Global Warming and mitigation using a Common Adventure Process

In a "Declaration of INTERdependence" in 1975, Henry Steele Commager wrote ..."that all people are part of one global community, dependent on one body of resources, bound together by the ties of common humanity and associated in a common adventure on the planet earth.

That humans continue to negatively affect earth's ecosystems is not news to anyone. A stark public reminder that we are causing significant amounts of Greenhouse Gases and this is related to the dramatic increase in Global Warming was issued by a 4th Assessement of an Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change last week. Former Vice President Al Gore and many others have been warning for years that all citizens have to take more responsibility for changing our personal, governmental and corporate behaviors in an attempt to mitigate the climate change that is accompanying Global Warming.

I suggest that there is recent evidence that this change can explode into Common Adventure action groups starting with our families, friends, and social groups and organizations we belong to, or soon join or develop. During the 1960's and the 1970's many of us will remember that the impetus for the "Modern Environmental Movement" in the United States did create the kind of social networking movement that is now needed again. Today, in contrast to 40 years ago, almost everybody can have instant and comprehensive communication using cell phones, e-mail, blogs, wikis and other social networking tools provided by the growing Internet infrastructure.

If we as individual citizens have the will and the interest we can all start to put heavy pressure on our politicians and business leaders and on local, regional and global corporations we will have an opportunity to thoughtfully, scientifically, and truthfully attempt to mitigate our human effects on global warming, climate change and general deterioration of earth's ecosystems.

I am preparing to initiate a Common Adventure Social Networking project in an attempt to help stimulate a discussion about how to increase the citizen interest and participation in this mitigation. One target time frame I expect to put forward to begin this effort in 2007 is the time before the International and Equinoctial Earth Day, celebrated on the Vernal Equinox March 20-21, to include the more popular Earth Day started in the United States, April 22, 1970. Hopefully the discussions that result will also stimulate local and regional interest and participation in these observances and many other events during the year 2007 and into the future.

I have written about my experience with the "Common Adventure Process" in earlier posts on this blog (August 18, 2006). In the near future I expect to start another project to include a Wiki and possibly a Blog with discussion options.

Comments are welcome ! Stay tuned!