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As congress rolls out its $1.2 trillion dollar infrastructure funding, what effect will it have on climate change? The amount of fossil fuel burned for the production of cement, crushing of aggregate, manufacturing of steel reinforcement and that supplied for transportation of these materials will be monumental. The amount of emissions created by construction equipment rebuilding the highways, bridges and water/sewer infrastructure will add millions more tons of carbon to the atmosphere. Traffic delays and re-routes will add even further carbon emissions. One hand of congress offers a New Green Deal, while the other hand compounds the problem of climate change with energy intensive infrastructure upgrades. Planet Earth does not care one iota if we humans get our act together or not. Earth will continue evolving as it has since it began its journey around the sun. Our planet is currently in the process of readjustment to compensate for humanity’s past indiscretions. Nature is a living system, which like all creatures, has an inherent drive for self-preservation. We can decide to prolong our tenure on this home ‘that chose us’ or be just another chapter in geologic history. We are outgrowing our welcome by depleting natural resources, polluting the environment and increasing our human population beyond the planet’s capacity. The ‘feel good’ efforts of reusing a few plastic bags or turning down our thermostats isn’t going to cut it. Let’s get serious before life in our land of ‘never enough’ becomes a historical footnote. We’re the problem…we continually add to our individual carbon footprints from cradle to grave.
Bob LaMettry,
Grand Marais
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