Sunday, April 14, 2013

Neglecting important numbers


Not Getting It     by JoAnne Growney

We

want to
be cool.

We want cool
rooms, drinks. With
cool mindsets 

we “forget” that 
we said, we’ll cut
emissions of
greenhouse gases 

17 percent
by 2020.
Instead, power plants
burn fossil fuels
that spew pollutants;

refrigerants enlarge
the ozone layer’s hole.
Earth warms while we think small,
expect our climate to
cool itself.  Selfish, we
steal breaths from our children.

Factual details that provoked this poem of stacked syllable-squares are from an article by Juliet Eilperin, “US could fall short of 2020 climate goals “ on page A8 of the February 7, 2013 issue of The Washington Post.  The 17% cut of pollutants is measured against 2005 levels.

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