Politics is applesauce providing progressive political analysis since 2006

It may be too late to save the ice caps.

An article from Guardian Unlimited reports that there is a 50 percent chance that a widespread loss in the world’s ice sheets “may no longer be avoided.” The consequences of such a loss would be devastating, a fact that is articulated well by the article:

A critical meltdown of ice sheets and severe sea level rise could be inevitable because of global warming, the world’s scientists are preparing to warn their governments. New studies of Greenland and Antarctica have forced a UN expert panel to conclude there is a 50% chance that widespread ice sheet loss “may no longer be avoided” because of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere.

Such melting would raise sea levels by four to six metres, the scientists say. It would cause “major changes in coastline and inundation of low-lying areas” and require “costly and challenging” efforts to move millions of people and infrastructure from vulnerable areas. The previous official line, issued in 2001, was that the chance of such an event was “not well known, but probably very low”.

It is becoming clearer everyday that the problems our planet is facing are more serious than previously thought. Prompt action is required by all industrialized nations in order to prevent this crisis from escalating even further. It must become widely accepted among nations, and the citizens of those nations, that an economic system based strictly on the burning of fossil fuels is environmentally unsustainable and exporting such an economic system is dangerous to the planet.

The future of the developing world, paired with the actions of the United States will perhaps play the largest role in determining the path of our species in the future. Development must be promoted in the most environmentally friendly way, thus phasing out the current economic system that emphasizes the exploitation of the planet and the burning of fossil fuels. It is my belief, that the United States must take the lead in order to make such a transition.

The chances of such a change are unknown at the moment, given the fact that the current American administration chooses to ignore the problem of climate change altogether. We will find out in the future whether or not the American people and their leaders are willing to make the necessary sacrifices to save the planet (or limit the destruction of the planet) for future generations. This will most likely take place in 2008, when this issue will most likely be at the forefront of the Presidential election.

Is this good government?

Today the Guardian had an article exposing the wrongdoings of the American Enterprise Institute (closely liked to the Bush administration). It turns out that this ‘thinktank’ has been bribing scientists, policy makers, and economists to stop a recent climate change report.

Scientists and economists have been offered $10,000 each by a lobby group funded by one of the world’s largest oil companies to undermine a major climate change report due to be published today.

Letters sent by the American Enterprise Institute (AEI), an ExxonMobil-funded thinktank with close links to the Bush administration, offered the payments for articles that emphasize the shortcomings of a report from the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).

How is this ‘thinktank’ linked to our government here in America? It turns out that this ExxonMobil funded organization has provided 20 staff members to the Bush administration to work as consultants. This disturbing link was articulated well by Ben Stewart of Greenpeace:

The AEI is more than just a thinktank, it functions as the Bush administration’s intellectual Cosa Nostra. They are White House surrogates in the last throes of their campaign of climate change denial. They lost on the science; they lost on the moral case for action. All they’ve got left is a suitcase full of cash.

Stories such as this lead me to question the health of American democracy. A poll taken in March of 2006 revealed that 85% of Americans believe that climate change is occurring (this number has no doubt risen due to recent reports). In a healthy democracy the government, which in theory is representing the people, should act based on this popular concern. This has simply not occurred.

Our governments reaction has been to hide the truth (by bribing scientists and appointing AEI staff), and insist on providing the most environmentally dangerous corporations with tax cuts and subsidies so that they can continue their destructive anti-environmental agendas. This is not good government, nor do I find it an acceptable path for American democracy.

It may be time that we as Americans examine the current state of the political system. When two of the most important issues of the day (Iraq and climate change) are headed in a direction contrary to the way the electorate prefers, something disturbing is taking place in government.

Hopefully this foul smell in government is simply George Bush and his appointees. If this is the case, the federal government will perhaps actually resemble a democratic institution in the near future.