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America’s Report Card on the Environment
October 3, 2007 |
A growing majority of Americans are concerned, even pessimistic about the fate of the environment, a recent poll conducted by Stanford University’s Woods Institute for the Environment and the Associated Press shows. In a country that seems to equate environmental health with verifiable evidence of global warming, an impressive 84% of Americans believe that global temperature is increasing. Demonstrating an interesting shift, 65% said that they are now extremely sure that global warming is occurring, a significant increase from 2006’s 47%. This increase can be partly attributed to Al Gore’s Academy Award winning documentary, “An Inconvenient Truth,” and the aggressive media campaign that followed in its wake. There are other factors as well.
President Bush’s decision last week to again sidestep the Kyoto protocol, an international treaty signed by 90 countries to reduce greenhouse gases, and hold his own global climate change conference (consisting of 15 countries) in Washington, is a clear indication that the current administration cares only for an American economy free of international controls. According to the poll, a staggering 20% of Americans believe that the President is taking good care of the environment. What is sad, I think, is that the economy will eventually surrender to the forces we are now deprioritizing. We will forsake tomorrow, it seems, for today. In the summer of 2003, I worked with five other guys chainsawing swathes through fallen spruces that lay like pick-up sticks across 100 miles of trails in the Katchemak Bay backcountry of Southcentral Alaska. Spruce species account for most of the canopy, and increasingly mild winters saw higher populations of spruce bark beetles surviving and then chomping their fill.
Stories such as this one put a face on the statistics and politics. For those interested in reading more about the infestation, check out Alaska’s Department of Fish and Game website.
Despite the fact that most Americans agree on this issue, the most frustrating angle to America’s Report Card on the Environment is that in the last seven years we have clearly failed to hold the Bush Administration accountable for their actions and or the lack thereof. Congress remains putatively impotent to effect positive change, the environment continues to suffer, and we are left to content ourselves with CNN’s coverage of such tragicomic charades as Bush’s “global climate change” conference. It seems we have all bought tickets to the play, so we might as well watch it, right?
Comments
4 Comments so far
Though I would agree that we definitely do need to do more for our environment, I have a hard time following your logic. It seems to be based solely on the opinion polls. I can give my opinion, but it doesn’t amount to squat. It’s just my opinion. 20% of Americans think that bush is doing nothing for the environment. Why don’t we look at the Bush Ranch compared to Al Gore’s home. Which one uses the least amount of energy? Who’s done more to be “green?” I think you’d be surprised by the answer. Bush took amazing steps to make his ranch more environmentally friendly. He even purifies the water in his house and recycles it. When did Gore go “green”? After the press came out with the energy consumption statistics showing that he used WAY more energy in a month than the average american uses in a year. Then, he installed solar panels. All I’m saying is…give Bush a break. If you don’t like him fine…but don’t use opinion polls and false accusations to smear him. He is our President and he deserves our respect. Even though I don’t agree with all of his policies I don’t think it’s right to call his attitude of the environment “charades.” He did more for the environment than Gore did before Gore came into the spotlight. He’s less of a hypocrite than Gore in my opinion.
Mr. Barnett,
I appreciate your heartfelt reponse. It is true that opinion polls consist of, well, opinions, collected to represent statistical trends. To clarify, the poll suggests that only 20% of Americans think that Bush is doing a good job, not a bad one. The post’s purpose was not to compare and contrast President Bush and Gore, or their homes for that matter, but to show that the United States needs to seriously reevaluate its policies on the environment.
While I respect your contentions, I think most would agree that Bush’s environmental records speaks for itself.
Best,
The Wild Type
god help anyone who criticizes the usa or their leaders. Josh you must be a brave guy, or a wild one. Anyway, in my opinion, being able to speak out about what is wrong and offer ideas on different paths is the only way to express true freedom. I have always found that since going to college there in ‘89, groupthink (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Groupthink) is something that has kept the USA back. The mess that its in at the moment could have been avoided if people were not scared to express what they felt about GW’s decision making process.
Eli,
The groupthink angle is an interesting one - this is the first time I have learned of the phenomenon (read the summary you linked on Wikipedia) and it is very applicable here (read: 20%). I readily agree with you on the need to address what we believe is wrong or needs improvement, as we all have here on this issue. Thanks for the post!
The Wild Type