Most recently in my reading, the suggestion that the G-8 summit was a minor success with the commitments by some of the major industrialized nations to reduce emissions by more than 50% by the year 2050. There are varying responses from the papers and online sites displaying support or condemnation on the proposed resolutions offering little insight into what the current status of the climate is. So would someone please tell me what is going on?
The environmentalists are telling me that the world is baking, more like ending. I believe one of the quotes made it equivalent to baking by the time the emissions cuts came to pass. The other side masks the issue as if there was none. So where does all of this leave us. First and foremost, who in the world thinks the G-8 matters and even if it did, that the leaders of the civilized world could solve a problem of this magnitude. It appears to me that the problem lies with the very individual that makes up the nation, not the nations that make up the world.
Individual lust and greed are a keen driver in the world economy. Most developed nations provide luxury and support not seen in other areas of the world. The major abusers, including the US, are all made up of individual people - mostly ones that do not see the importance of making some small changes and reducing their emission waste. Leadership begins at the smallest levels, the individual soul, the family, the house, the house, town, city and so forth. Until the leaders at those levels take a stand and develop a spirit to reduce the emissions, there will be no change.
The G-8, they should be looking at more influential strategies to change the mind and souls of the people they represent. Objectives that they discuss are fine, but to do so little and speak only of change and offer little in the way of movement is being met more and more with diminished respect from the national public and international community. So where to start, how about right here at home? For the US, each and every international display of commitment should be met with more stringent domestic standards to set the stage for the US to lead in the efforts communicated on the international stage. This will bring not only more respect for our nation, but re-establish the G-8 as a leadership forum in which we might actually pay attention to. Until then……
