Global warming finally captured mainstream news headlines last week when reality star President Trump declared he would pull the United States from the Paris Climate Agreement. While withdrawing from the agreement will have negative environmental and economic ramifications that won't manifest themselves for years, maybe even decades, I won't pretend to be surprised by this turn events, just like I wasn't surprised by the Dakota Access Pipeline getting rammed through. I've long believed that any meaningful action to curb global warming would come from the private sector and local efforts.
To that end, it's been encouraging to see cities like
Pittsburgh pledge to go 100% renewable, and cities like
Oakland block the construction of coal terminals in their ports, largely thanks to pressure from local groups. Similarly, municipalities, academic institutions, and churches have been
divesting from the fossil fuel industry. All of these efforts began well before Trump became president and can continue despite his efforts to gut environmental regulations.
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My electric, mulching mower has a
lot of miles on it...for good reason |
As individuals, we have little control of federal legislation, but we can take individual efforts and band together to put pressure on businesses and local governments.
One avenue that I feel has been overlooked is a simple one:
mulching our lawns instead of bagging out the grass clippings. I know, I know, it sounds sort of stupid, but hear me out.
