There is a clear consensus in the scientific community that global climate change or global warming is caused primarily by human activity. This conclusion has been endorsed by no less than 30 scientific societies and academies of science. This includes every single national academy of science of all the major industrialized countries. With such a strong consensus, why do we find the president Bush giving environmental double-talk and thwarting any reasonable environmental legislation?

Real Cause for Concern

Is global warming a real danger? Yes – a catastrophic one. According to Don Fitz of Zmag Ecology states “in order to avoid catastrophic effects … greenhouse gas emissions (mostly CO2) must be cut by 60-80% by 2050 (though the figure may need to be a 95% cut in the US).” What are these so called catastrophic effects? According to Wikipedia, “the predicted effects of global warming on the environment and for human life are numerous and varied.” It continues with specifics such as “raising sea levels, glacier retreat, Arctic shrinkage, and altered patterns of agriculture are cited as direct consequences, but predictions for secondary and regional effects include extreme weather events, an expansion of tropical diseases, changes in the timing of seasonal patterns in ecosystems, and drastic economic impact.”

We have a serious emissions problem in the United States. According to National Geographics, “The U.S. is responsible for more green house gas pollution than South America, Africa, the Middle East, Japan and Asia – all put together.” Unless our government acts quickly and decisively, we may soon find ourselves at the start on a very slippery slope.

Bush’s Solution?

Even thought president Bush is aware of global warming and the role humans are playing. “In July 2005, he offered his first explicit acknowledgment that humans were contributing to the problem of global warming” states Sheryl Gay Stolberg of the New York Times. He has long ignored his responsibility to act.

Last Wednesday President Bush offered his plan “to halt the growth of U.S. emissions by 2025, toughening a previous goal of braking the growth of emissions by 2012.”

Is This Proposal A Step Backward?

According to Eileen Claussen, President of the Pew Center on Global Climate Change, “The proposal announced by President Bush … is a step backwards for U.S. climate policy. In 2002 the administration laid out a plan that allowed U.S. emissions to grow until 2012 – the current proposal will allow our emissions to grow until 2025.” She continues with the strong statement “the only good news is that this is irrelevant – both in the U.S. and globally.”

Senator John Kerry, D-Massachussettes states, “If this is President Bush’s idea of 20/20 vision he needs to get his eyes checked.” According to environmentalists and Senate Democrats alike this latest plan from Bush would allow for the continued growth of greenhouse gases like CO2 for nearly two decades. Senator Barbara Boxer, D-California, chairwoman of the Senate Energy and Environment Committee, considers this new plan “worse than doing nothing” and that it would “have America stand by while greenhouse gases reach dangerous levels.”

While the Senate hopes to pass a climate bill in June which calls for 19% reduction in greenhouse gases by 2025, Bush considers such a requirement “unrealistic.” If that is not disconcerting enough, a recent Associated Press article by H. Josef Herbert states Bush considers the Clean Air Act and Endangered Species Act a “train wreak.”

A Real Solution

Global climate change is a serious issue, and we need to leverage real experts. Experts like Lester Brown, director of the Earth Policy Institute. In Brown’s new book, Plan B 3.0, a pass., he offers an agressive and ambitious plan to reestablish the balance of our planet. TIME Magazine says it is a plan ” that is less concerned with political feasibility than the survivability of the planet.” In this plan Brown calls for reducing “global carbon dioxide emissions 80% by 2020.” According to Brown, “This is not Plan A, business as usual. This is Plan B – a wartime mobilization, an all-out response proportionate to the threat that global warming presents to our future.”

You can chose to ignore the current environmental situation, you can chose to deny it, but that won’t change anything. In order to deal with the current situation we need real action, and we need it today. Don’t let Bush lead our nation down the wrong path, contact your Congressperson today and let them know you won’t fall for Mr. Bush’s attempts at greenwashing.

Author: Sam Greyhawk
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
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