I’ve always been an optimist. When Kennedy was elected, I thought the U.S. had moved into a new era. (I was 18.) In the late ‘60s, I thought we would remake America. When the USSR broke up, I believed the world would address real problems like over-population and environmental degradation.
What is the biggest problem facing the world today? Global climate change. Not Ron Paul vs. Newt Gringrich. Not 9% unemployment. Not Mexicans crossing the border, or the problems with the Euro, or the war in Afghanistan. The world is getting warmer, and the implications for the world’s ecosystem are life-altering.
The 17the conference of the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change in Durban, South Africa, wrapped up on early Sunday. The discouraging results were reported on page 9 in today’s New York Times.
The good news. Negotiations will continue. The bad news: “the actions taken at the meeting...would not have a significant impact on climate change.”
My grandson Gavin is five years old. When he is 50, in 2056, he will be asking, “Why didn’t people care? Why didn’t they do something?” Gavin, I have no answer to that. I’m really sorry.
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