Cartoon Pen & Watercolour 8″x12″
Copyright 2009 Jean Burman
“For those who believe… no proof is necessary
For those who don’t believe… no proof is possible”
- Eyes of the Beholder
So where does this leave us in the Climate Change Debate?
Precisely nowhere.
But that’s okay because… either way… I still have a couple of outstanding questions.
Things like:
1. Why is the sea level rising in Kirribati and the Maldives but nowhere else?
2. Why are we changing light globes from incandescent to [mercury containing] compact fluorescent globes when the environmental consequences of doing so have not been fully investigated… and there are no established guidelines for their safe handling and subsequent disposal?
3. Why are we legislating that new roofs in the tropics must now be [a heat absorbing] dark brown or green (ironically to blend with nature) when sound common sense dictates that a lighter [white or silver] roof would not only keep the home cooler in summer but also reduce the amount of energy required to cool it?
4. Why are we introducing an Emissions Trading Scheme which could potentially disadvantage many sectors of the economy without first establishing [without a doubt] that the carbon we are attempting to reduce is in fact the true culprit in climate change?
5. And is climate change the real issue anyway?
There has been so much time-wasting debate that were it the real issue… it is now becoming all too late. And if it is not the real issue… then there has been a heck of a lot of greenhouse gas expended in talking about it for no particularly good reason why! [Grin]
So would it not be wiser to address the broader issue of environment instead of climate change?
Would it not be smarter all round for us to focus on the indisputable evidence already to hand of the adverse impact that humankind is having on the planet overall? If this were the case… the hystrionics of the whole climate change debate would cease to exist… and in it’s place would be calm rational bipartisan discussion about “what is good for us” [or not] and what we can reasonably do about it.
I do not know of a single person who would dispute the fact that humankind is having a hugely detrimental impact on the environment… the world at large… and the planet in general. Climate Change however may continue to be debated until the cows come home… [with way too much methane going down by then]
Cleaning up our act and changing our attitude toward the environment in which we live is within the realms of possibility for each and every individual on the planet. It can happen today.
Becoming environmentally aware is the responsibility of all those who draw breath from the scant six kilometres of oxygen in the atmosphere above our heads before there is… absolutely… precisely… nothing. Just that one single thought should be enough to start people thinking about selling their Hummers and carpooling to work.
The big picture is a mighty one. And there is nothing to suggest that it’s not a daunting task.
But it’s the only honest way to go.
Climate Change in and of itself is only one small factor in the greater global catastrophe which may befall the planet if we fail to make immediate changes to the way we live… do business… and co-exist with the natural world.
We must act now… as though our life depended on it.
Because it does.
“Full Tilt”
Cartoon Pen & Watercolour 9″ x 12″
Copyright 2009 Jean Burman
Here is my entry in the 21st Rotary Cartoon Awards… a national/international competition hosted once again at the Bunker Gallery in Coffs Harbour. The Awards are a bit of a big deal in the cartoon world with entries accepted from both amateur and professional cartoonists worldwide.
I had two entries ready… but upon (erroneous) advice that captions were disallowed… I didn’t send the second one. Foul play? No I don’t think so (grin) I should have read deeper into the fine print of the entry form to learn that captions were disallowed in the International section only. So I could have sent the other one as well. Ha! Oh well.. c’est la vie.
Originally this was going to be “Climate Change – Full Tilt” (avec captions) but turned out being plain old “Full Tilt” because that’s all I could fit into the toon after the fact! Never mind… I think the gag stands quite well on it’s own two feet as a humorous ‘take’ on the irony of weather in this Great South Land over the past year. I hope so anyway.
Besides… I have no expectations for this entry except that… by participation… it represents my persistence to prevail despite everything.
Keep smiling… you never know when someone’s gonna smile back! (((chuckles))) :-)
Highway to Hell
Cartoon Pen & Watercolour 8″ x 12″
Copyright 2008 Jean Burman
My good friend Elinor Mac emailed me from Scotland this week. It’s always such a treat to open my inbox to find her there. She always has something entertaining to tell me… or to forward… and the other day was no exception!
After reading her email… a quick google search confirmed the terrible truth.
According to a report in The Scotsman… police caught and charged a man with drink driving whilst six times over the legal limit at the wheel of his motorised wheelchair… (the fact that he was also asleep at the lights in the turning lane on a busy four lane highway probably added to their ire and brought the essential element of “circus” to the news story!)
Where? A little red faced I confess this happened in downtown Cairns. My town. Half way around the world from Tignabraich Scotland. In fact… if you were to fly for 24 hours in a straight line from pretty much anywhere on the planet you would eventually get… well… here.
Newsworthy yes… and indeed the incident did make front page news here too. But what surprised me the most was that the Scottish newspaper was not the only one onto it. India news… Hinduonline… Congo news… Reuters… even the NYTimes and the Huffington Post all got a hold of this one. And in a matter of earthshattering minutes too. Breaking news of the weirdest kind (apparently) travels fast. I gave up counting at page 9 on Google for the news sources carrying this story!
Why there hasn’t been such a commotion online or off since that bloke up in the Top End was bitten on his Rear End by a taipan… as he crouched for a comfort stop by the side of an outback road in the Northern Territory. Front page world news for over a week… but that was more than 3 weeks ago!
Amazing how quirky news travels fast… but why the fascination with such things when there is so much other “serious” stuff going on out there? But I guess that’s the point isn’t it? Where on earth would we be without a good laugh… especially when we get the chance to laugh at ourselves! ( ~grin~)
I have no idea what the rest of the world must think of this place where we 20 million odd Aussies live (odd being the operative word here ~still grinning~) This vast brown land all green around the edges just gets more entertaining by the minute!
Kangaroos bounding around our streets (oh yeah right)… crocodiles on the beaches (uhuh?)… snakes in places you could never imagine (well okay maybe)… should all make for one of the most exciting tourist destinations on the planet. So “where the bloody hell are they?” (to caption the late great ill-fated tourism ad campaign that crashed and burned)
Visitor numbers are down…. and can you blame them with all this crazy stuff going on? I mean… “why the bloody hell would they?” *wink*
But no… it’s not the front page news of reckless runaway motorised wheelchairs or the belligerence of our (oooo scarey) wildlife that has tourists running scared.
Nope. It’s all that rather stupid trivial stuff on page 3 that’s got them all stumped (and staying home). Incidentals… like the burgeoning cost of fuel… the world economic crisis… political social and religious unrest across the planet… terrorism… war in the middle east…and the threat of climate change… jihad and global catastrophe.
Tsshhh… details details…
Oh come on over… she’ll be right mate! (((chuckles)))
