The climate of change

For those of you who believe that global warming, global climate change or any variation thereof is a serious problem, be prepared to witness a decision that will be the biggest one yet. According to The Economist, “in Copenhagen in December, the world will decide whether to reinvigorate or abandon its efforts to avert serious climate change, and what America does between now and then will in large part determine the outcome.”
 
And if you actively participate in reducing the amount of CO2 put into the air, I bet you are thinking “Thank God that Obama clearly intends to turn America from being the worst to being the best leader in the role we play in the environment.” I’m sorry to ruin your sigh of relief about the encouraging news, but, unfortunately, Obama’s good intentions are not enough.

According to COP15 News from Denmark, “The United States’ oil, gas and coal industry has increased its lobbying budget by 50 percent in an all-out attempt to undermine President Obama’s plan to build a green economy ahead of the U.N. Climate Conference in Copenhagen later this year.” More so, “Liberal and environmental organizations, as well as major corporations supportive of climate change legislation, say they are being heavily outspent by fossil fuel interests.”

In other words, although America’s current policy is impressively better than the Bush era, when you measure it alongside of what other countries are doing to fight global warming, it isn’t enough. America’s environmentalists, who try to actively encourage people to participate in fighting global climate threats, will always be outspent 10 to 1 by lobbyists and oil tycoons.

This of course, explains a lot about the products that claim to be eco-friendly. I mean, have you ever wondered why Starbucks always advertises that they are environmentally friendly and use recyclable cups? But why don’t they have a recycling bin in their own coffee shop? Instead people throw recyclable things away into the trash. According to Bob Perkowitz, founder of the ecoAmerica P.R. firm, “These guys are spending a billion dollars this year convincing Americans that they are clean, green, cuddly and warm.”

Basically, while you may think it is nice to hear encouraging news about Obama trying to fight global climate change with his good intentions, there are far more important things to be taken into consideration about the world of true, political decision-making. In other words, as The Guardian reported, it is not exactly up to Obama whether or not global climate change will be abandoned, instead it lies in the hands of “just a dozen Democrats, who have yet to back Obama’s energy transformation.

The Democratic leadership cannot take their support for granted. Seven of those pivotal Democrats received campaign donations in excess of $100,000 from the oil and gas industry, coal producers and electricity firms during last year’s elections, according to an analysis provided to The Guardian by the Centre for Responsive Politics. Another two received more than $90,000 last year.”

If you are not up to date in the world of politics in America, money dictates decision making instead of ethics. More so, “environmentalists say those Democrats, who hold the balance of power on the committee, pose a far greater threat to the chances of passing climate change legislation than a full vote in the House of Representatives.”And now we wait and see.