sacrifice

You can't always get what you want.
You can't have your cake and eat it, too.

OK, yeah, it would be great if these weren't true, but they are.

What really amazes me is how my peers--highly educated, apparently intelligent--seem to make so little change in their lives with respect to environmental issues.

They drive all the time; they're always jetting here or there on business or pleasure. It surprises me how rarely I hear them say in any of their deliberations, "wow, maybe we should limit that because of environmental considerations."

And the ones with children seem to be the ones least concerned, as if the world will always be beautiful and wonderful for their children, despite what the scientists say about global warming.

And these are not fundamentalist Christians, these are people who are mostly agnostic or atheist, who would say they believe in science, who would ridicule a creationist. I mean, it just boggles my mind: at least a creationist is intellectually consistent in believing that climate changes is not a problem. How one can actively believe in evolution and science generally, and then basically ignore a scientific conclusion supported by a vast amount of research, and a conclusion that will really matter in their lives...

I don't get it.

Voting for Obama will not solve the climate change problem if all the people who voted for Obama continue to drive all the time. Yeah, sure, a Prius is much better than a Hummer, but just switching to a Prius ain't gonna solve the problems.

People--especially the gluttonous Americans--my peers--need to stop consuming so freakin' much!

Well, I ain't got not kids, so I'm not leaving my kids a mess. But still, I have nephews; I have friends with kids, and wouldn't it be great if we left them a world as beautiful as the one we were raised in? Wouldn't it be great if the children of today could still go out and enjoy a beautiful sunny day when they're adults? Wouldn't it be great if their children, too, could grow up enjoying the same beauty of the world that we knew?

I think the saddest irony of all is that the sacrifices that we really need to make probably aren't more than a sacrifice of luxury. We could still have plenty, if we were willing to give up (sacrifice!) the gluttony.