Once upon a time, there was a very powerful, rich man who lived an extravagant life among his neighbors in a village. This man was both feared and respected by his neighbors, who wanted to emulate everything about the man and his lifestyle. For the most part, the rich man was considerate of his neighbors and even thought of  some of them as his friends. But the man’s appetites were rapacious and he would not be denied fulfilling his desires. These actions always left less for his neighbors, even his friends. The man did not care.

One day the man felt that something might be wrong. He was not in pain, nor did he have any major symptoms, but certain signs were causing him concern – his hair was thinning, he felt tingling in his finger tips and toes, and there were times that he felt uncontrollably hot. He decided to see his doctors.

Since the man was rich, his doctors gave him a complete diagnostic workup. The most learned men in their fields were brought in to consult and they spent days testing, reviewing, and assessing. Every one of the man’s systems was thoroughly evaluated by the finest minds in the world.

Finally, the man’s doctors gave him the news. They had seen his condition in other patients in the community, though none quite as systemic as his. While at the present time he was mostly healthy, his lifestyle had significantly impacted his long term prognosis. What’s more, even if he immediately switched to healthier alternatives, his long-term consumption habits would have some adverse impacts on his health. The good news was that he could still live a productive, overall healthy life if he would agree to a few modifications in his day-to-day living. Overall, he must cut down his consumption. He must consume less bad foods and substitute greener alternatives. He must respect and enjoy his natural environment. Most importantly, he must expand his sole (soul?) focus of making money to include interacting productively with his neighbors, not only for his benefit but also for theirs. Considering his standing in the community, he could take the lead for his neighbors in finding the path to long-term health.

The man left the clinic and thought deeply about these recommendations. He came to the conclusion that, while these changes were not without some personal risk, the consequences were too important to ignore. He decided to work with his neighbors to confront these challenges. He joined a group and, over time, this group laid out a plan towards a healthier village and healthier people. Each person in the group promised to follow a more restricted diet with lower consumption of dirty foods and increase their growing of greener, cleaner foods. Most importantly, everyone in the village agreed to work together to confront these problems for their mutual benefit and the momentum shifted. They even signed an agreement.

Then, very suddenly, something dark and foreboding happened to the powerful man’s brain. Instead of his decisions and actions being informed by his cerebrum, for some reason the man’s reptilian brain began to govern all of his decisions. Context and nuance, insight and consequences, these things no longer were factored into the man’s actions.  Consequential decisions were made based on ignorant instinct and uninformed opinion. Fear and anger seemed to dominate all of the man’s interactions. Me First and Me Only became the man’s mantra, with potentially disastrous consequences.

The first change jettisoned was the diet. Gone were the greener, healthier foods to consume, replaced by the dirtiest available. Also, the idea of reducing consumption was now considered laughable. Why should the man not eat as much as he always had? Who could stop him and his friends? Ravenous consumption would be the response. As far as working with his neighbors, forget that. Remember, the slogan is Me First and Me Only. Of course, the rich man told his neighbors that he was not going to participate in their group any longer and implied that they were all fools for being part of such collaboration. Who needs to collaborate when you’re a rich, powerful man? He then walked away from his agreement to work with others to save their village.

I don’t know the ending to this fable. The final chapter has yet to be written. I hope that, within a few years, the powerful man will regain his ability to reason and rejoin his community in reducing energy consumption and addressing climate change. Elections can do that. I do know, for a fact, that not only will we have lost 4 critical years in enhancing alternative sources of energy and adapting to the consequences of climate change, but the world has actually taken steps backward in the last 2 years by foisting more dirty coal residue into the atmosphere and slowing solar power innovation.

Over the last year, the United States (the powerful man) has certainly attempted to assume  a leadership role for the world on energy issues with “Our Leader” and his flying monkeys marching in exactly the wrong direction. Thankfully, no one seems to be following.