The jewel under our feet

As yet another year comes to a close, it is time for a look back to examine the ways we went wrong and right, and carry the lessons forward. The buzzword like never before is, green and clean tech. Opinions and research keep vying with each other to come up with the perfect solution for an energy hungry populace, a solution that will be amenable to the planet.

Whether you believe in human-induced climate change or not, there is no escape from the fact that we are mining the planet beyond sustainability. From oil to water to minerals, human demand is outstripping availability.

It is not that the planet cannot cater to our needs. It can. It is our relentless desires that it cannot meet - for new toys and gadgets even as we mindlessly discard old ones; for food, even as we increase our waste; for water, as we don’t bother to manage and conserve.

Can we rise above national and international politics to see the big picture? That, even as we quibble, our time on the planet as a race may be fast coming to a close. Unless, we stop in our tracks and scan our lives.

Can we stop pointing fingers at each other and arrive at some fair means of ensuring comfortable lives for everyone? Do we care enough for the next generations to ‘forego’ some of our cravings?

Can we think about implementing a carbon tax, for instance? Can our political parties rise to the occasion, at the cost of votes?

Carbon tax is being considered by the US, UK and some European nations to wean away its citizens from the carbon path. Hansen (of the global warming fame!) has suggested a novel way of carbon tax that takes away from its burden. In an approach that distributes the tax collected in this way, through a dividend back to the people as personal tax cuts, etc it gives people a reason to cut down consumption of carbon intensive goods and foods!

This may be a better way than the cap and trade mechanism, which does not actually encourage carbon cuts as much as offering ways to trade. Of course, carbon tax, like any other tax will also see evaders!

Why not, for instance, impose a luxury cess on luxury goods that are high on power consumption? Surely the lower and middle class votes will not be lost! Why not actually offer some tax rebate on power consumption reduction?

News reports of higher tax on a second vehicle have been late in coming.

So much can be done. And not all of them are about climate change, as they are about learning to live within our means.

For those who aren't convinced, there is an interesting video posted on Dot Earth, which shows what an earthrise looks like from the moon. If nothing else convinces us, perhaps a look at the lonely blue jewel standing out against the cold, dark space, should send a twinge of guilt and a thrill down the spine. That is our planet there, the only home we have.

How about a different kind of new year resolution this time?