Global Warming and the Consumer
by The idealist’s attempt at practicality in a world of waste and excessive consumption. How do you fit the world of the future? Read this to stimulate your thoughts on the subject as mine were by a president’s economic address.
Are We Concerned?
If indeed the world is concerned about global warming, and from search trends on the internet (at least) this appears to be increasingly true with each passing day, then perhaps there is hope. What is incomprehensible to me is the short-sightedness of those responsible for most of the environmental damage occurring at present.
Today, I heard parts of an economic address by a representative of one of the major contributors to this problem. I was presented with an appeal to remove barriers to the production or continued production of cheap energy without regard for the negative effects to which the world and its inhabitants would be subjected. In today’s climate, this didn’t make much sense to me, especially when coming from a spokesperson of a (supposedly) progressive nation. To be positive, at least this stimulated the thought process required to write this article.
Personal Transportation and Travel
I am just one person with a limited understanding of all of the influences both economic and political that are felt by this speaker. However, average man (read man or woman) needs to be heard. Are we willing to let our children’s and grandchildren’s world be destroyed for the sake of cheaper fuel for our gas-guzzling vehicles today? In the area in which I live in Canada, each day I see more and more fuel-efficient vehicles on the roads (now a great majority). It seems like a good thing in a country where rural living requires some sort of transportation to be able to survive. However, that doesn’t mean that every waking moment must be behind the wheel of your new fuel-efficient vehicle. I will soon have to replace my aging gas-guzzler with a fuel-sipper, and the few times a month that I use it will likely increase somewhat when it doesn’t cost as much to run. We should all remember that the benefits of higher fuel efficiency are felt most only if one doesn’t increase the distance travelled, thereby reducing or eliminating the benefit both personally (financial cost) and globally (emissions).
For those of us that have been priveleged enough to use our own vehicles for many years, we should think it reasonable to reduce in order to help lower harmful emissions. But how do we feel about those that are only now gaining the option to drive a vehicle (i.e., India, China, etc.)? How can we deny others that which we have had for many years? How do we help develop a society where travel is reduced when the more increasingly affluent individuals and nations are expanding their horizons, and their energy consumption?
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