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Today’s headlines from the summit in Nyland, Norway claim that Climate Change is the biggest Security Challenge since the Cold War.

I still can not find out the sponsor of this mini-summit of 40 scientists and policy makers, nor can I find a list of the participants, but every report that comes out of this conference shows a renewed sense of urgency. 

Now we have this amazing (and I believe striking) comparison by British Climate Change Ambassador John Ashton:

“We’re not yet collectively grasping the scale of what we need to do” … “The Cold War was the last big problem the world faced on so many fronts — economic, political, industrial …”

It fascinates me, and I do not believe it is a coincidence, that it was a British politician who made this comparison. I believe it is totally appropriate to raise the spectre of the cold war with all its connotations, and this is why.

I was instantly reminded of Winston Churchill and his famous “Iron Curtain”speech in 1946; which most historians agree marks the official beginning of the Cold War.

So I revisited that momentous speech and here are some excerpts that I think are equally relevant for our War against Global Warming.

The opening paragraph perfectly reflects our current position and responsibilities as one of the top CO2 emitters in the world.

The United States stands at this time at the pinnacle of world power. It is a solemn moment for the American democracy. For with this primacy in power is also joined an awe-inspiring accountability to the future. As you look around you, you must feel not only the sense of duty done, but also you must feel anxiety lest you fall below the level of achievement. Opportunity is here now, clear and shining, for both our countries. To reject it or ignore it or fritter it away will bring upon us all the long reproaches of the aftertime.

Here is the famous Iron Curtain Line.

From Stettin in the Baltic to Trieste in the Adriatic an iron curtain has descended across the Continent.

Here is my Global Warming Equivalent.

From the North Pole to the South Pole, from the Smallest Island Nations to the Largest World Powers, we are all threatened by disasterous climate change.

He then spoke about the communist threat before issuing this line; which I believe epitomizes our present situation, and why I write this blog.

It is because I am sure that our fortunes are still in our own hands and that we hold the power to save the future, that I feel the duty to speak out now that I have the occasion and the opportunity to do so. 

Next came his call for action, which also has amazing parallels to our current situation.

But what we have to consider here today while time remains, is the permanent prevention of war and the establishment of conditions of freedom and democracy as rapidly as possible in all countries. Our difficulties and dangers will not be removed by closing our eyes to them. They will not be removed by mere waiting to see what happens; nor will they be removed by a policy of appeasement.

Here is my Global Warming Equivalent (changed words in italics).

But what we have to consider here today while time remains, is avoiding the worst consequences of climate change and the establishment of conditions for reducing Greenhouse gas emissions as rapidly as possible in all countries. Our difficulties and dangers will not be removed by closing our eyes to them. They will not be removed by mere waiting to see what happens; nor will they be removed by a policy in which financial costs are allowed to outweigh scientific realities.

He then spoke about how easy it would have been to prevent WWII.

There never was a war in history easier to prevent by timely action than the one which has just desolated such great areas of the globe. It could have been prevented, in my belief, without the firing of a single shot, and Germany might be powerful, prosperous and honored today; but no one would listen and one by one we were all sucked into the awful whirlpool.

My Global Warming Equivalent, if we fail to take action (changed words in italics).

There never was any other danger in history easier to prevent by timely action than the one which has just desolated such great areas of the globe. It could have been prevented, in my belief, without the devastating consequences we have all just experienced, and the United States could have continued to be powerful, prosperous and honored today; but no one would listen and one by one we were all sucked into the awful whirlpool.

He ended with this paragraph.

If we adhere faithfully to the Charter of the United Nations and walk forward in sedate and sober strength, seeking no one’s land or treasure, seeking to lay no arbitrary control upon the thoughts of men, if all British moral and material forces and convictions are joined with your own in fraternal association, the high roads of the future will be clear, not only for us but for all, not only for our time but for a century to come.

My Global Warming Equivalent (italics again).

