The Pale Blue Rubik's Cube

The Pale Blue Rubik's Cube

Our Generation's Greatest Task

The Rubik's Cube sets a great example for a certain type of problem: one that is simple in theory, but becomes increasingly more complicated and frustrating the more time and effort that you put into solving it. Now, let us think about climate change. The issue? We are heating up the earth. The solution? Stop doing that (and fix the damage). It sounds easy, but obviously it has a lot more layers to it.

Focusing specifically on reducing the consumption of fossil fuels, there are even more sub-problems. We have to consider the issues of pollution and the consequences of introducing renewable energy utilities to already balanced ecosystems. We have to look at the economic impacts of potential solutions. We have to consider the public push-back since change is intimidating to practically everyone on some scale. Not only do all of the sides of a major problem have to be addressed as if in a Rubik’s cube, but so do the individual squares, or in this case the problems and complexities that make up each side.

Today on our trip through the solar and wind farms, we saw attempts at solutions to those sub-problems on several levels. The solar farm is encouraging the expansion of solar energy by advertising the installation of solar panels on homes, apartments, office buildings, and practically wherever there is space. Both farms succeed in reducing a need for coal and gasoline. People have even become comfortable living very close to the wind farms, treating them as a sort of attraction, taking photos with them and understanding their benefits. Not all of the pieces of the puzzle are equally easy to place, however.

With a Rubik’s cube, one of the hardest concepts to become comfortable with is the idea that you have to make things worse before they can get any better. This is especially true, sadly, when dealing with improving the environment. For instance, in order for the solar farm to be built up enough to where it was effective, many trees had to be cut down. That was a trade-off that the people were willing to take, but it is also not to say that such negative consequences cannot be balanced out. Take this situation, where they offset every tree that was cut down with a new apple tree within the solar farm. Looking at the economic issues of the wind farm, many might be upset to find out how much money is being spent up front on their turbines. It takes approximately ten years for a wind turbine to pay itself off, leaving owners in the red until they become profitable and only then can they reap the benefits as the farm continues to generate consistent energy for ten more years. Before any change can happen, a ridiculous amount of trust, foresight, and calculation must be taken into consideration like it was in the situations given.

Following algorithms to work toward a perfect Rubik’s cube and simplify such considerations, one must break the cube up into smaller parts and solve them one by one. This is helpful, but it is also fairly easy to lose sight of the big picture. This became crystal clear on the trip between the wind and solar power stations. We, as a group, stopped at a market to look around and grab some food, only to be reminded of yet another environmental problem plaguing Beijing.

What we were reminded was that energy is not the only issue that needs attention. It helps to focus on and specialize in one thing, but it is key that we as one globe do not lose sight of the many factors that must be addressed in order to save and preserve ourselves and the planet that we hold closest in our hearts. Climate change and the protection of the earth is a multi-faceted problem. We cannot solve one aspect and call it a day. We have to combine ideas, efforts, and solutions if we want to actually make a difference. This is the only way that we can, once and for all, fix our mixed up Rubik’s cube.