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We Are All in This Together

Whether a developing or a highly-industrialized nation, each is responsible for the future health of its people and the planet. The crisis that we as humanity face is not confined to one set of borders, nor will any one nation be able to stave off its effects without cooperation of a kind never before attempted. Therefore, it is fair. But what is "fair" in this context?

What Is "Fair"?

The United States, the country producing the most pollution, has, at present, the most powerful military and is a recognized leader in many technical fields. America is able, with the harnessed political will of its citizenry, to use its expertise in drawing down pollutant levels by "greening" many of its daily activities. This, in the view of much of the world, would be an appropriate step to take.

Fairness seems relative when we examine the impact of major life changes on those whose resources are very limited, in fact nearly nonexistent. For millions living in eastern Africa, a foremost concern is the daily struggle for life. Amid civil wars, drought, and decades-long agricultural mismanagement, common people are simply starving to death. Many of them cannot join the "go-green" movement until they can engage in some discipline outside of remaining alive.

Equally troubling when we look at the probabilities of global climate change in the near term, China and India, two of the world's most populous nations, are moving rapidly into their own industrial revolutions. With the increase in greenhouse gases that their manufacturing and transportation sectors will produce, one or the other will soon overtake the pollution levels of the United States, with similar effect on their region and as-yet-unmeasured effect on the world's climate.

What Will Work?

Fairness is always a good criterion to examine, but, as is evident from the discussion preceding, it will not give legs to the massive and cooperative energies that must be harnessed in order to save us from our own folly. Evidence is mounting that more than simple agreements on paper, or promises for two decades in the future, will be required.

Recent actions by Great Britain and The Netherlands give hope that solutions are actually coming into being right now. Before his departure from the British prime minister's office, Tony Blair indicated that England would pursue a stricter course than mandated by their participation in the Kyoto Accord in greenhouse gas controls. The government of England now stands firmly

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