One of the most interesting pieces of research to come from the mountains of data being generated by COVID-19 is the work of Lauri Myllyvirta, analyst at the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA), a web-based internationally distributed team that leans Asian. Myllyvirta looks at air quality and energy trends in China and says that, during their month of shutdown, emissions of fossil fuel were down about 25%, meaning that the planetary reduction was 6%. Burning fossil fuels, we remember, means releasing carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases.
If you are concerned about climate change, you know that reducing carbon is the number one priority, and Myllyvirta looked at all the industries that release carbon dioxide — coal, oil, blast furnaces, refineries and more. Closing down meant, for the planet, good news. Sadly, however, the Chinese government has ordered a return to their normal industrial output, so carbon emissions are rising. Could we, as consumers, flatten this upward curve? It would mean fewer emissions, less plastic in the ocean and more thoughtful consumerism. Could we do it?
Sam McGlennon, writing for New Zealand’s Newsroom, reflects that we suddenly have an opportunity to build a new economy. This new one would be based on renewable energy, rooftop gardens growing food and small, local businesses. “We can do what we should have long been doing ... allowing activities to regrow with one eye on their emissions and the other on their contribution to the society we wish to live in.”
As we watch the bailout money being doled out, we should tell the government that, taking the long view, there are businesses that put our planet at jeopardy rather than helping us out. Politicians won’t listen, so let’s all move our investments and patronage to industries we value — out with fossil fuels and travel and into solar energy and health services.
Humans are good at forgetting what’s important, but COVID-19 has given us all a chance to remember. Here’s what I’ve seen my neighborhood wish for as we’ve been cooped up: For the littlest, education. For the teenaged, a first summer job. For young parents, safety for their kids and companions. For elders, comfortable surroundings and the company of friends of all ages. In other words, we’ve longed for more that community can provide.
What have you missed as you’ve been sequestered? Those are the things to nurture. It’s worth taking a few minutes to sketch out the kind of community you’d like to live in, and then, when you’re able, support those things.
For the farming community, I’ve been stunned (in a good way) at the outreach from consumers to small farms, and stunned by the creativity of my fellow farmers. On our farm, we decided to start the year the same as always, even though our main markets, independent restaurants, were closing. Since we make seed orders in deep winter, before we had a clue about this pandemic, the seeds, plants, potatoes and so forth were delivered as usual. Uh oh. With peak production of lettuces and other greens in February and March, we were in trouble. For a while.
Then, we got orders from crazy, unexpected places. Our major restaurant buyer started packaging Do-It-Yourself meals that include healthful amounts of greens. A car dealer decided to help out by ordering a hundred family-size bags of lettuces for all their workers. Guess where our next delivery van will come from!
One advantage of a small community is that we can help each other.
Sticking with our business-as-usual plan, we’ve been planting as normal even though we don’t know where our produce will go. If some of our regular customers don’t make it through, we’ll find new ones or we’ll donate to the food bank. One thing we know, we won’t let it go to waste.
At the same time, the New York Times reports, the mega-farm growers are plowing vegetables under and animal processing plants that have become incubators for corona virus. As they close, hogs and chickens are piling up in Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations, creating such glut that the DNR and EPA have suspended the small amount of regulation that existed.
No matter what POTUS and Wall Street have planned as a stock market comeback, we don’t have to go back to the days before COVID-19. That was a failed economy, with success for no one but the Wall Street insiders; it was an extractive trashing of the planet that undervalued the essential workers—nurses, teachers, parents—and overvalued money managers. It was bound to bring us doom.
Let’s not go back there. And, truthfully, we’ll feel better if we don’t. Anxiety, you know, is best treated when we plan and put our plans into action. We can re-define success as the thrill of being helpful to each other, of knowing our neighbors better, of extending a hand to someone less lucky than we are.
No time to fret, dear ones. We have work to do!
Margot Ford McMillen farms near Fulton, Mo., and co-hosts “Farm and Fiddle” on sustainable ag issues on KOPN 89.5 FM in Columbia, Mo. She also is a co-founder of CAFOZone.com, a website for people who are affected by concentrated animal feeding operations. Her latest book is “The Golden Lane: How Missouri Women Gained the Vote and Changed History.” Email: margotmcmillen@gmail.com.
From The Progressive Populist, May 15, 2020
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