Future focused.

It's probably no big surprise that I've been thinking about the future a lot lately, after all, in just six short months Carrie and I are going to be bringing a new life into this world—one we hope will someday live to see the beginning of the 22nd century.

While the thought of that is incredibly exciting, it's also really, really scary.

It's scary because I don't really know what I'm signing him or her up for.

If you've been reading this blog for very long you know that I've been concerned about climate change for quite a while, but it took the reality of becoming a dad for a second time to really stoke my fire (only figuratively of course, otherwise I would be contributing to the problem). Seeing that flickering black and white image on the monitors the other day and then hearing a voice on the radio saying "climate change may or may not dramatically alter our lives, but it's sure to alter the lives of our children," just made me feel sick. Sure, worst case scenarios are worst case scenarios, but if we keep going down the path we're on, the possibilities for the future don't look pretty. Instead of wars over oil and religion are my kids going to be fighting over water and habitable land? I see Park stuck inside on sunny summer day because it's too hot to go out and play and wonder what it will be like for his kids.

The whole climate change denial thing seems a lot like the way smokers used to look at lung cancer. I remember people debunking science reports linking cigarettes and lung cancer simply because they weren't 100% conclusive. They just kept puffing away, either ignoring the data or focusing on the 1% chance that the spots on their lungs were the result of some mysterious natural cause. To me, that's what we're doing, we're looking at the blotchy X-rays and staring down the possibility of a life strapped to an oxygen tube and just rolling the dice. I'd much rather play the odds. If someone says there might be hungry bears on the trail up ahead and it might help to tie some bells to my shoes, you better bet I'm tying those damn bells to my shoes, after all what's the harm?

I guess that's what I'm getting at, whether you believe the earth is warming or not (it is) and whether or not you think we're to blame (we are) what harm does it do to make some changes that might make life better for ourselves and future generations? I'm just frustrated of sitting around watching temperatures—and water levels—go up while no one does anything thanks to partisan politics and the bloated bottom lines of an archaic industry.

Whew … sorry about that.

I feel better now.