U.S. Climate
Change Deniers are a Threat to Other Nations
"In
one way or another, we all carry the burden if people in the U.S. continue to
refuse to face their problems. Colombia, among many other countries, will not
grow as it should and will suffer the impending climactic chaos more than it
should if our 'partners' to the north don't change their attitude."
Yesterday’s editorial in The
New York Times warned of the risks
inherent in the fact that most of the potential Republican nominees for the U.S.
presidency deny man's responsibility for global warming.
The warning is relevant given
the high probability that a Republican will arrive at the White House in early 2013.
On the other hand, Thomas Friedman, a columnist for the same newspaper, asks
Obama to talk frankly in his jobs speech about the difficult decisions that
the United States has to make to overcome its fragile situation and the
patience that Americans must maintain while the economic recovery gathers momentum.
Obviously, Friedman has little hope that Obama will follow his advice, since long
waits and speaking about difficult truths doesn't produce votes.
Posted
by WORLDMEETS.US
The gaze of politicians, Democratic
and Republican, are clearly focused on the White House. Substantive issues,
like resolving the acute fiscal problem of the United States, straight talk
about problems in the health care system and the necessity of embarking on a
serious climate change strategy aren't appealing as a platform
for the elections to be held in the country in November 2012. Some don’t want
to alienate voting families; others don’t want to lose the support of business.
And yet, if the U.S. economy doesn't mend its ways, the global economy will continue
to limp. And if the United States doesn't officially recognize the immense
negative contribution it makes to the problem of global warming, there is
little hope that any global strategy will effectively deal with the problem.
It is being said, with reason,
that this lack of leadership is undermining the role of the United States within
the international arena. But the problem is that in one way or another, we all
carry the burden if people in the U.S. continue to refuse to face their
problems. Colombia, among many other countries, will not grow as it should and
will suffer the impending climactic chaos more than it should if our “partners"
to the north don't change their attitude.
