I’ve lived in Kansas 23 years of my life.

In that time, I stopped seeing things for what they were. Don’t get me wrong: there are things about my state that I love.

The sunflowers are unbeatable and we’re home to the best BBQ on the planet, among other things, such as our small-town charm and Shocker spirit.

But having just returned from a 16-day vacation in California, I noticed a terrible disparity between us and what seems to be the rest of the country.

We lack renewable energy and green methods.  

I recycled the whole time I was in California. It was impossible not to. Coming back home, there are virtually no options to recycle. And if there are, it comes with a fight and a dollar sign.

We have a few windmills here and there in the state, which is good, but we need to invest in more. We certainly need Koch Industries to back off its bribery and corruption on getting solar panels distributed to utility companies — as found last week in a Kansas case — so families can start using the best fusion reactor known to man — the sun — to power their lives. It is absolutely imperative that, in a state where there is plenty of sunshine to go around, to use it for our energy consumption.

If there’s another thing I’ve noticed, it’s that people drive behemoth, obnoxious trucks. As annoying as they are, even I can admit that they’re practical for moving and hauling things, as well as for camping trips, which Kansans love to partake in.

However, it is no secret that these are dangerous gas-guzzling vehicles that contribute to carbon dioxide emissions that then equate to a warming atmosphere, and from there, it’s a domino effect. With companies such as Tesla Motors coming out with luxurious, sensible electric cars, there is absolutely no excuse why they can’t be economical and reliable in a state like ours.

The evidence is out there. Humanity is dangerously close to overreaching the 2-degree mark to send us over the edge and cause a global catastrophe the likes of which we’ve never seen.

What are we doing to ourselves? It’s a slow, self-imposing suicide when we continue to support fossil fuels.

Why are we so stubborn to alternatives? So resistant against change? We have a responsibility to ourselves, our children and our children’s children, and to the good Lord himself for giving us this Earth, to take loving care of it.

It’s our only home.