Bush passes on step to help curb global warming

President Bush again has rejected a plan that would help curb global warming.

According to a May 25 Reuters News Service report, Bush has rejected a suggestion by German government officials to cut global climate warming carbon emissions. Bush’s rejection of Germany’s bid to get the Group of Eight to cut emissions comes less than one month before the G-8 summit is to be held in Germany. Reuters said, “G8 president Germany wants the meeting [of members] to agree [to] targets and timetables for steep cuts in emissions and increases in energy efficiency in transport and power generation.”

For years, Bush has said he does not believe in global warming, despite scientific research that shows temperatures across the globe are rising, contributing to or causing everything from droughts to the quickening of iceberg melting. In 2001, Bush rejected the Kyoto Protocol on cutting carbon emissions, calling the pact “economic suicide because it was not binding on boom economies China and India,” according to the Reuters report. Bush also is adamantly against any binding targets or timetables, the report said.

Reuters further reported that German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Bush ally outgoing British Prime Minister Tony Blair, want G-8 members to agree to curb the rise in average temperatures this century by 2 degrees Celsius, to cut global emissions by 50 percent below 1990 levels by 2050 and to raise energy efficiency in power and transport by 20 percent by 2020.

When is the Bush Administration going to realize, recognize and respond to the fact that the United States must take more responsibility in the effort to slow global warming? When will Bush acknowledge that climate changes will only worsen incoming years, affecting not just this country but countries everywhere? When is the Bush Administration going to prove to the rest of the world that the United States - the most powerful nation in the world - is ready to add global warming to the list of wars, the list of evils we must fight?

Global warming is real; the science cannot be denied. Study after study shows that if governments worldwide do not do something now to reduce the effects of global warming, water levels will continue to rise, rainforests will continue to die out, some island countries will completely disappear, people with health conditions such as asthma will become sicker.

During the last century, the average temperature has climbed about 1 degree Fahrenheit (0.6 of a degree Celsius) around the world, according to a National Geographic fact sheet. NG also reports that the spring ice thaw in the Northern Hemisphere occurs nine days earlier than it did 150 years ago, and the fall freeze now typically starts 10 days later.

Since scientists started keeping records of temperatures, the 1990s was the warmest decade since the mid-1800s. The hottest years recorded: 2003, 2002, 2001, 1998 and 1997, according to NG reports.

Furthermore, if world governments do not work harder together, people across the globe are more likely to be subjected to frequent extreme weather conditions. Intense hurricanes and storm surges could threaten coastal communities, while heat waves, fires and drought also could become more common.

Yet Bush continues to argue that global warming is not the horror the majority of the world believes it to be. So what are we to do? People everywhere must take steps to reduce pollutants of all kinds, by carpooling or by using public transportation to get to work. If possible, those who are able could ride a bike or walk to work.

We must make sure we are recycling everything we possibly can as permitted by our cities, towns and villages. We must start using earth-friendly products to clean our homes, do our dishes, wash our clothes. We must examine the products we use to take care of our lawns and our gardens. Do they contain harmful pollutants, pesticides?

More and more designers and retailers are offering organically made and earth-friendly clothing that is actually biodegradable. We need to read clothing labels to see what materials are used to make them. And we need to recycle our clothes, shoes and accessories, by donating them to the Salvation Army, Goodwill, women’s shelters - anywhere that will take them.

Switching from plastic bags to paper bags at grocery and other stores also will help.

We must do whatever we can, whatever we can think of to help the environment, and we must do it now. If we wait for our government to take the steps necessary to curb emissions, to reduce pollution, to reduce greenhouse gasses, it will be too late.

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