Global warming is real, and the human responsibility is vast.
I listened to information about it in high school and my early college years.
I became more convinced that our actions needed to change in order to save our planet.
I knew that to debate with the nay-sayers, I would first have to educate myself on the topic in an in depth manner.
I took Ecology 1000 with Dr. Porter, a world renowned researcher and scientist.
His superb lecturing skills aside, the sheer amount of material I learned in his class convinced me that to make climate change and changing our actions a partisan, petty debate is to endanger our very lives.
We just need to get past our short-term mind-set and ultimate greed.
According to Dr. Porter, there is no debate within the scientific community that global warming is occurring.
It is because of human activities.
I have heard and read this statement from various sources, including the National Academy of Sciences.
I am inclined to trust the experts and professionals in a field to know what the facts are and to present them to the general population.
A non-fact based opinion of scientific research is not legitimate.
This seems to be in vogue with many talking heads. “Belief” in global warming is irrelevant in light of the fact that it is happening.
Our focus, then, should be on how to proceed to save ourselves.
This is a goal I thought would be fairly universal and have widespread support.
Remarkably, though, people still cling to knee-jerk reactions and rhetoric to inform their views rather than intellect and research, presumably because the latter options require a bit more work and facing harsh realities.
In the future, with no weather and climate stability or, morbidly, no planet, money will not matter one bit.
I understand that businesses are concerned about making the quickest profit.
But our planet’s survival and our material well-being are not mutually exclusive.
Believe it or not, guys, we can work together.
Like it or not, we have to.
A strong economy and ethics do not need to be at odds with one another.
Plenty of car companies have made the switch to hybrid vehicles and are profiting. Some European countries successfully provide electricity with wind turbines.
A working electric car was selling in California before the oil lobbies killed plans for their expansion.
“Green jobs” could be created by making factories more friendly to our Earth. Some small steps on the part of each household in the United States could have a major impact on reducing carbon emissions.
Government oversight and business accountability is necessary when our planet is at stake.
In the past, plenty of seemingly unchangeable business practices were eradicated in favor of more ethical behavior.
The practice of using humans as slaves for the landowner’s profit was abolished. Child labor laws were enacted.
The businesses affected by these changes discovered different methods for profiting and moved onwards. The world did not end.
Slavery and child labor were harsher and more entrenched in society than using environmentally unsafe methods are now.
It is not inevitable that the status quo remain unchanged if it no longer benefits the common good.
I urge you to educate yourselves on the facts.
Keep our species’ long-term benefit in mind when you do.

— Layal Kaba is a senior from Snellville  majoring in International Affairs