Emissions Envy

It seems fairly safe to say that Kyoto was an abject failure. With the world's biggest polluters opting out of the increasingly-stringent protocols, it is clear that a new strategy needs to be put in place.

Japan's PM has decided to step up his role as a world leader, and encourage all those super-polluters to join in the save-the-world-from-human-destruction fun! Recognizing that not everyone wants to play, he says that "We must create a new framework which moves beyond the Kyoto Protocol, in which the entire world will participate in emissions reduction." Too true.

So what's the problem?

Well, for one thing, the US is highly unmotivated to participate in emissions reduction across the board. The most recent attempt to reduce - initiated, of course, by the EU - has focused on the buying and selling of "pollution shares", so that the biggest polluters can continue on their current trend by strong-arming smaller, less financially powerful companies to cooperate with the rules.

In a market economy, this probably seems like the best solution, but it doesn't even attempt to make polluters responsible for their own outmoded systems. And for some reason, no one at the heads of these companies appears to acknowledge the most compelling incentive: over the long term, it will be more profitable to increase energy efficiency and reduce pollution. (...beCAUSE you have to keep people alive and healthy so that they'll buy your products!)

This seems so totally fucking obvious that I can't compute it any other way.

Do we plan to reduce our energy consumption when all the resources we exploit to supply our gaping maw with fuel are gone?
Do we plan to stop polluting when all these companies dry out because there is nothing more for them to manufacture?
Will we finally take responsibility when millions are dying for lack of clean air, water, and food?

A resounding YES! to all of these.

It's good to see that governments worldwide - and especially ours - are doing their jobs: providing for the common defense (Iraq, right?), promoting the general welfare (social security reform, anyone?), and securing the blessings of peace (ha!) to ourselves and our posterity...

Since our posterity is unlikely to be surviving much past the next century, no worries right?!