In the current climate talks held in Bali, Al Gore has reportedly singled out the United States as “obstructing” progress on some global response to what he characterizes as human-induced climate change.
But is America really to blame, all by itself?
Apparently not!
This article highlights concerns that developing countries also have about curbing emissions. The G77, a block of developing countries that includes India and China,
“…said they were not ready to make new efforts to fight climate change by cutting emissions from fossil fuels. They fear curbs would cramp economic growth aimed at lifting millions out of poverty.”
Interesting that these developing countries object to emissions cuts of the same concerns President Bush and other leading conservatives have articulated – across the board emissions cuts could hamper economic development. That would in turn increase poverty and provide even stronger impetus to disregard environmental concerns.
But the Al Gores of this world are rich enough not to give a crap about poor farmers and factory workers in the third world. They can jet around the world promoting fatuous non-solutions like purchasing carbon offsets from themselves while others must sacrifice their livelihoods and decrease their standard of living. Al Gore uses up vastly greater amounts of energy living his life and still smugly sermonizes us on protecting the environment. Just how did he get to Bali, anyway? On a sailboat, or on an ozone-depleting, carbon emitting jet? How much of the planet's global resources were used up in producing this conference? And why, as former Ambassador to the UN John Bolton pointed out this morning, didn't the UN hold this conference in New York, where there is plenty of public transportation and where they already have a huge general assembly hall? Why make all these people fly to Bali of all places?
The world might hand people like Gore trophies and applaud his self-hating, liberal mea-culpas, but they won’t lift a finger about climate change until hypocrites like him and the pompous pseudo-intellectual fatheads at the UN shut up and put up. Until fabulously wealthy people like Gore and all the Democratic candidates set an example, “go green” and take trains, live in smaller houses, etc, all their blather amounts to nothing more than more climate-warming hot air.
