This is not going to be another pretty please to "politicians" to ask them to please do more on this. This is not going to be sweet, or nice, or beating around the bush. The bottom line Earthlings, is that we as a species are committing slow suicide to ourselves and murdering species, trees, plants, the rainforests, rivers and oceans, the atmosphere, and all ecosystems that support our own existence and it is being done out of willful ignorance which is morally reprehensible.
We now know that human behavior is contributing to the rise of GHGs in our atmosphere which is in turn causing rising seas, accelerated melting of glaciers specifically in the Arctic which threatens our climate balance, stronger storms, droughts, wildfires, floods, deforestation, desertification, the spread of disease, species extinction, invasive species, water shortages, and erratic weather patterns.
These conditions are then in turn causing the death of livestock, the extinction and disappearance of species important to the web of life, hunger, lack of potable water, environmental degradation of land needed to grow food, pollution, and the possibility of millions of environmental refugees who will be forced to leave their homes because where they live will be uninhabitable...and that is already happening in places like Bangladesh, Vanuatu, and other islands that have already been swallowed up by the rising seas. And the economic devastation because of it is so much more than it could ever be in not doing the right thing, not to mention the environmental damage and the spiritual damage to our balance with this planet.
I am then so sick of these socalled 'conferences' that come out with false rhetoric about seeking to fight climate change and then LET THIS EARTH DOWN without binding targets. I am sick of climate change being used as a political wedge issue rather than treated as the URGENT MORAL crisis it is with governments backing down by using the economy as a damn excuse to sit and DO NOTHING and waste more time while this world melts around us! But of course, that is the way of "politics".
After all of the petitions signed, the letters written, the phone calls, the flyers, the blog entries, the changes I have made in my own life and in doing all I can to spread this message to others, there is only thing left I can say to the developed countries of this world including the U.S. and China, and India (which in my book are developed countries based on their economies and what they are contributing to this crisis because of it now):
It is time to stop the stalling and DO SOMETHING NOW, because words no longer mean anything. We are heading for a definite tipping point in the climate balance of this Earth that will have catastrophic effects on the habitability of this planet. Scientists have confirmed it, and Mother Nature is now illustrating it in response to our behavior on a global basis. WHAT IS IT GOING TO TAKE?It is absolutely morally reprehensible for any country that is contributing the most to this crisis to still sit on its hands and play these "it will be bad for our economy" games while the poor of this world become more and more vulnerable to the effects of this crisis! These are the same games that were played THIRTY and TWENTY years ago, and you should know that it is logical that WITHOUT A SUSTAINABLE PLANET your economy won't mean squat. As a matter of fact, it has been proven that sustainable investments and practices not only SAVE money but bring jobs and a safer, cleaner, more PEACEFUL world.
But continue to have your 'conferences' that let the Earth and those species that cannot defend themselves down and still expect her to sustain you. The arrogance of those perpetuating this crisis truly blows me away. Let us hope that the U.N. Climate summit in Bali gives us more than this same rhetoric, because seriously, we are running out of time.
And as for PM Howard's remarks you can see right through them. In other words, 'Just don't do anything to ruin our profits and we can "agree" to talk about it and make it look good.' Australia will be in a perpetual state of drought that will be common place. But yes, PM Howard, continue to burn and sell that coal.
Al Gore is right. Unless WE go to the barricades, you can say goodbye to the world as we once knew it, and we will then have no one to blame but ourselves, because as far as 'politicians' go, all they are doing is backing our Earth up against the wall.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070908/pl_nm/apec_dcAPEC leaders agree climate change pact at summit
By Jalil Hamid
Sat Sep 8,
9:35 AM ET
SYDNEY (Reuters) - Asia-Pacific leaders agreed on Saturday to a "long-term aspirational goal" to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, but no binding targets, and are expected to end their summit on Sunday urging a conclusion to world trade talks.
Australian Prime Minister John Howard told reporters 21 Asia-Pacific leaders had agreed to a "Sydney Declaration" on climate change, calling it "a new international consensus."
He said the leaders agreed for the need for all nations, developing and developed, to contribute according to their own capacities and circumstances to reducing greenhouse gases.
"We are serious about addressing in a sensible way, compatible with our different economic needs, the great challenge of climate change," he said at the end of the first day of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit.
Green groups called it a failure without binding targets.
"The Sydney Declaration is really just a Sydney distraction from real action on climate change," Greenpeace energy campaigner Catherine Fitzpatrick said.
The declaration was seen as a compromise between the rich and poor APEC economies, which together account for about 60 percent of the world's economy.
Developing economies, led by China and Indonesia, opposed any wording that commits them to binding targets, believing it would hinder economic development. They argue developed nations should take more responsibility for climate change.
Proponents of the declaration say it sets the stage for the U.N. climate convention's annual summit in Bali, Indonesia in December, which is looking for a successor to the existing U.N. pact, known as the Kyoto Protocol, due to expire in 2012.
end of excerpt
(Additional reporting by Caren Bohan, John Ruwitch in Sydney)
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