The latest quote on Copenhagen comes from the U.K. Prime Minister Gordon Brown who said today, “There are now fewer than 50 days to set the course of the next few decades. We cannot afford to fail. If we fail now, we will pay a heavy price ... If we falter, the Earth will itself be at risk.”
Britain seems to understand the fact that the upcoming December climate conference in Copenhagen is a big deal. Having an agreement to control CO2 and build a sustainable global economy in the 21st century is urgently needed. And this is understood not just by Britons but by Europeans in general. A quote earlier this year by the EU Minister for the Environment Stavros Dimas supports this: “Copenhagen (is) the world’s last chance to stop climate change before it passes the point of no return.”
Yet we in the U.S. don't seem to get it. And it’s not just our ineffectual Congress which fails to sense the urgency. Here is a quote from Steven Chu, the current U.S. Secretary of Energy: “Let's not make (Copenhagen) the be-all, end-all and say if it doesn't happen that we're doomed. We can come back in two to four years' time.”
We are seeing very different levels of resolve emanating from the European and American governments. If it is unclear that the time to act is now, two things are clear: 1.) the latest scientific observations tell us that climate change is happening faster than earlier predicted, and 2.) the longer the U.S. waits to begin building a clean-energy economy, the further behind we will find ourselves.
One final quote: “The nation that leads the world in creating new energy sources will be the nation that leads the 21st century global economy. America can be that nation. America must be that nation.”
This quote comes from President Barack Obama who spoke these words before a joint session of Congress last winter. Americans must ask ourselves, what makes it more likely that we will be that nation, a Copenhagen conference that succeeds in getting a global agreement on greenhouse gas reductions, or one that fails? The answer may bring to the American political psyche the sense of urgency that has been sorely lacking.
No comments:
Post a Comment