Bringing Up the Rear

by Matt DeNoto

Fair warning, this is a bit of a rant.  Apologies.

One of the major arguments politicians have been making regarding the recently passed (by the House) American Clean Energy and Security Act is that the steps that it takes to try and cut America’s CO2 output are practically useless, because countries like China and India also produce a lot of CO2.

These politicians have been saying this quite a bit lately.  So much so that I feel the need to point out something that seems to me to be pretty obvious.

We can’t make laws for China and India.  They have their own governments.  If you would like to make laws for China and/or India, you probably have to move there first.

The argument also seems to imply that if we can’t make laws for China and India’s CO2 output, we just shouldn’t make any CO2 laws at all.  Which means we’ll just be sitting on the sidelines while the rest of the world innovates and reinvests and cleans up.  South Korea just dedicated 2% of its GDP over the next 5 years develop environmentally-friendly industries.  There’s a small town called Guessing, Austria that already produces more electricity than it consumes using natural biofuels.  The rest of the country also hopes to be energy self-sufficient by the end of 2010.

What will America look like then, if we still haven’t addressed our own environmental concerns?

We will look obsolete.  Antiquated.  Desperately clinging on to outdated, dirty methods, blindly insisting that we are keeping prices low for taxpayers, and profits high for companies.

And what happens when China and India’s lawmakers DO decide to pass regulations in those countries?  Will those who complained so loudly here be proud that America held out the longest?  That America dug in its heels and refused to do what reason and responsibility required?  That America, known and respected for so long for its progress and leadership, continued to wallow in its own crapulence even after it knew better?

It’s fascinating how much of the anti-environmental movement seems to be driven out of nothing but spite.  There’s a Volkswagen commercial being played now that mocks the sound hybrids make.  As if to suggest that what’s really important is having a car that makes the right engine noises.  Loud ones.  Ones that you can only get from combusting gasoline.

It’s a distraction, and in the coming years when people see the real benefits of living more while taking less, those spiteful whimperings will grow fainter and fainter.

Now let’s hope the Senate doesn’t give in.

change of heart…?

I’m guessing before he leaves, George Bush will do more harm than good, regarding his environmental policy. But he will do some good.

ONE of the George W. Bush’s final acts as US president could be to create the largest marine conservation area in the world. White House officials say that Bush is considering a proposal to turn up to 2.3 million square kilometres of tropical waters, coral reefs and remote island atolls in the Pacific Ocean into US National Monuments (see map).

“As bad as his environmental record has been, he could, as one individual, protect more of the Earth’s surface than anyone else in history,” says Lance Morgan of the US Marine Conservation Biology Institute.

The article goes on to say that Presidents have the authority to designated any part of U.S. land as protected.

For every sand spit and coral reef jutting above the water line, the US retains exclusive rights to the surrounding waters for 370 kilometres in all directions. It is in these areas that Morgan has been working with the White House on a deal to secure permanent “no-take zones” for fishing and mineral extraction. This also includes the Mariana trench, the planet’s deepest ocean canyon.

It will be interesting to see how this transpires. However, maybe we will still lose. Between the changes in the Clean Air Act all the way to the leniencies in water contamination to mining to lead poisoning, will protecting this area be helpful? Or will it be an overall net negative policy?

The article can be found HERE, via NewScientist.