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Originally Posted by Slraep I do not trust government to rectify the problems we are having. |
That the US government? Right then.
Whether others can really do it well all the way is a good question, but there's still way better out there (Northern Europe, I would think).
What can/does motivate government action in each case is yet another very good question... US is quite a case.
Our government?
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Originally Posted by Slraep Our environmental problems are best solved by public reluctance to buy and consume CRAP. |
OK. I guess that's the one point of divergence between our beliefs: about means of action rather then ends.
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Originally Posted by Slraep Where is the logic in allowing the earth's poor to pollute the earth because they and their families are starving... |
I am aware that this 'right to pollute' has already been claimed during the Kyoto negotiations and elsewhere. It sounds wrong to me as much as it does to you.
Imposing trade and financial barriers against developing countries in the name of environmental standards also seems rather wrong. At least as long as alternatives to the use of polluting technologies are not made accessible one way or another. Using the vulnerable economics of developing nations to shift pollution to them is even worse.
For now, I am not ready to believe that making US buyers feel guilty about their consumption is going to address all this or even kick start significant change. It seems quite a leap of faith... for a chronically skeptic having spent a good number of years feeding the sustainable development policy research on both sides of the Atlantic. When I have started, I had way more enthusiasm and way less doubt myself.
These days, it comes less easy to state my beliefs in a short post or two. It is helpful to hear how they sound infront of an open forum though!
Back to the drawing board...