Is Bill Gates the Next Edison? For the World's Sake, Let's Hope NOT!

Happe Earth Day 202

This week, the Gates Foundation released information about its latest infrastructure plan for curbing global warming. in an unusual turn, few major networks picked up the story and ran with it.  Perhaps it is a sign that climate change mania is ebbing and flowing to more constructive, workable solutions. But this shift away from the dramatic should be taken cautiously for the global environment has already been changed forever by a man much like Bill Gates. Even today, the World lives with the unintended consequences of an invention that still is considered environmentally friendly and preferable to other energy sources.

History Repeats Itself

A hundred and forty years ago, a charismatic, driven and wealthy inventor and entrepreneur named Thomas A Edison brought an idea to local and state governments for a trouble free, cheap and continuous energy source.  His ability to work within the confines of their funding and existing infrastructure soon had cities around the World plugged into electricity.

Like Gates, Edison was focused on one goal and one goal only, to replace gas, oil and coal use as much as possible.  Also like Gates, Edison had no concern for any negative effects, not necessarily because he was hard-hearted but because the science did not exist to explain how his invention would impact ever living thing on Earth.

The Starting Point for Climate Change

Doing exactly what Edison had promised, electricity became the global energy source within a matter of decades. Even rural communities were hard-wired into electric distribution centers by the 1930s.  

What Edison didn't know was that electricity forever altered the composition of the atmosphere and that clean air was anything but healthy.  Within three decades of electricity's adoption, the World was overwhelmed with sickness, poor nutrition, anxiety, crime and drought. Historians, like today's climate scientists, have drawn a wide variety of conclusions as to what might have been the cause.  Like then, the World today is dealing with every increasing levels of illness, food shortages, anxiety and drought as it pushes for stricter controls on low-emission energy. 

History is repeating itself and man is still oblivious to his role in this dysfunctional system.

How did the planet escape the long term effects of Clean Energy in the 1930s. Only with the growth of the internal combustion engine was the atmosphere restored to its dusty, smelly mixture that nurtures all forms of life.  

What is Gates' Plan? (YourTube Video of Announcement)

For all his ingenuity and effort, the solution sounds like the story line of a Home Improvement episode, the TV series whose main character, Tim the Tool Man Taylor, goes off the rails each week trying to design the most complicated and difficult way of solving a  problem. For now, it appears there is enough push back from moderate thinkers to keep him from acting on his idea.  But will that be enough to keep him from moving ahead with out concern for public heath (reactions to several medicines are possible) and property (a wave of dangerous acid rain would follow each of his treatments).

What is the Answer?

The simple way to handle this issue is to gradually reintroduce banned gases into the atmosphere. The long held belief that life forms only use one or two gases and the remaining are in some way dangerous is not supported by the studies of Geology and Organic Chemistry.  Weather may, in actuality, be the least relevant study in determining what is and is not healthy for Planet Earth. 

The human tendency to blame only what we see has kept us locked into a patter of creating the very problems (racism, gun violence, drug addition, chronic illness and poverty) that we have worked so hard to create.  Think of the atmosphere  as nature's health store and how we approach the environment and pulbic health changes drastically. Best of all, the answer is cheap, automatic, impervious to capitalism and war, and doesn't require us to give up the foods and lifestyle we love. . .as long as we do it in moderation. 

Nature will be ever so glad to be back in charge.

Nature Doesn't Have a Climate Change Problem:: The Blessings of Catastrophic Weather

You know, people? We might just have this climate change thing all wrong.  

Even though many of us have planted trees, gone plant based diet and condemned the oil companies for bringing this crisis to our door steps, Planet Earth is STILL racked by catastrophic weather, temperature extremes and general human inconvenience.

Wait, did I just say that this was about human inconvenience? No that can't be right. There has to be something wrong with Nature. It cannot be all about us, can it? 

