No more Mr. Nice Guy (Today)

I'm going to attempt an analogy, bare with me:

Imagine that humanity is on a cross-country trip in one van. The USA is (of course) in the driver's seat. China is in the passenger seat. Russia, India, and Europe are in the bench seat behind them. The rest of the world's nations take up the rest of the van. There is a lot of ruckus and squabbling going on, naturally. Kids will be kids, after all. Russia, India, and Europe take turns trying to tell the 'parents' how to drive, which way to go, etc. They end up heading west on I-90 in Montana and heading up the west side of the pass over the Continental  Divide (traveled this route many times, that's why I picked it). There is strain on the engine, as the grade is steep and the road is twisty. But, on they go.

Going up the east side of the pass, is a large tandem truck that is our Mother Earth. She is approaching the summit of the pass, and just realized her air brake system failed (climate change). She knows there is a 'runaway' truck ramp on the downhill side of the pass, but she's concerned about her very heavy load and the added complication of the tandem arrangement. She starts flashing her lights, blowing her horns, anything to warn oncoming traffic of the approaching potential disaster. She tries to slow down, but just went over the summit and knows now it's too late to do anything but try to steer to the runaway ramp.

Humanity is just humming along, fuel is low but they think they have enough to make it through the pass and to a refueling station. They round a bend and - lo and behold - they see this huge truck coming right at them, swerving all over, going way too fast, lights flashing wildly and air-horn bellowing. Will Mother Earth make it to the ramp before colliding with Humanity? Will Humanity be smart and avoid the on-coming truck or panic?

People, we are at this point. The collision is imminent! It's right around the corner. We need to get smart, and do it quickly, if we are to survive. Our poor beleaguered Mother Earth can only do so much. She's hopelessly overloaded!

Jules Peck posted on Resilience today an excellent essay that I will link to, regarding "sandy" and its' implications. The last two paragraphs will haunt me forever...

http://www.resilience.org/stories/2012-11-20/hurricane-cassandra