this is where the rubber meets the road

It is the end of the year. The United States has seen many changes, one of which being the political philosophy. Another being that more and more people understand and want to combat climate change. We have told the rest of the world that we are committed to change by the election of Barack Obama and his subsequent appointments of environmentally friendly staff.

However, this is also the time when the rubber has hit the road and the rest of the world wants to see how we are really going to act. It was easy for this country to go green as fuel prices rose, but what happens when the economy is suffering and oil prices have gone down?

The Guardian UK posted an interesting article that is a sort of “year in review” about climate change. One thing that stood out about this year is increase in malnutrition due to food shortages.

The problem, said the analysts, was a mix of climate change and extreme weather leading to poor harvests in major grain-growing countries such as Australia. But the blame was also laid on the many millions of acres of maize, wheat and other crops planted in the US and elsewhere in 2007 to provide biofuels for cars rather than food for people. Catastrophe loomed, said the UN.

Climate change is disproportionately hard on the poor: water shortages, weather extremes, lack of food make it hard for the lower classes to adapt to their conditions. And the article illustrates how poorer nations have reacted to the food crisis and the affect on poorer communities.

So here we are. The brink of major change is upon us to save the world. This author has fears:

Whether the world weans itself off oil and fossil fuels will probably determine global sustainability over the next 20 years. Low oil prices traditionally push energy efficiency off the policy agenda. Economic recessions have punctured green economic bubbles in the past. When times are tight, the wisdom goes, no one invests in new or risky technologies, and countries stick to cheap and dirty energy.

The article is a good read and you can find it HERE.