The Environment December 19, 2005
Posted by miphares in Uncategorized.add a comment
In 2006, most of the world will live in an urbanized area. Somewhere in this upcoming year the steady increase of people inhabiting cities will finally tip the scales and the majority of the world population will live in the city instead of the countryside. There are plenty of criticisms to make, but the one I will focus on is the environmental one. One of the oldest arguments of the environmentalists is one of pathos. During legal battles, they, the environmentalists would bring out photos of the areas in question and say, “Hey isn’t this beautiful? Can you imagine how much more magnificent this would be like in person? But, judge many people will never get to see this sight, and every generation after us will never be able to see it either. Shouldn’t we save it for them?” It was and is to be a continuous uphill battle for all the environmentalists. Saving the fields of Alaska once didn’t save it forever, in a few years another person seeking to drill would contest it and sooner or later, the environment would lose. So now that most of the population will be living in an urban jungle, shouldn’t we strive further to protect the natural wonders of the earth so that when we finally emerge from our manmade homes seeking refuge from the rest of mankind, that we should still be able to forget the brick, metal and concrete that we see each day by nestling in the habitats that mother nature so blessedly gave us? Will I be able to see Mount Kilimanjaro before the permanent ice caps become seasonal? For that I only have until 2015. Also, Glacier National Park may not have a glacier by 2030. Natural wonders are slowly going belly up and the chances that I’ll be financially set in enough time to see them is slim. Will my progeny be able to see the natural wonders I still hope to see? The odds are set against them with scientists believing that climate change will alter a third of the world’s forests with projections of mass extinctions by the end of the century.
Another problem is that as the country that I dearly love is too caught up with its own sense of justice to even start to begin doing what is right. We’re the number one producer of CO2 but because China (#2) is exempt from parts of the Kyoto protocol we won’t ratify it? The rest of the g8 ratified it. And yes I understand the criticisms of the Kyoto protocol, but should that really have stopped us from signing it? Making sure that this world stays intact is the right thing to do, we do live on it. We don’t have another planet to live on if this one croaks. Also, another reason we shouldn’t have avoided the Kyoto protocol is because I believe that the US prowess in capitalism will surely spur technological changes to meet new standards. Are we not ratifying Kyoto because we are no longer savvy enough to quickly meet the standards? I believe someone dropped the gauntlet and the US isn’t meeting the challenge.
On another note, we need to figure out this energy problem, we can’t just keep drilling for oil. That is just a temporary solution to a permanent problem.
