Newsnight (BBC) had a good program last week about Copenhagen climate change generally, with positive coverage of Climate camp and Age of Stupid, with some good clips.
It talks about the need for the rich countries to contribute much more than they seem willing to at present, but there's a bit in the middle (about 7 minutes in if you want to find it) that stopped me in my tracks.
The presenter says:
"... and it may take an effort on the same scale as that used to rescue the financial system to rescue the planet.
"
what???
At first this made me despair than anyone can say this with a straight face.
But I hear a lot about how the "electorate" will not stand for money spent on the environment. Did they like bailing out the banks? The car industry? Did anyone ask them?
I thought I was part of the electorate and certainly no one asked me, just like when they went to war with Iraq.
Could "the electorate" just be code for the rich and powerful military industrial oligarchy?
I totally agree. For minimising climate change to come anywhere less than top priority for any country is insanity.
I just read some stats on the Burrard Bridge trial here in Vancouver - giving one lane of the 6 dedicated to cars up for bikes. Although cyclists on the bridge have increased by 25% car usage has remained constant. I find that depressing. Hoped the increase would reduce the traffic - there must be less people on the buses instead. There are 60,000 cars going over that bridge each day.
Posted by: Janice | Friday, September 25, 2009 at 10:18 PM
How do we move forward from behavior based upon political feasibility and economic expediency to actions driven by practical requirements of biophysical reality? At least to me, it appears that the "window of opportunity" in which restoration of balance between unsustainable, distinctly human overconsumption/overproduction/overpopulation activities on one side and Earth's finite resources and frangible ecology on the other is rapidly approaching its closing time.
Perhaps necessary change is in the offing and comes soon enough.
Posted by: Steven Earl Salmony | Thursday, October 01, 2009 at 07:43 AM