From Katmandu to Baltimore, this has been a week of disasters. In Nepal, a major earthquake has left thousands dead or grievously injured, and hundreds of thousands more struggling to survive. In Baltimore, rage over the unwarranted death of yet another young Black man at the hands of the police has fueled such severe riots that the National Guard has been called in to patrol the city.
The big difference between a natural disaster like an earthquake, and a manmade disaster like a riot is in our ability to prevent it. We can’t stop earthquakes from happening, but we can try to be ready for them by building more resilient structures, and making sure we have emergency preparedness plans in place.
In the case of the still-unfolding disaster of American police brutality and racism, the situation in Baltimore, like earlier riots in Ferguson, hardly came out of the blue. On the contrary, the anger on display in these places is the result of decades of disrespect and unfair treatment of Americans of color. The investments in education, housing and general social welfare that would have prevented this disaster cost much less than the build-up of prisons and law enforcement tools and technologies, which have so clearly failed to make our society safer.
Disasters make us wake up and realize all over again how precious life is, and how important health and security are to human happiness. Even here in the placid Berkshires, we need to think about disaster prevention and preparedness. No, we don’t live in an earthquake zone, and no, I don’t see any riots on the horizon in quiet little Great Barrington. But there are some big issues brewing that we do need to be paying attention to now, before they become runaway disasters.
Weighing heavily on my mind these days is fracking. Last weekend, I saw the new film GROUNDSWELL RISING and what I heard from a panel of local citizens about hydro-fracking for natural gas left me chilled and frightened.
Did you know that thanks to the successful lobbying of Dick Cheney and Halliburton, hydro-fracking for natural gas is exempt from normal Federal environmental regulation? Did you know that if landowners refuse to give gas companies leases, their land can be taken by eminent domain? Did you know that wells — with their constant noise, 24-hour lights, and toxic contamination of air and water — can be sited as close as 100 feet from a home, school or residential neighborhood? Do you know how many Americans are currently living with polluted wells, their health and that of their children — not to mention the health of the eco-system as a whole — forever compromised by drilling that at best will only buy 15 years’ worth of gas?
Add to this the fact that the majority of the gas being produced this way is being targeted for export — not to support Americans or lower energy prices here at home, but to make short-term gains for the corporate giants controlling the industry. It’s the export issue that has gas companies such as Kinder Morgan, like their brethren up north in the Canadian tar sand industry, pushing so hard for pipelines. The pipeline proposed to cross northern Berkshire County would help carry fracked gas from Pennsylvania all the way to New Brunswick for shipping overseas.
Does that make any sense at all, given the biggest unfolding disaster of them all, climate change? Why invest in an industry that produces greenhouse gases (methane being even worse in this regard than carbon dioxide) and requires the burning of vast amounts of fossil fuels to produce and transport its product huge distances only to finally be burned and add even more to the problem of climate change?
From the Citizens United decision to the Transpacific Partnership (TPP), corporations are being allowed to prioritize profits over people and the planet (to use a familiar slogan) and to buy politicians who can make sure that governments and pesky regulations do not get in the way.
The disasters that this short-sighted, predatory mindset will create will make the financial meltdown of 2008, also caused by shortsightedness and greed, look like child’s play. Climate change is already wreaking havoc with our planet’s ability to self-regulate, and it will cause storms, droughts, wildfires, extinctions, sea rise and all the attendant disruptions of the stability and security of ordinary people like us, even here in our comfortable “shire.”
Many wise people in the world are now waking up and understanding what needs to be done to try to mitigate the worst effects of indiscriminate fossil fuel burning and the destruction of the Earth’s forests, soils, water and air. I’m pleased to see Pope Francis, surely no radical environmentalist, using the power of his pulpit to call on humanity to step up to the epic challenge of our time, shifting to a sustainable relationship with our planet.
Doing this will require a new kind of global thinking. We will have to recognize our interdependence and do away with artificial boundaries that lock us into outdated tribalism. What happens to the people of Pennsylvania affects the people of Massachusetts, and what happens to the people of the Himalayas affects us, too. Racism and discrimination against any group affects all of us. We are one world, one global human family, and more than that, we are all part of the intricate and fragile web of life on Earth.
Bring on the Transpacific Partnerships, yes — but the kind that steward and safeguard all life on our planet. With the unfolding disaster of climate change, there’s no such thing as NIMBY. There’s only the urgent question we must all be asking: what can I do to prepare, to build resiliency, and to help others do the same?
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The weekly EDGE WISE column is curated by Jennifer Browdy, Ph.D., associate professor of comparative literature, gender studies and media studies at Bard College at Simon’s Rock and the Founding Director of the Berkshire Festival of Women Writers. Women writers interested in publishing in EDGE WISE can find writers’ guidelines on the Festival website, or may submit queries or columns to Jennifer@berkshirewomenwriters.org.
