I've tried all of the typical approaches to fight global warming: the light bulbs, the bus, the calls to my lawmakers. But the news continues to worsen, and I get the feeling that we are in it for the long haul.  As the economy tanks and the polar caps melt, I think it's time to get creative. It's time for mustaches against global warming.

There's just something about the mustache.

I don't know what it is: the allure, the mystery?  Not many can pull it off, and yet, there it is: a bristly beacon of something, a symbol in search of meaning, dare I say it, a scratchy totem awaiting its destiny.

The time has come for bold action. It's not enough to calculate our carbon footprints and green our workplaces. It's not enough to buy a Prius or carbon offsets. We need a visual that says we are on board: we not only live our values, but we're willing to look like idiots doing it.

A recent Saturday Night Live sketch celebrated the mustache through swimming celebrity Mark Spitz. Mr. Spitz, make way for some competition. The polar bears are about to give you a run for your money. They don't have the luxury of swimming for sport. They're just trying to get from one shrinking block of ice to the next.

Now more than ever we need mustaches.

Every time we lick our lips we need that prickly reminder that our appetites are causing the planet to decline.

Every time we catch a funny look from a passerby we need a reminder that we are choosing a life outside the norm.

Every time we are tempted to think that our ironic facial hair makes us just a little bit hotter, we need to remember that the world is heating up too. 

We're here, we're mustachioed and others better get used to it.

Until we decide some other symbolic action is up to the task of fighting global warming, I'll be taking my humble mustache to Olympia, WA this Thursday to remind our state legislators to take some freakin action on climate change!

'Stache out.