The European’s just passing an aggressive mandate on emissions reduction and the continent’s reliance on fossil fuels, don’t get me wrong, is wonderful. Unfortunately for those of us in this nation still permitted to virtually rest on our laurels with regard to global warming, this is just another embarrassing development, underlining the Bush administration’s joke of a plan. Here’s how we measure up internationally, now that Europe is committing to reduce emissions by 20% from levels in 1990, by the year 2020. Basically we’ve only very timidly announced that we’ll “work on” reducing our reliance on foreign oil and fossil fuels, and that we’ll continue to make sure that emissions rates increase at a slower rate than the economy. Maybe I’m missing something, but how does this actually help us fight global warming? What makes the Bush Administration think this should be acceptable, with our rate of emissions barely beneath the economy growth rate? Please, let us be the ambitious ones on this issue! Otherwise, it just won’t be enough. The Europeans get it, and they’re not even the biggest contributors to the problem. We are, yet we apparently just can’t recognize it or maybe, just can’t take responsibility for our own actions.
To sum it up, just compare these two headlines:
