Plan B Presentation

For our class presentation on Plan B, we were responsible for covering chapter ten.  Our chapter was titled Can We Mobilize Fast Enough.  The chapter really put an urgency on the world as whole, taking responsibility for global warming and the factors associated with it.  The chapter discusses how we are marching forward to a civilizational collapse and food supply is one of the major concerns.  The thought of a civilizational collapse with food shortages is a scary one.  How is it that we are considered the most intelligent people to have ever walked the earth, yet we are now at a major breaking point globally?  What will happen if we cross that threshold and a collapse begins? 

That is what’s so scary.  Our world as a whole has never been in this type of situation and who knows how people will react, but most likely it would be ugly.  This is exactly why we need to be urgent now, and do our best to avoid such a catastrophe.  One of the ideas presented in the chapter is to lower income taxes and tax activities that contribute to global warming at a much higher rate.  The idea is to almost penalize those who participate in activities that contribute to global warming.  This would include a gasoline tax to encourage car pooling, a landfill tax to encourage recycling, and even use a cap-and-trade system where those who wish to engage in these activities are required to purchase a permit.  I believe that all of these ideas are good because they directly penalize the person or persons who choose to participate in the activities.  Those who do not engage in those activities are not penalized.  One of the final points in the chapter is that the United States should lead this charge for change and help to get rid of illiteracy, disease, poverty, and we can restore the earth’s soils forests, and fisheries.  The author makes a suggestion of shifting 13% of the world’s military budget to the Plan B budget, and that would be more than adequate to move on a path that would sustain progress.  I look at it like this, either we shift the 13% of the budget, or we collapse.  The answer seems obvious, and if we don’t do something, that world military budget is going to be worthless anyway.  We might as well adopt this plan and start moving forward before its too late.