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.