universalist church here in slippery rock the last few weeks. Today an eleven year old girl spoke up during the "sharing" time, and she talked about the video she saw about global warming (An Inconvenient Truth by Al Gore I assume). She talked about something that disturbed her: a polar bear who was having trouble hunting and living because the ice was melting. It was the image of the polar bear that she remembered - she has linked global warming with the plight of polar bears. When you think about that - I mean the abstract reasoning that is involved - how we live affects polar bears - absolutely amazing! I loved that moment. I recycle because municipal solid waste (MSW) contributes to global warming - an elementary recyling program can reduce MSW by 1/3 ( my colleague Dr. Sharon Sykora and I did a survey of Pennsylvania boroughs and found that out). When you recycle, you are helping that polar bear. An eleven year old figured that out! So why doesn't President Bush understand that? I am slapping my forehead right now - Duh!

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