So the COP21 in Paris still continues, despite the distractions of domestic terror back home.  China pledged to reduce emissions by 60% by 2020.  That is in less than five years!  I have yet to see a pledge from the U.S.A., but I don’t really expect to.  We typically fail in these areas, and the GOP House and Senate has made it clear via they are not afraid to not pass any agreement we come to.

The only way real change can be made is if all countries come to one, single conclusion.  Zero emissions by 2050.  No exceptions.  Carbon free in thirty-five years.

The International Energy Agency recently estimate that the world will need to invest $359 trillion by 2050 to avoid catastrophic consequences from carbon and a changing climate.  That might sound like a lot, but we will all SPEND $318 trillion on carbon based fuels if we do nothing over the same time.  That is only $1 trillion a year difference, folks.  We can and we should do that.  Now, no questions asked.  Jobs?  Yeah, some will be lost, but others gained.  So get over the old and embrace and research the new.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/stop-climate-change-cost_56532267e4b0879a5b0b8a1b

Back to the subject of weapons for one last stab at the issue.  I won’t push a “complete” gun ban. It has worked over the years in Australia. It works in Japan, it works in many other countries that are free, democratic and happy. But hey, I actually want to own a 1911 some day so I’ll let it slide. But there are a few things I want to see:

1. Full restoration of the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994.
2. Immediate closure of the loophole that allows people on the Terror Watch List to legally purchase firearms.
3. Closure of any other loopholes, AKA the Gun Show Loophole, that allow private party sales without a background check.

We have a duty to uphold the Constitution.  We also have a duty to change with the times.  Ignoring the blatant misinterpretation of the term “militia”, the Constitution was written when firearms were single shot muskets.  The weapons of mass destruction we carry on us these days were not part of the equation.  We no longer allow slavery.  We no longer limit the right to vote to white land owning men.  We no longer allow Congress to grant themselves immediate pay raises.  Why do we continue to ignore our right and duty to amend this portion of the most important, but not carved in stone, document?