Will Planet Destruction be the Boomers’ Legacy?

July 15, 2010

The BP oil spill offers dramatic evidence about the true costs of a petroleum-based economy. The $20 billion secured from BP by the Obama administration to cover economic damages will not nearly approach the overall dollars needed to repair this calamity, not to mention the true costs of climate change, all of which are being borne by citizens of the U.S. and the world, not oil companies. These are among the messages of leading environmentalist Bill McKibben in his latest call to organize – via the web – for action to curb carbon emissions, the source of climate change. He notes that the planet needs dramatic action “much faster than the political and economic systems are moving right now.” With the oil industry the most profitable and powerful enterprise in history, all that companies such as BP need to do to prevent being taxed for the true cost of environmental damage is to slow down the political process.

Baby boomers should note this message from McKibben’s new, web-distributed video: “Don’t make your lasting legacy on this planet the destruction of its basic physical integrity. That’s what people will remember the boomers for 100 years from now if we don’t clean up our act really fast.”