If we adhere faithfully to the ideal that all nations must meet mandatory greenhouse gas emissions targets and walk forward in sedate and sober strength, seeking no excuses or advantages, seeking instead to accomplish what we must to save our world, if all our moral and material forces and convictions are joined in one global fraternal association, the high roads of the future will be clear, not only for us but for all, not only for our time but for many centuries to come.

So why doesn’t the U.S. act when the rest of the globe is clamoring for action? Why does the U.S. continue to ignore the pleas of the vast majority of our allies? Why does the U.S. instead play the villain when we should be the hero, when we can live up to our image as the cavalry which is coming to rescue a beleaguered climate challenged world?

I think the U.S. has forgotten the meaning of global war and the need for self sacrifice in order to assure victory.

I do not mean to belittle the Iraq War and the gallant men and women in our armed forces; but the fact remains that we have now been at war in Iraq longer than WWI, WWII, or the Korean War.

While this war has had an enormous impact upon our soldiers and their families, most people, the vast majority of people, are not experiencing any hardships whatsoever; so it is barely front page news on most days. Instead it has become another one of those useless, god awful, incredibly wasteful, and hugely dispiriting wars we have been fighting since the end of the Korean War.

Look what has happened since 9/11, when we suffered the worst attack on U.S. soil since Pearl Harbor. We have been fighting the War on Terror since 2001 but we still haven’t captured Osama Bin Laden and we can not claim that we have killed him. Fighting continues in Afghanistan and Al Qaeda is still causing trouble there, in Pakistan, and in Iraq. If you believe the current administration the threat has not been diminished, it is just as strong, if not stronger.

So what have we learned from our most recent wars? That they never end? That you can’t win?

We have had the War on Drugs since the 1970’s and the War on Poverty is more than 50 years old. Neither has come even close to their established goals, both problems are as bad as ever, and there is no end in sight.

The problem has not been with our will power although it has been sapped and diminished by these failing efforts. The problem is with our changed concept of “self sacrifice”, that noble spirit that drove us to victory in WWI and WWII.

John Kennedy announced to the world at his inauguration that the torch had been passed to a new generation and then extolled us all to “ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country.”

We answered that call. We sent a man to the moon within one decade. We took a long and hard look at our society and entered a period historians call “the great society”, an era in which we undertook to fundamentally change our society to eliminate its worst ills.

We need to answer this newest call. To raise up our bowed heads, to straighten out our bent backs, to look the danger right in the eye and tackle it head on, in the same spirit that has made this country the greatest nation on the planet.

The time for debate is over. The need is crystal clear. The actions we must take are righteous and just. God will surely smile upon us for treating our planet as his temple.

I say to you, that this nation conceived in liberty, and nurtured by the blood of patriots, must honor our ancestors and live up to our fullest potential. We must gird for battle, tighten our belts, and make any and every sacrifice required; so future generations may look back at us with the same pride, honor, and respect that we have for our parents and grandparents. They have given us a world filled with wonders, a cornucopia of earthly delights. What will we bequeath to our children and our grandchildren?

We must think in terms of victory and not defeat, we must think in terms of life and not death, we must think in terms of an Eden like planet and not in terms of Hell on earth.

There has been no other time in the history of civilization in which a people had more control over their own fate, and no other time when our fate was so uncertain. One thing is certain, failure to act will not lessen the harms, but will instead make them much greater and harder to bear or overcome.

SO, for the umpteenth time again. What are we waiting for?

One last thought, I say it is time to sound the bugle call and charge! During WWI George M. Cohan, the first (and I believe only) songwriter ever to win the Congressional Medal of Honor, wrote the song “Over There” and I want to leave with a version of that chorus, slightly modified.

Every way, every where,
Send the word, send the word every where -
That the Yanks are cutting,
The Yanks are cutting,
Emissions they’re cutting
Ev’rywhere.
So prepare, say a pray’r,
Send the word, send the word every where.
We are cutting, and we’ll keep cutting, 
and we won’t ever stop, till it’s over
Every where.