this is what i think

by rebekah
(bremertion)

You've got a gutter that connects to the coast - You can win the real environmental fight right on your street curb, so stop waiting for Washington to save the world. I'll explain how your neighborhood drain is a highway for pollution straight into the ocean, and why your local cleanup is the biggest rebellion ever.

Rebekah starts us off: I think that we need to take care of our earth and stop trashing it. If we keep trashing the earth then we will not be able to live here any more. I have a lot to say, and how we treat the planet is wrong. Well that is all I have to say.

Barry's Response - There is a lot of truth in what you have to say, Rebekah. Fortunately we are slowly figuring that out and bit-by-bit arriving at solutions that allow us to achieve our purposes and simultaneously reduce our negative impacts on the environment.

Some of the damage will be irreversible but we should pull through okay. Expect it to take several decades in some cases.

Search this site for more information now.

Let's stop trashing our own backyard

(the planet can handle it) Your words hit me like a hurricane. I hear the frustration of every person watching the news who just wants the chaos to stop when you say "this is what I think" about how we treat the planet. We're doing the wrong thing right now, you're right.

My controversial, sassy, and scientifically backed take: The planet isn't your helpless little sister. She's a billion-year-old rock that's been through five mass extinctions. She'll shrug us off and keep spinning. We're not destroying the Earth; we're making it unfit for humans. This is the ultimate act of self-sabotage, and it's way more immediate than you might think.

Self-Destructive Science: Why We're Toxic to Ourselves

🔬 In the article linked, it talks about Particulate Matter (PM2.5) and Nitrogen Oxides (NOx). They're not just invisible numbers, they're tiny toxic bullets.

1. Atmospheric Boundary Layer (ABL): Think of it like an air blanket above your city. It's where cars, factories, and power plants dump their pollution. Weather (meteorology) constantly changes the height of this blanket. The pollution gets trapped right where you breathe if the ABL is shallow, like during a thermal inversion. We're literally poisoning our own air.
2. Everyone's debating CO2 (which is a global problem), but they forget about PM2.5, which causes respiratory illnesses and heart disease. This isn't a future problem for polar bears; it's a present-day emergency for kids everywhere. I think we should fight this hardest.

Left and Right Unite at the Water Trap

⚓ Many skeptics argue that global environmental rules crush individual freedom and local business-and that's a valid point. There's one thing everyone agrees on: water.

Aquatic life is the ultimate resource. Poisoning the local river destroys the economy, the food supply, and human health. When you foul the resource base, you can't be a responsible steward (a great principle).

Let's demand local sovereignty over resource quality instead of fighting expensive global mandates. To keep our communities' aquatic environment pristine, we need fast, hyper-local solutions. There's nothing anti-industry about this; it's smart business that protects human capital.

The Air Quality Score: A Revolutionary Idea

🚀 Stop paying for air quality consulting reports that only big companies can afford. Let's flip the script and give every citizen access to data.

• Imagine an Air Quality Score (AQS) tied to local economic activity. Every industrial source, major traffic corridor, and large construction site would be required to display a live, public AQS, just like a nutritional label.
• Every square mile of a city needs cheap, ruggedized PM2.5 and NOx sensors. Data is real-time, non-negotiable, and easy to use: Green (Safe), Yellow (Warning), Red (Shut Down Now!). The choice is leveraged by giving people the raw, scientific data they need to make decisions and hold local polluters accountable. Our species is self-correcting.

I'm an inventor and a debater, and raw emotion is key. That feeling of "I have a lot to say, and how we treat the planet is wrong" is what drives change. Just channel that emotion into sharp logic and effective, local action.

Get in on the fight!

We can stop "trashing the earth" by cleaning up our immediate human environment - the air we breathe and the water we drink. It's about what we measure and fix today, not decades later.