EARTHFUTURE.COM by Guy Dauncey

Viewed from the silence of space, Earth gleams like the purest pearl, a floating poem of simplicity in the vastness of the universe. Who could guess that, under the fragile canopy of its atmosphere, one species could cause such trouble and yet be capable of such compassion, genius and incredible achievements?
It seems that every species on our planet desires two things. The first is to live peacefully in comfort and ease. The second is to explore: to try new foods, push into unknown territory and seek out new adventures. These two desires have always rubbed against each other. Those who are more conservative want to enjoy what they have and not rock the boat, while the explorers want to test a new frontier and challenge another myth. It’s evolution’s oldest interplay: Preserving the species versus seeking new possibilities.
The years 1900 to 1914 linger in our collective memory as a “golden summer” when all seemed well in the world. The romantic impulse of the late 19th century had been joined by the excitement over the first flight, the first motor cars, the first telephones and electricity. The spirit of the adventurer and the desire for comfort were equally satisfied, at least among those who had the time to write history.
Yet look where it led. You might have been living in Belgium, bringing in the harvest on a glorious summer afternoon in August of 1914. Everything felt so good, and because there was no Internet or telephone, most people were totally unaware of the deep contradictions that underpinned the tranquility. Then one day the guns of war exploded and a German army marched over the horizon; the world changed from heaven to hell. The 20th century had started.
The cause of the war? Adventurers pushing up against each other’s territory; imperial powers determined to grab what they could of the world; and Germany’s need for oil. Without oil, their ships, tanks and cars could not run, so they needed to build a railway from Berlin to Baghdad to control the Middle East’s oil. This made the British very unhappy, given they thought it belonged to them.
One hundred years later, many of us in the West enjoy a similar golden summer. Thanks to the astonishing bonanza of fossil fuels, we can do almost anything we want. Here on the West Coast, many of us live in paradise. Yet our own 1914 may be just around the corner as the contradictions accumulate regarding Iraq, terrorism and the gathering storms of global climate change. They are all related to our use of oil.
Instead of being called up to serve in the army, however – Your Country Needs YOU! – we are being called up to serve the Earth, to demonstrate that here in BC we can develop a sustainable, peaceful way of life without oil and without any greenhouse gas emissions. Why BC? Because we have been given a headstart by the gift of nature. Our mountains enable most of our electricity to be green, which will enable most of our transport to run on green power as electric and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles. We don’t need nuclear energy, coal or Site C. We can do it all by conserving the power we already have and generating new power from the sun, wind, tides and geothermal; by converting our homes and factories to zero-energy buildings; by growing our own organic food; and by becoming a zero-waste economy, recycling and reclaiming all materials.
Someone has to demonstrate that it is possible. So why not us? We here in BC have already demonstrated our love for this Earth through the creation of Greenpeace, and through protecting much of Clayoquot Sound, a large part of the Great Bear Rainforest and other wilderness spaces across BC. We can step out of our laidbackness and do something extraordinary. We can launch the 21st century with a vision, instead of an explosion – that is our next big step forward, our next big adventure.

Guy Dauncey is president of the BC Sustainable Energy Association www.bcsea.org and author of Stormy Weather: 101 Solutions to Global Climate Change, New Society Publishers, 2001. www.earthfuture.com.