Global Warming

Our civilization is on a path towards destruction. Historically, one can see that at some point, all empires will meet their decease. Our empire, however, is not only our country, but the entire world. Never has the earth seen such a catastrophe as is projected for us. The earth is heating up rapidly, and there is not much that can be done to stop it. It is important, however, to keep in mind that if nobody attempts to prevent the acceleration of global warming, there will be no logical option that could be taken once it is too late.

There is a desperate need for the world’s superpowers to step up to this dilemma, and frankly the effort shown has been ineffective. The United States should be the nation to address this issue with the most conviction since it is referred to as the world’s only superpower. However there has been no sufficient action taken.

There is a general consensus that the best way to describe the effects of global warming is to cut emissions. The biggest action taken to put this idea into effect was the nearly worldwide ratification of the Kyoto Protocol. This treaty holds paramount the idea of reducing emissions. In early December of 1997, representatives from over 160 nations met in Japan to discuss a treaty that would force developed nations to reduce emissions, and allow developing nations to continue. The idea was that once these latter nations become developed, they too will join in reducing emissions. The federal U.S. government, however, shunned the idea, saying that by reducing their emissions while allowing China and India to continue emitting what they are, will harm the American economy. This isn’t true however, because the European Union’s system of buying and selling emission credits is actually very profitable. In this system, each company is given an amount of greenhouse gasses they can emit. If they go over the amount specified, they have the option to buy “credits” from companies who have emitted less than their allowed. This gives companies monetary incentive to reduce emissions.

According to CNN.com, “Bush presented a voluntary plan…to slow the growth of heat-trapping gasses.” It is important, however to note that this “plan was in contrast to the mandatory limits sought in the 1997 Kyoto Treaty.” The government’s plan contained the idea that American companies would have the choice to lower their emissions if they saw fit. This plan is not only insufficient, but also impractical. Excluding Australia, the rest of the world looked down on the American government for shunning the Protocol, because the plan the Bush administration had suggested wouldn’t have the necessary impact to mitigate the oncoming effects of global warming.

Another important part of combating global warming is to promote alternative energy sources. By changing energy sources from fossil fuels to things like hydrogen or nuclear power, greenhouse gas emissions would be cut drastically. Washington has not shown any major steps toward putting this idea to action. The most effectual measure taken by anybody in this aspect was by Richard Branson, owner and CEO of the Virgin Group. His group owns everything from music labels to train companies. In late September of 2006, he released his plans to invest all of the profit from his train and air transportation companies over the next decade in alternative energy. He is pledging the estimated $3 billion to “…fight global warming and promote alternative energy.” This is the type of action that is required for us to make progress in this struggle, and the type that the American government has so obviously avoided.

Yet another example of the action taken by the federal government is that of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, and the state of California. Recently, California legislation “enacted the United States’ toughest restrictions on emissions of carbon dioxide” The reason for doing so was because “Washington has not led on this issue” (Gullo, 1).

On the website for the U.S. Department of Energy, one can easily find a few nice ideas that would help with the fight against global warming. But while it shows promising ideas and solutions, it offers no plan or course of action. Even on the White House website, one can find no such plan. A search on “Global Warming” within the site returns only a few old documents. The most relevant of which (only at 59% relevancy) is a letter stating the variability of climate change is natural. It implies that global warming isn’t something to which humans have attributed, but something the earth would have done on its own.

American citizens are not doing enough to prevent the causes of global warming, and by doing a few thoughtless things a day they can prevent or atleast stall the effects of global warming. For example; by filling up the dishwasher compeltely full, or putting on a sweater when