Trey Smith
The largest polluter in world history, the United States, never ratified the Kyoto Protocol and remains defiant. Both Bassey and Solon refer to the outcome of Durban as a form of “climate apartheid.”We Americans like to think of ourselves as #1. We're the best and the brightest. We're the top dogs and at the head of the class. While humans may have been made in God's image, the divine mold is of an American!
Despite the pledges by President Barack Obama to restore the United States to a position of leadership on the issue of climate change, the trajectory from Copenhagen in 2009, to Cancun in 2010, and, now, to Durban reinforces the statement made by then-President George H.W. Bush prior to the Rio Earth Summit in 1992, the forerunner to the Kyoto Protocol, when he said, “The American way of life is not up for negotiation.”
The “American way of life” can be measured in per capita emissions of carbon. In the U.S., on average, about 20 metric tons of CO2 is released into the atmosphere annually, one of the top 10 on the planet. Hence, a popular sticker in Durban read “Stop CO2lonialism.”
By comparison, China, the country that is the largest emitter currently, has per capita emissions closer to 5 metric tons, ranking it about 80th. India’s population emits a meager 1.5 tons per capita, a fraction of the U.S. level.
So it seems U.S. intransigence, its unwillingness to get off its fossil-fuel addiction, effectively killed Kyoto in Durban, a key city in South Africa’s fight against apartheid.
~ from Climate Apartheid by Amy Goodman ~
But in category after category, statistics tell another story. The US rarely is number one and the few times we are able to claim the top prize it only is in areas that are decidedly negative to people and the planet.
We spend more on military expenditures than anyone else in the world. That's money invested for the sole purpose of killing other human beings. Not exactly the kind of thing you'd want to put on a resume!!!
We pollute more than anyone else. As much as we'd like to blame Obama or Bush and the corporate-controlled Congress for this dubious distinction, they only merit a portion of the blame. We average Americans shoulder much of the blame too. We consistently place our desires for convenience and comfort ahead of everyone else and the planet.
When we pass the absolute point of no return and the environmental calamity becomes starkly visible, our fellow citizens of the world are going to point the finger at us as the chief culprits of the demise of this planet's ability to remain hospitable to life as we know it.
Sadly, chances are that we won't notice the righteous finger pointing because we'll be too busy thumping our nationalistic chests screaming, "We're Number One! We're Number One!"
Thank you for an excellent post!
ReplyDeleteI don't know for sure if Americans are any better or worse than other peoples in thinking we are superior to everyone else. That's probably because I haven't traveled. But regardless of whether we are better or worse at that, I think our arrogance is real, and we do have a disproportionate effect on the planet.
You're probably correct. Most folks -- regardless of culture or nationality -- think very highly of themselves. It is American arrogance that I should have have highlighted more explicitly.
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