Next to a time machine, a time capsule is our best way to
communicate directly with our future generations, if any.
We want to contact our children�s children, if any, at a time when they
are alive, and let them know THE TRUTH about what is happening today, which
will have led to their predictably dire predicament. We want to let them
know how we who truly love them are fighting on their behalf and struggling
to leave them a beautiful, compassionate and healthy planet, and how the
politicians of many governments, the CEOs of many corporations, and the
unconscionable investors of many walks of life, are knowingly and
intentionally sacrificing their own children�s future to their present
personal sociopathic greed.
That our future generations� predicament will be dire is without
question, be it fifty years from now or five hundred years from now. The
question is: How dire?
Originally, we were considering Time Capsule 2100, but we decided to move
the date forward by 40 years, since by century�s end there may not be too
many humans left to open it, and those very few who might open it may not be
literate enough to understand what they will find within.
Why possibly illiterate? There is a saying: �WW3 will be fought with
chemical, biological and nuclear weapons, and WW4 will be fought with sticks
and stones.� In the climate change context, we are talking about something
potentially even more devastating than all the weapons added together, and
more inevitable. It is called Methane Clathrate or Methane Hydrate � the
most dangerous substance on Earth today � which is currently stored in solid
form by the hundreds of billions of tons in and under the Arctic and
sub-Arctic permafrost (est. 400 gigatons, where 1 gigaton = 1 billion tons)
as well as on continental shelves all over the world (est. over 10,000
gigatons), whereas today�s carbon content in the atmosphere is about 700
gigatons. When melted, the clathrate will release free methane gas into the
atmosphere, which as a greenhouse gas is 20-75 times more potent than carbon
dioxide. And the permafrost is melting, and the ocean is warming, and
methane is being released as we speak (see
www.HOPE-CARE.org, Global
Warming section, Arctic subsection). Methane release raises the global
temperature even higher, which releases even more methane, which raises the
temperature even higher, which releases even more methane... Such a positive
feedback loop could easily spiral into unstoppable runaway global heating,
which could raise the global temperature by well over a dozen degrees
Celsius or 20 degrees Fahrenheit, while a raise of 6oC/10oF could doom over
80% of all species on Earth to extinction, including our own. Regardless of
whether it is a nuclear holocaust or runaway-global-heating, the result will
be the same � sticks and stones, in a background of droughts, famine, insect
infestation, disease, and ever increasing heat.
Therefore, instead of Time Capsule 2100, we have made it Time Capsule
2060. A child born today will be 52 in 2060. Such a person will be able to
read our messages conveyed in the time capsule.
There will be more than one time capsule. For 2008, HOPE plans one time
capsule per Canadian province and U.S. state. Starting July 1, HOPE founder
Anthony Marr (www.HOPE-CARE.org,
www.myspace.com/AnthonyMarr) will take the campaign on the road for 4
months, covering 6 provinces and 22 states.
The first time-capsule will be for Alberta, Canada. Alberta is the
perfect place to start for the tour. It is the site of the most hideous
Mother-Earth-raping operation in the world � the infamous and incredibly
polluting Alberta Tar Sands (see
www.HOPE-CARE.org , Global Warming section, Fossil Fuels subsection). If
the tar sands were developed as planned, i.e. at an increasing rate from now
until at least 2050, and the resulting fuel burned, plus the billions of
cubic feet of natural gas burned in the extraction process every day, it
could add another several hundred gigatons of carbon into the atmosphere
within decades, which will certainly warm the Earth steeply, and could
easily trigger massive methane release resulting in runaway global heating.
The tar sands must be closed down within three years. It is nonnegotiable;
it is a matter of survival. The gigabucks currently being poured into the
tar sands should be directed towards R&D for clean and renewable energies �
solar, wind, geothermal, wave and tidal. Alberta Premier Ed Stelmach, on the
other hand, not only advocates but actively promotes and oversees mining the
tar sands at maximum speed, aiming for a tripling by 2012, all for the
�quality of life of Albertans�. That would be the final nail in the global
warming coffin, and Stelmach knows it. This would doom millions of children
as well as species in the future, and he knows it too. His charging ahead
with the tar sands is an act of mass murder of the human progeny as well as
Earth�s biodiversity. His is the crime of �progenocide�, as HOPE officer
Taina Ketola puts it, as well as �biocide�. On this score alone, he more
than deserves the title of the Criminal of the Century. Our future
generations, if any, have the right to know about Ed Stelmach.
This time capsule will contain, among other items, a brass plague
engraved with exactly that: �Ed Stelmach � Criminal-of-the-Century against
Nature and Humanity�. His non-entity of an �environment� minister will also
receive a dishonorable mention, as will the Big Oil CEOs directly involved
in the Tar Sands. Other items will include selected materials from HOPE as
well as other organizations, as well as a collection of quotations from
various key activists of the movement, especially from the activists of
Alberta. They will tell the story of the tar sands, and they shall be
honored as the front-line fighters.
In early July, HOPE will hold a media conference in Edmonton, Alberta.
The time capsule and its contents will be displayed on a long table for TV
documentation. The brass plaque will be given special attention. The media
conference will conclude with the sealing of the time capsule � with a blow
torch.
On camera we will offer Premier Stelmach a chance to redeem himself. If
he shuts down the tar sands within 3 years, we will exhume the time capsule
and destroy the plaque. If not, we will throw away the key. How his name
will go down in history will be entirely up to him.
The time capsules of different provinces and states will be similar to
the Alberta time capsule in general, but different in specifics in terms of
the politicians and CEOs to be dishonored, or honored as the case may be, as
well as different materials submitted by the groups and activists of that
province or state. HOPE will defer to the local groups and activists to name
their own heroes and villains, and have their names engraved on that state�s
or province�s own brass plaque.
The time capsules will be buried together at a secret location, or
separately at a number of secret locations. The GPS coordinate(s) will be
known to no more than three unidentified persons at any given time. The
capsules will be unearthed and opened to the world on New Year�s Eve, 2059
AD.
The invitation
- Any activist or group of any state or province is welcome to submit
material for consideration for inclusion in the time capsule, as long as
the material has an ecological and/or animal rights theme, which means,
for example, that anti-hunting and anti-factory-farming material can be
included.
- A time capsule has to be strong, airtight, waterproof, insulated and
undegradable. The ideal container is a family-sized plastic cooler
(note: COOLer). So, please keep the size in mind.
Since the people who will be opening the capsule may have lost high tech
capability, the capsule should include both high tech (e.g.
DVD-w-player-w-solar-panel) and low tech (printed material and
engravings). For printed material, please make sure that the paper used
is PH-neutral for longevity.
- There will be a collection of quotations from activists, on DVD and
on paper, so statements and letters are invited for inclusion. Letters
should address our children�s children directly and should be succinct.
- Electronic copies of the quotations will be submitted to media at
the time of the media conferences. They will also be kept in HOPE�s
central computer archive for present publication and for subsequent
additions.
Any activist or AR/GW group interested in submitting items and/or
quotations for inclusion in a time capsule please contact:
Anthony Marr, founder and president
Heal Our Planet Earth (HOPE)
Global Emergency Operation (GEO)
www.HOPE-CARE.org
[email protected] ,
[email protected],
[email protected]
1-604-222-1169 (till July 1)
or
Taina Ketola, project coordinator
Heal Our Planet Earth (HOPE)
Global Emergency Operation (GEO)
www.HOPE-CARE.org
[email protected]
1-416-855-9517
Anthony Marr, founder
Heal Our Planet Earth (HOPE)
www.HOPE-CARE.org
www.MySpace.com/AnthonyMarr
www.ARConference.org
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