Richard Fireman

From Daily Planet Staff Reports

Local activist Richard Fireman fielded questions for about 45 minutes after his address on the possible cataclysmic impact on humanity of global warming on July 20 in the Visitor’s Center at the Botanical Gardens at Asheville.

Fireman, a recently retired physician, spoke on “Climate Change — A Challenge for Democracy: Who Owns the Air?” to about 25 attendees of a meeting of the Ethical Society of Asheville.

A man said, “You say ‘we.’ Who are you referring to — the New World Order or who? Is there some way we the people of the United States” can resolve global warming “while regaining the country’s sovereignty? The word ‘we’ is perplexing.”

“‘We’ always starts with ‘me,’” Fireman replied. “If I know the consequences of my lifestyle,” then changes must be made. He said the questioner raises the issues of how ones chooses to life his life and how that individual can “participate in the ‘we.’” In Fireman’s case, he said the “we” involves the levels of government with which he is involved.

“The government only gets its power because of the individual “I’s,” he added. Further, he said, “There shouldn’t be any New World Order.”

The man persisted, noting, “The only problem with that is, since Aristotle and Plato,” human society has become almost totally technology driven, “bombarded by corporate messages and corporate media.”
Smiling, Fireman said, “Well, that’s part of it.”

When another man noted he recently viewed an excellent television special on global warming, Fireman responded that “the science behind global warming is fascinating ... You don’t want to go past the tipping point.” Worrying trends he warned of include “the forests ... burning” and the hemlocks dying. As for the latter, as they die, “they’ll become carbon-emitters,” adding to the environmental problems.

Speaking generally of the gloomy scenario that he painted, “This is a problem for democracy. Where does the rubber meet the road on this?”

Yet another questioner asked Fireman about his response to a recent pledge by the Group of Eight, in which they set no numerical targets and said they would only abide by it if India and China complied, too. (The G8 — a group of the top industrialized democratic nations — includes the U.S., France, Germany, Italy, Great Britain, Japan, Canada and Russia.)

“What do we need to do, Richard?” the questioner asked. “You mentioned the Marshall Plan instead of war. This is an energy issue most people feel they can’t do anything about.”

After a pause, Fireman replied, “It starts with the individual. I drive a hybrid car. I built a green home ... My children ask why I don’t take a vacation to the Caribbean. Flying’s one of the worst things you can do to the environment.”

While not everyone can afford to build a green home, “there’s much one can do on an individual basis ... With the faith community, I’m trying to get them to install solar panels” on the church buildings.

In speaking for the mostly older ESA meeting attendees, a woman noted that John Steinbeck’s stories about workers were “required reading for us, which isn’t the case today — to read history in school.” In disagreeing with the assessment of an earlier questioner, she said, “You have to go back to Plato and Socrates” to deal with global-warming issues.

Another meeting attendee noted that “when you live in a society that purports to be a capitalistic society,” there are challenges in addressing issues like global warming. Moreover, he said, “If democracy was so good, we wouldn’t have needed a Bill of Rights.

“My question is how many ministers, priests and rabbis in Western North Carolina have really heard your message? And how many of those people actually have gotten on their pulpit to say, ‘Get with the program, people!’”

Before Fireman could reply, the man added, “What I get from a lot of people I’m around — and I’m around a lot of people — is they talk about the controversy regarding homosexual marriage” and other such issues. “So how’s it going, Doc?”

“Not well,” Fireman answered. “I’ve got four faith communities” talking about making changes, including First Baptist Church, First Congregational Church, First Presbyterian Church, all in Asheville, and the Episcopal Church in Brevard.

“We plant seeds — and you don’t know” if anything will sprout, Fireman said. Five years ago, when hybrid vehicles were launched, most people asked questions of those who drove them. “Today, if you want to buy a hybrid vehicle, you’re put on a waiting list.”

Fireman then took to task downtown Asheville businesses, noting that he always is disappointed as he drive on Interstate 240 and sees so few solar panels on the roofs of merchants’ buildings. “I don’t see any businesses downtown doing much,” he said.

However, five years from now, he predicts a driver on I-240 will see most downtown roofs covered with “some sort of solar panels.”

A woman, citing the example of lights burning in the parking lots of Ingles supermarkets, asked, “How do we reach corporate America?”

“Well,” Fireman replied, “this is a very difficult dilemma for our society.”

He then lambasted the news media, noting that it “is failing us.” Fireman said, “I aggregate information” on environmental issues “because the (Asheville) Citizen-Times doesn’t do it. I asked them to do it, but they won’t.”

Regarding global warming, a man asserted, “I don’t see this as a threat to democracy.”

Fireman noted that “I said it’s the biggest ‘challenge,’” not threat.

The man agreed with Fireman’s correction of his assertion, but said, “If anything, the democratic countries are the farthest ahead” in dealing with global warming.

In response, Fireman said, “Right now, we as a culture think our greatest challenge is terrorism ... Our greatest challenge is to figure out how to live with capitalism and climate change ... We’re talking about a geological epoch change ... Right now, corporations are calling the shots” in the U.S.

Another questioner asked Fireman for his view of the presidential candidates and local races.

“(Barrack) Obama’s environmental platford is much more consistent with where I want to be” on the environment, Fireman replied.

“I would certainly think Congressman (Heath) Shuler (D-Waynesville) would be better on the environment” than his opponent Carl Mumpower.

Regarding Mumpower, a conservative Republican who serves on Asheville City Council, Fireman said succinctly, “Mumpower is a nay-sayer.”

A man who described himself as a chemical engineer said he agrees with Fireman’s view that if the demand for electricity declines, then utilities will not have to build new plants. He then asked Fireman to tell of his own experience in dealing with energy companies and other corporations.

“I think we need to rewrite the rules and regulations under which corporations operate,” Fireman said. “They operate for profit, period ... They need to have responsibility for the greater good ... They’re not going to do anything they don’t have to.”

In reference to global-warming issues, a woman lamented, “I find the newspaper reporting on this is unbelievable,” except for that of The Wall Street Journal.

“It’s a selfish consumer culture,” Fireman said, agreeing.

In concluding the Q&A session, another woman disagreed with the previous speaker’s contention by asserting, “It seems to me it’s not entirely related to the press ... Everybody knows about this, but still people are using tremendous amounts of water unnecessarily.”