An Ideological Inconvenience

I don't like to talk about this, but my family has been in the petroleum production business since the 1920's; it used to be mostly oil, now it's almost all natural gas, all in Texas. My grandfather, my father, and my brother all work or worked in the "oil bidness" We're by no means wealthy but some of my income still derives from that.  So I obviously have a vested interest in the profits of the petroleum business.

That being said, it is what it is. Burning fossil fuels has obviously contributed to the climate change we've seen since the 19th Century. 

But we have alternatives, and we can choose. After all, we can protest , call our representatives, send letters and VOTE, whereas polar bears and melting glaciers cannot.

Average Temperatures in Austin, Texas from the beginning of 2nd Industrial Revolution(c 1850) to 2010.

I compiled a chart (above) showing the slow but steady increase in average temperatures here in Austin, Texas,  for each decade from the 1850's, which is considered to be the beginning of the Second Industrial Revolution,  through 2010. What I didn't show is that, so far in 2011, the average temperature has been MUCH higher. 

I don't know how representative Austin's averages are, but in general it is a fact that global temps are climbing well  beyond normal variations. 

 Photo from LM Otero/AP for TIME Magazine: Possum Kingdom, Texas, April 19, 2011-                              A House burns in an area near  Fort Worth, one of several dozen sites where fires are burning in Texas.

Not to mention that millions of acres of Texas are or have just been on fire.

Meanwhile, I can't find any evidence anywhere that people afflicted with severe heat intolerance have evolved any increased ability to tolerate the increase in heat, nor is there any preventive medical treatment. It's just what happens when we get too warm, so we have a greater-than-average vested personal physical interest in halting and reversing global warming. Aside from more tolerable temperatures as opposed to less, improved air quality is another HUGE plus that would follow a steady decrease in greenhouse gases.....if we can ever manage to shout down the vested interests. 

President Obama (whose father-in-law had MS by the way), has tried repeatedly to explain the obvious need to expand and develop clean energy sources, both for reasons of environmental quality and of national security, but again, those vested interests will do and say anything to derail that effort. I'm not optimistic but I can't give up altogether. 

I realize that there aren't enough MS patients in the world to change this by ourselves, but we are more voices, almost  a half million in the USA alone, and we might as well make ourselves heard, and our situation known. It's important to ALL of us and cannot wait.