Is COVID-19 Trumping the Climate Crisis?

I have mixed feelings on this issue. Yes, COVID-19 is top of mind and will be for the foreseeable future, but with China shutting down and manufacturing slowing, the virus is essentially helping lessen climate change for the many millions of tonnes of CO2 not being released into the atmosphere.

Still, the amount of monies being thrown at healthcare by our governments to fight the spread and support those who have come down with COVID-19 is extreme. It's good, but what if our governments reacted to climate change (which will kill us all) the way they have reacted to the spread of a disease that might kill up to 3% of us?

No, I don't want to be part of the 3%, nor do I want my ageing parents to succumb to COVID-19, but I think the reaction, though proactive, is a joke when you look at the bigger picture. Science tells us there is a somewhat deadly virus on the loose and everyone freaks out. Meanwhile, science is telling us that fossil fuel industries are killing the very planet we live on and we have governments throwing good money after bad to save them.... It's madness. Where are the COVID-19 deniers? Why don't they exist?

You don't get to choose which science you're going to back. You either back it or you don't. 

So, while you're hunkered down in your basement defusing oils and hoarding food and toilet paper, why not contribute to a cause that will not only give you books to read when the power goes out but will plant trees to help lessen the real problem of climate change?

COVID-19 won't last forever, but neither will the living conditions on your planet if we don't do something about it and accept the science. 

From ForestOntario.ca Facebook page: We’re excited to announce that author Michael Poeltl is donating the March sales of his books to Forests Ontario! The generosity of our donors makes Ontario’s forests greener. http://ow.ly/ExfR50yBV7I

Empathy for the World Turtle and the Role of the Indie Author

Sometimes being an indie author allows a writer more flexibility to be creative. Outspoken. Brutally honest, and downright straightforward.  Such was the case with An Angry Earth. There is an edge to it likely to be skirted by most publishers. But that’s not always a bad thing. You see, I believe in the mantra: ‘Write what you want to read’ and know there are parents looking for books like this one to put a little fire and brimstone under their children’s’ feet. Ignite passion. Instil fear. Make them cry; empathy for the environment is never wasted, especially on the young.

So, the indie author/marketer.

Compassion toward the world turtle should resonate with children. I think children are intrigued and amazed by animals. I believe they feel a kinship which is lost over time. I think using an animal to represent Earth is the foundation for the ancient story. It connects the people, making them recognize that the world is a living, breathing entity. The Sea Turtle is a majestic creature; intricately bound to the earth’s oceans and its temperaments. Now that humanity’s part in global climate change is fact; the idea our species could affect the very bond the Sea Turtle shares with the Earth and the negative impact which follows must be understood and acted upon.

Perhaps this picture book about ignorance and the apocalypse is too late in coming. We could have used it two generations ago. The Paris agreement, though a wonderful ideology, has been renounced by too many countries, its importance ignored, while coastal cities and Island nations now consider their bleak futures. Forest fires and flooding pervade the newsfeeds, drought and hurricanes devastate the landscape like never before. 

I’ve always appreciated the native American proverb: “When the last tree has been cut down, the last fish caught, the last river poisoned, only then will we realize we cannot eat money.”

Like the World Turtle, humanity is bound to the Earth and its moods. Like all creatures, we play an important role in the environmental health of our planet. The same planet which gives us life. Would you kill the turtle whose back you lived on to live more comfortably? Of course you wouldn’t… would you?

Be the change you want to see in the world.