I think that there is less outright denial that climate change is occurring globally than there is here in the United States, but it is still true that no one wants to suffer any economic costs to deal with the problem. While economically “developed” countries are the most responsible for creating the problem, “developing countries” are most responsible for current rises in carbon emissions. They don’t want to shoulder all the blame.
So, now, the way the problem is described by scientists has become politicized, with developed countries eager to shift blame for their role onto developing countries, and developing countries eager to avoid taking responsibility for exacerbating climate change.
Domestically, the argument becomes that we are no longer the culprits and our efforts to limit carbon emissions won’t accomplish anything because “developing economies” are responsible for all the growth in carbon emissions, Meanwhile, the “developing economies” argue that they didn’t put all the carbon in the air in the first place and, therefore, shouldn’t have to shoulder all the burden of reducing emissions now.
Both sides have solid cases to make, but it’s really just a giant excuse to avoid making the changes that need to be made.
What’s fascinating about the bickering is that no one aknowledges that IT’S TOO LATE TO FIX IT.
It’s Laurel and Hardy bickering about whose shoe will be used out to bail out a sinking rowboat with a hole 6′ wide in it.
The argument ignores the fact of how much developed countries drive the policies of developing countries through instrumentalities like the IMF. The BRICS countries (Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa) can to a great extent be considered developed.
It is not the cost of change that is the problem for the developed countries, it is the embedded interests of fossil fuel corporations that dominate developed country politics. And the fact that developed countries won’t be the worst hit early on. Except by a flood of environmental refugees. And Australia is already pioneering developed country policy on that; quarantine environmental refugees from Pacific Islands on a low lying island hundreds of miles from the Australian mainland. And grant visas in a discriminating manner.
The first Earth Day was 54 years ago. Global climate change first stuck out in the scientific literature 40 years ago. James Burke’s two-show series on global climate change was 35 years ago.
This is the real long-lasting disaster of Reagan-Thatcher conservatism and the (s)election of two oil barons as President/Vice President.
The folks who will be really hurting are those who have not contributed much to the problem at all–the people of Bangladesh, Pacific Islands like Fiji and Vanuatu and Micronesia.
The folks who will be really hurting are those who have not contributed much to the problem at all.
The story of human history.
Maybe the only thing oligarchs and aristocrats are really competent at is making everyone else pay for their crimes and negligence. Hell, it’s their Divine Right.
If indeed the mega El Nino develops ’14/’15 the point will be brought front and center to the western hemisphere. They were calling it a 50/50 chance earlier this year but not the graphs are showing severe warming in the Pacific so maybe it’ll bring rains to Cali but it will also shove us into more severe record breaking heat.
Hard to have a campaign tour in the middle of a heat wave and not look out the window.
We have known about global warming for over 40 years and the NASA scientists had categorically determined and proved the cause (humans burning ever more fossil fuel) by the mid 90s. 20+ years is a long time in world economic history.
We knew about the fossil fuel problem yet still deregulated capital and allowed the plutocrats to use their capital wherever they wanted to produce cheap goods using ever expanding fossil fuel inputs/imports. China and India were greatly accelerated in their manufacturing capacity by Western capital and orders.
I thought that in all our fine MBA/Bizness schools and with our love of soldiery we learned that “Leaders Lead!” They don’t point fingers and shift blame and evade responsibility. Yet at every stage the developed economies and their plutocrats and craven elected officials only made the problem more and more intractable from every angle. Congratulations, everyone loses.
When the leader is doing what you want him or her to do, they are leading.
When the leader isn’t doing what you want him or her to do, they are failing to lead.
Using this rubric, I’d say that none of our Presidents in the past 40 years ever led in any real way on climate change. Perhaps Gore would have been that President, and we missed it because of the Supreme Court coup.
Law of the Commons writ large.
It’s been going on since Man left the savanna.
The US opposition to the Kyoto Protocol over a decade ago centered around precisely this, that the US would face restrictions but China, India, etc. wouldn’t.
Serious Question:
Does anyone really think that humanity is going to be able to mitigate the damage of climate change in any meaningful way? Because I don’t.
I think the best we can do as a species at this point is have the infrastructure in place to make the best of where we’re going to be, for those who survive the initial catastrophes and wars.
We should be working on renewable energy for the future, rather than as a way to stop change, because at this point, it’s going to be decades before we have any meaningful infrastructure ready to go.
It’s sad, but not all that surprising. Or, maybe a massive volcano eruption “saves” us.