God Bless the USA! We are truly a brilliant beacon of light, leading the world out of darkness into a period of infinite prosperity. Despite a total population of only 5 percent of the planet, we manage to produce more wealth than any other nation and provide billions of dollars of global aid. But building and maintaining the world’s most successful economy does not come without a cost to our environment. It is now well-known that the US leads the planet as the top emitter of greenhouse gases, producing 25 percent of the world’s pollution and two-thirds of the world’s toxic wastes. Yet despite undeniable evidence that our American lifestyle is contributing to global climate change at an alarming rate, our self-righteous government and our willfully ignorant populace continue a consumption culture that is literally devouring the world as we know it.
At the United Nations conference this week in Bali, Indonesia, 190 countries (out of 194 that exist) confronted the US for our position as the ONLY industrialized nation to refuse ratification of the Kyoto Protocol climate pact. As part of their criticism, world leaders questioned the US rejection of mandatory emissions regulations.
But our smug leadership was quick to defend our greedy and gluttonous ways, touting a recent 1.5 percent decline in carbon dioxide emissions and insisting that voluntary emission cuts will be sufficient to produce the necessary changes. Nevermind that our OWN Department of Energy credits this reduction to “favorable weather patterns, where both heating and cooling degree-days were lower in 2006 than 2005, and higher energy prices.”
It is laughable and blatantly acrimonious when our Executive insists that the corporations and consumers of the most wasteful, most obese nation in the world can curb an impending global climate/energy crisis with a little voluntary self-restraint. C’mon, folks, we’re not talking about trimming the fat here! This country needs fullblown liposuction. Remember, we make up only 5 percent of the world’s population, but consume 25 percent of the world’s oil, one-third of the world’s paper and cars, and 27 percent of the world’s aluminum. The environmental impact of one American is 12 times greater than that of one person from India and 250 time greater than that of someone from Sub-Saharan Africa, even WITH recycling.
Despite a growing “green” movement in this country, Americans still consume 2 million plastic bottles, 1 million aluminum cans and 60,000 plastic shopping bags every 5 MINUTES. If we wait for the evolution of our national conscience to guide this ship, we’ll be cast upon the rocks in a mighty tempest with the rest of the fleet searching in vain for the beams of our lighthouse in a perilous fog!
God bless the USA! God save us all!
6 comments
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December 3, 2007 at 5:17 pm
mrschili
I fear that, despite the opened eyes of a small percentage of our population, it’s going to take either a full-blown collapse or a full-blown revolution to change our ways. Americans feel entitled to this lifestyle we lead and, as you and I both know all too well about students with entitlement issues, they’d rather reach the brink of utter and total failure than admit that they have work to do.
December 3, 2007 at 5:55 pm
Hattie
Well, I certainly was like that myself when I was a student!
Joking aside, I live a virtually carbon consumption free life in Hawaii, thanks to solar hot water and photovoltaics plus composting, growing some food, owning one car that we seldom gas up, etc. etc.
The catch is, if I want to leave the Island, I have to fly, which probably cancels out all the good stuff we do. But what we do beats doing nothing and waiting for other people to step up.
December 3, 2007 at 6:22 pm
nakedmessenger
Amen to proactive people! It is somewhat hopeful that there is a small revolution of progressively eco-friendly folks. Our family is building an off-grid green home using over 50% recycled/reclaimed materials, passive-solar design and renewable energy.
BUT as a country we are still trapped by the disposable, retail affluenza machine, buying most of our cheaply-manfactured goods from corporations that rape the natural environment, exploit people of poverty and use unsustainable methods. Everything we buy (food, clothes, toys, appliances, etc.) takes far more raw materials and energy to produce than we stop to consider.
The REAL problem with America is we cannot seem to stop buying. We replace perfectly functioning items solely based on trends in fashion and technology. The average American consumes 300 shopping bags of raw materials every week. We even buy things we don’t need just to fill a bored life. By 1987, there were more shopping malls in the US than high schools. Over 70% of Americans go to shopping malls each week, more than attend churches or synagogues. On average, we spend 6 hours shopping each week and only 40 minutes playing with our children.
