by Perry McCarney

Created on: October 24, 2009   Last Updated: November 19, 2010

Climate change is effecting the peoples of the world to an ever increasing degree. The rising frequency of "once in a century" storms, the inability of regional farmers in many countries to predict or mitigate the effects of changing local weather patterns on their crops and animals, and the recent increase of seismic activity in the Pacific's "Rim of Fire", that may be attributable to the increased pressure of rising seal levels, are all strong indicators that global warming and the subsequent climate change are detrimentally impacting human society. Arguing about whether the causes are anthropogenic (human-caused) or natural is no longer relevant. Something needs to be done, and done as rapidly as feasibly possible.

President Obama has made speeches stating that "the United States cannot combat climate change by itself". While this is true and obvious, it implies that the United States is leading the charge to rectify the mistakes of the developed world's past. And that is categorically false.

Representatives of the governments of the international community will be meeting in Copenhagen in December, 2009, to discuss climate change and to announce binding carbon emissions reduction targets, to be met by 2020. Most nations will be setting targets based on their 1990 carbon emission levels, primarily due to the discussions and agreements reached formulating the Kyoto Protocol established in the early 1990s; agreed at the time by the US but not ratified by the US Senate and Congress during their denial period. Even in 2001, the Bush administration denied the reality of global warming and climate change, although they had reversed that opinion and recognized climate change as being as serious a threat to humanity as international terrorism by 2007.

At this point, President Obama has announced carbon emission reduction targets for the United States of 14 percent of 2005 levels by 2020 and 86 percent of 2005 levels by 2050. As should be obvious to anyone, he is clearly placing the onus of creating these reductions on the presidents that will follow him, rather than his own administration. Hardly a leading from the front position, or even particularly ethical. Although by then, the need should be so apparent to the citizens of the United States that future presidents may well be able to enforce the necessary measures quite easily.

Other nations are setting considerably harder targets. During pre-Copenhagen talks in Bangkok recently, the prime minister of Norway,

• 1
• 2
• Next Page >>