Our Concerns are not Nature's Concerns

Unfortunately, that is the way it looks and no one wants to admit that Nature has this firmly under control. That WE, the most advanced of all species are the ones who refuse to live equitably with all other species is just not possible. WE want to take care of the environment and are willing to spend trillions of dollars to create a predictably boring and risk free climate that lets all creatures live as comfortably as we do. That we do all this at the expense of poor nations and those of modest means should be applauded, not discounted. Why doesn't Nature seem to appreciate all that WE are doing for it? 

Maybe, its just that Nature doesn't need our help. Plain and Simple.

The Natural Order is. . Well . . Natural

Come on! Think about it. Isn't the industrialized, society-based life style that is forced on third world countries and considered a mark of success a bit over the top. It almost makes the term "high maintenance" seem humble when we compare our homes to a beaver's dam or minnow's pond. And yet, we fully expect Nature to behave and not cause population centers any difficulties.  Hmmm?  How truly civilized of us. 

Could Nature have a completely automated, highly responsive system at its disposal to reset an ecosystem? Faced with clear environmental benefits after each event, we choose to downplay their presence because they clash with our image of environmental health.

As hard as it might be to swallow, Nature may be saving itself from those who are SAVING THE PLANET. when it sends extreme weather to counteract our clumsy methods of planetary protection.

Environmental Enforcers

Like all good management systems, fail safe measures kick in to keep the operation from imploding. Why, with all we know about the planet, would we assume extreme weather patterns are without a purpose? There we go, thinking we are in control again.

How might it work do you ask? Consider these possibilities

Drought - Nature's Conservationist

Triggered by low levels of emissions commonly found in animal habitats (dirt, CO2, methane, ammonia and rotten egg gas), drought assumes low animal populations and re-allocates water to where it is needed. This becomes a time of rejuvenation for plants by encouraging them to self-prune, broaden root systems and produce hardy seeds that may remain for a decade or more. Tall grasses which are not preferred by grazers die out to be replaced by clovers and fescue which are hardier. The shrinking of the dry ground opens up ways to better aerate the soil and incorporate depleted nutrients.

Wildfires - Nature's Demolition Crew

Partnered with drought, wildfires specifically target heavy vegetation that is older or overgrown. Triggered by higher oxygen levels and the presence of flammable gases linked to slowly rotting ground cover, spontaneous combustion is possible when humidity levels are low. Purposefully realigning the balance between animals and vegetation, within weeks, grasses and small trees welcome a larger variety of species back to the area.  Unlike forests which have been selectively harvested over centuries to maintain their ecological balance, unused forests have an 80-100 year lifespan and destruction by fire is a typical method of rebirth. 

Volcanoes - Nature's Aerial Fertilization Method

Composed of the same gases which are considered air pollution by climate advocates, volcanic eruptions give birth to new land masses but also spew millions of cubic meters of essential gases and dirt into the atmosphere.  Located typically near large bodies of water, this smoke and ash attract water vapor that is then transported countless miles and deposited by rain. Best used to provide nitrogen and sulfur to non-farming areas, volcanoes perform the same environmental service as burning fossil fuels did for thousands of years.

Hurricanes - Nature's Clean Up and Sanitation Crew

 In truth, any major rain event that draws moisture from a large body of water serves the same purpose--to clean up and sanitize the ground. While the aftermath of a hurricane and its flooding seem anything but clean, water than soaks into the ground is purified and drains into the Earth's underground aquifer.  As that water moves down, it takes with it trace minerals and bacteria which help boost the immune sytem of plants while releasing oxygen into the soil.  While its methods may be harsh, wildlife depend on the recycling of these trace minerals which are no longer found in a pollution free atmosphere.

Tornadoes, earthquakes, extreme temperatures and blizzards each have their own purpose but deal with smaller more regional problems.  

An OXY image

 Can We Admit WE Goofed?

Even if only part of this concept is true (but all these methods hold with chemical and biological science), can the SAVE THE PLANET mindset stop repairing nature long enough to see that it may be causing extreme weather, not preventing it?

For all our efforts, our focus on climate change, nature has never been the focus. Our thoughts, concerns and efforts been about how we see the world.  The fact we used more resources and give less back to the environment than any other species seems to escape consideration in solving climate change.

Air Pollution's the Answer!  if we want to support Nature.