Torbay weblog davecathy

My dictionary has a secondary definition of an ostrich as ' A person who refuses to face or accept unpleassnt facts (by burying their head in the sand)'

For years now, scientists all over the world have been of the opinion that man-made pollution is contributing to if not causing global warming at a totally unprecedented rate, and are warning of catastrophic consequences. As just a single example of this, production of CFC's produced a hole in the ozone layer over the south pole. Luckily, the nations of the world took swift action, and that hole is now reducing in size.

The Kyoto agreements, signed up to by most countries, was but a first small step on a very long road towards sustainable growth which would not damage the planet further, or even lead to the destruction of our civilisation. George Bush's corporate induced response was to say that the case for global warming is not proven, and that anyway, action would harm the American economy. 

Does Bush think that all the countries who did sign up have no economies to protect? Economies that are smaller, weaker and more fragile than the American economy? How much evidence does he need? The sea temperature of the Mexican Gulf is rising, causing a vastly accelerated frequency and strength of hurricanes, the Gulf Stream and the Northern drift are also heating up, causing cod  and other fish stocks to migrate from their breeding grounds off Canada, and the Alaskan tundra is heating up, with unimaginable econsquences for that area, not least the oil industry. Damaging the American economy? It is the very lack of action that is already devasting the economy of such places as Texas and Louisiana in particular, and the US as a whole.

There is something not quite right when 5% of the world population (in America) consume 25% of the world's energy resources. Their response? to increase the number of gas-guzzling SUV's from 3 million to 80 million in a few short years. Selfish, profligate and short sighted or what?

It may well be said that Britain, although much smaller, also takes far more than its fair share of energy, but at least, we are trying to do something about it. If we do not take serious action, we will all have to pay a high price for our stupidity, but America will have a much higher price to pay than anyone else, simply because they have further to fall.