SV: Humans causing Global warming > evidence increases

Greetings Mark, "Instead of reinventing the wheel, what this group needs to do is discover which of the existing environmental advocacy groups already out there is doing the best job on this issue, and help inform that group of the potential role space-based solar power systems could play in solving the problem." I'm guessing the leadership will have to come from individuals within groups like this because the issues are very very conplex. We don't have the baggage ofexisting organizationsthat hold hardened opinions on what success looks like. If you areleadingthe Sierra Club you have to face up to the difference between what gets your membership fired up and what is good in the long term. Climate change does not seem to be something that most people areready to confront. My experience working with bright objective professionals that dispute global warming is that of watching them switch to fatalism and depression once I have presented enough evidence. They want a solution that retains their lifestyle the way that cheap oil and disregard ofconsequences does. Even the promise of SPS can seem like battering to them with regime change and a collosal shift of political power. We are faced with a world populace that embraces Democracy and free markets over their more politically corrupt bretheren. Here lies the satire that even Democracy is prone to failure if the majority of people ignore a problem until it builds to a crisis. Free markets do not guarantee either security or the consistent availability of resources. Neither of these are particularly good at advancing a costly 40-year drive to industrialize the moon. My hope is that we can be clear in our message that the world is not doomed to any one of a number of grim fates. We are not limited to the resources only on this planet. Every person in both India and China can have the same material wealth as the average Suburban American and God forbid - the same problems. Any mess at the poles or caused by sea level rise can be addressed. This is our greatest asset - that we can be hopeful in the face of the grimest news about declining reserves of oil, icecaps melting, elderly aging, etc. Eventually this will burn through the indifference that surrounds us in the wider population. We have only to settle on a coherent message of a reasonable success and place ourselves in view of the public like ever other political group. I strongly prefera space vision that holds to the lowest common denominator - that of proven techniques and simple goals. It has to be a simple message that we can reinforce.

Excellent idea Mark.

How do we get this done?

Hint, I have a paycheck to paycheck lifestyle ,

begin day
work
eat
sleep
go to begin day
end day

There are not enough hours in the day/week for me to do any lobbying.

We need retired folks or independently wealthy persons who have the
time to work on this.

Thanks,

Charles R.

--- In ssi_list@... "Wallach, Mark"
>
> I am a simple lawyer, without quite the level of technological sophistication many of you possess. However, I am scientifically
literate enough to understand the threat that our fossil fuel based technologies pose to the environment that supports us, and I am
politically savvy enough to understand that only an organized campaign can influence a large enough segment of the American electorate to make a difference.
> Instead of reinventing the wheel, what this group needs to do is discover which of the existing environmental advocacy groups already
out there is doing the best job on this issue, and help inform that group of the potential role space-based solar power systems could
play in solving the problem. I would guess that the Natural Resources Defense Council would be the best bet, though I could be persuaded otherwise. Anyone have any comments on this?