Eaarth and McKibben

Earth as a planet has undergone significant change within the past several decades.  With the technological revolution causing exponential growth of both the amount of computers in use as well as human population, the world that was once known decades ago has forever gone.  McKibben explores the new world in a book titled "Eaarth" with two a's to signify how the world has changed so significantly, that humans reside on an entirely different planet than many were born into.

In this whole new world, McKibben argues that humans have run the Earth dry and that there is minimal, if any, capacity left for growth.  In order to remedy this predicament, immediate and drastic action must be taken to avoid a worst case scenario of habitat deconstruction.  However, due to the fact that environmental sustainability has not yet been reached, a new way of life, regardless of how sustainable it may be, will not come without consequences.

Ideas introduced in "Eaarth" include cutting down on "too big to fail" companies, saying that "too big to fail is too big to exist".  With any company that can be automatically forgiven for any debt introduced because it has too much of a monopoly on the way Americans or any mass group of people live their lives should not be given that power to withhold.  Another concept McKibben is very passionate about is localized farming.  Mass production and farming of primarily soy and corn has only evolved because of the demand and monetary rewards.  McKibben urges the audience that good soil is needed across the globe and that farming should be reverted back to the methods as the abundance as farming was in the 1950's.

As a concluding plea, McKibben states that what this new planet of Eaarth needs is a plan with durability and not simply a quick-fix that relies on many assumptions or many variables to be in perfect condition.  Either the world is willing to pay a substantial amount of money and invest in a brighter and more sustainable future now, or pay an even greater amount of money as well as be stuck with an unstable environment.

In order for such reform to work, humans as a whole have a personal responsibility to become more knowledgeable about the environment surrounding the community.  A simple assessment, such as the BioRegional quiz, can easily inform one whether or not the information necessary to even have a chance of independent survival is possible.  Questions that are meant to inform the taker of their oblivious nature cause the taker to step back and realize that perhaps there is more to the world than the latest YouTube sensation or what is happening on Facebook.