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Will Earth Expire By 2050?
_josh writes: "Will overconsumption force humanity off this planet in less than 50 years? It may sound sci-fi, but according to the WWF in this story at the Observer, it's entirely possible. Maybe now I can convince my brother not to buy that SUV ..." Take with as large a grain of salt as you think appropriate.
More fool congress. Actually, America was nearly kicked out of Kyoto by the rest of the world, as your diplomats were constantly harrassing the others and making things difficult - ie opposing any attempt to reach a resolution. They said outright in fact, "we're not going to go with this, as it'd damage our economy". Needless to say, that attitude pisses off pretty much everybody who isn't American.
And don't be fooled that Kyoto is the answer. Kyoto is nothing more than an attempt to cripple the US economy to allow other nations to catch up. And it is hidden behind a solution to a "problem" that scientists can even agree exists (global warming).
WTF? What kind of stupid paranoia is that? Last time I checked in fact the dollar was a 1:1 parity with the Euro. We're doing just fine thanks, and this mindless protectionism is just a feeble excuse to not change your ways. America preaches free trade to the rest of the world, but the moment other countries threaten its economic interests, suddenly it's all trade barriers and diplomatic sabotage.
What, the US steel industry is inefficient? That's OK says Bush, we'll just impose huge trade barriers and flood Europe with cheap foreign steel to protect voters in the rust belt. The rest of the world is developing digital TV faster than us? That's ok, we'll just invent our own (inferior) transmission systems to give US manufacturers a boost. But the moment the rest of the world attempts to do something about global warming, suddenly it's us who's attempting economic meddling.
Do you guys realise just how much respect America lost abroad when it pulled out of Kyoto? At least here in England Bush is a laughing stock, most people are of the opinion that he's simply in the pockets of american business. There are people here who HATE his guts because of what happened to Kyoto. It wasn't much, but it was something, and it was sacrificed because American voters didn't want to give up their lifestyle.