“Common Sense is something I fight for. It is those who fight Common Sense I feel for” it the tag line I use on my Twitter® profile.  But more than not ‘Common Sense’ seems to be a foreign concept to a lot of people I come across in everyday life and on social media.  One subject that seems to not get through to way to many is the correlation between pollution and climate change.

Since the beginning of the Industrial Revolution, the human race has been enamored by its own accomplishment.  Marvels in innovation continuously awed and inspired everyone into believing they were indestructible.  200 years later, I wonder if they would feel the same.

From the time the first oil wells were dug to when the first nuclear reactors went online, the human race began to seal its fate.  No one ever saw coming the consequences of their actions, Pollution.  Carbon pollution in the air, nuclear waste seeping into the ground, coal ash entering into waterways, forever changing our ecosystems.

As much as I would love the Earth in the 23rd century that Gene Roddenberry to be reality, that is science fiction (for now).  We must deal in science fact. Ecosystems are a delicate balancing act.  When one part of an ecosystem becomes altered, it may not be able to balance itself out.  Especially if the cause of that imbalance is man-made.

Where do we get the oxygen we need to breathe?  Trees.  Trees breath the carbon dioxide we exhale to sustain themselves.  When we cut down those trees we lose the balance. When we put carbon monoxide in the air, there is no where for that gas to be absorbed.  Nuclear waste is a radio-active poison created by nuclear power plants.  We have no way to destroy it once it is no longer of use.  So we risk cancer and disease just so we can support a cheap power source.  But when this waste enters any ecosystem, humans are not the only ones effected, plants and animals pay the price as well. The same may be said for coal ash that is the byproduct of using coal-burning power plants for energy.  The ash seeps into the water supply and into the air causing health and environmental problems that may not be able to be reversed.

The imbalance that has occurred because of humanities shortsightedness has altered the climate we live in, maybe permanently.  ‘Climate Change’ or ‘Global Warming’ have both been phrases that have become concreted into our vocabulary.  Since the beginning of the 21st century, we have seen the warmest temperatures on record.  Storms have become more severe.  Winters are more brutal.  Weather seems to hit extremes more easily.  Many might argue that weather and changes in climate happen in patterns.  Well they do.  But, when those patterns happen in shorter spans of time, the extremes become more clear.  The natural occurences of these patterns no longer exists.

Revolutions in technology over the past 20 years have brought innovations that could change the damage that has been done, or at least halt it to a level where the earth can maybe begin to repair itself.  Solar and Wind Energy, Hydroelectric and Geothermal Power are just a few of the ways we can create the energy we need to live, have the same if not greater levels of innovation, and all renewable.  The earth will always have in its possession an abundant supply of the fuels for these renewable energy sources to sustain us.  All of it Clean.

Common Sense would dictate that the choice of renewable energy sources would be a no brainer.  But the one thing in the way of that common sense kicking in for everyone is this, the almighty dollar.  Until we can show that there can be profit in the word ‘Clean’, pollution will continue to win.