And we don’t even stop buying when the money runs out! For the past ten years, more Americans have filed for bankrupcy each year than graduated from college. Yet our per capita consumption continues to rise EVEN on the precipice of our current economic recession.
And we feel entitled to this lifestyle despite the fact that HALF the world barely survives on the equivalent of 2 dollars a day.
December 3, 2007 at 9:06 pm
twoblueday
Hi! mrschili sent me.
You are preaching to the choir in my case (although I admit that not one other member of my family, the best I can figure, would give up any consumption at all if it interfered in the tiniest way with what they wanted).
Sometimes it seems that whatever little thing I try to to, the family offsets it in triplicate. None of them even consider taking fuel economy into account when auto shopping (to get a car to replace the perfectly good one they’ve got). They are all speeders. It’s an argument to get an incandescent bulb replaced (which I make and win in my house sometimes). All their arguments against my suggestions boil down to this: “I like doing it the way I’m doing it.”
Speed limit back to 55, I say (holding onto 60 as a compromise).
December 3, 2007 at 9:28 pm
nakedmessenger
YES! That is the American mantra: “But I like the way I’m doing it.” LMAO We used to be a nation of frugality and thrift… ’tis a gift to be simple, eh? It’s not so much fun to change our ways when we LIKE the way it is. Hell, can you blame us? We’re the richest nation in the world, living the good life while one-fifth of the planet dies slowly in abject poverty. Really, who wants to wake up from THAT dream?
Thanks for joining the conversation. (:
December 6, 2007 at 12:17 am
Dad
Interesting discussion! Consumption, waste, affluenza! These are merely symptoms of an economic system designed to transfer wealth from the masses to an élite few at the top of the economic pyramid. It is working perfectly, but the last several years have witnessed an acceleration of the process.
Consider that in America virtually all business, Government and media are controlled by people in the top 5% of the economic spectrum. Since we know that people act in their own self-interest, as they perceive it, it is no small wonder that saving money, environmental regulation and conservation of resources are discouraged. To quote VP Dick Cheney, “Conservation does not work.” People at the top are fond of saying, “Let the free market solve the problem.” Higher prices reduce demand.
There is an economic benefit for some special interest group or industry behind every policy issued by Washington. The Energy Policy was written to benefit the Oil Industry. The Clean Air Act was written by and for the Utility and Transportation Industries. The Medicare Drug Plan was written by and for the Pharmaceutical Industry. Gas mileage standards are set to benefit the Auto Industry. Agricultural subsidies benefit corporate farms. The list goes on and on. Environmentalists are usually blamed for restricting the development of commercial nuclear power industry, but the real culprit is Big Oil. Nuclear power competes with oil. Who do you think killed the electric car and the trolley?
Washington is addicted to corporate money. Why hurry to stop any war when hundreds of Billions of taxpayer dollars are passing rapidly to the Defense Industrial Complex? Why occupy Iraq in the first place, if not to control the second largest proven reserve of conventional oil for the US Oil Industry? We already own the Saudi Royal Family and their largest reserve. Spread Democracy, my ass! We compete with Democracies. We hire Communist countries to make stuff cheaper than we can in America. We are historically the supporter of dictators and repressive regimes that benefit US corporations around the world. Globalization is good for Americans if you are the Americans hiring the cheap labor. Debt is good if you’re the one lending the money at higher and higher interest rates. Conservation means less profit for the person selling the commodity. Environmental regulation cuts into profits.
The bottom line is there will be no solution to Global Warning coming out of Washington until the collective industries of Transportation, Utilities and Oil stop fighting it. The good news is that social awareness is creeping into the top levels of our economy. As I said before, people act in their own self-interest. The ultra wealthy like to be appreciated and do not like being held in contempt. Love, Dad