By Heather Cottin
Acting unilaterally, the Bush administration has turned its back on the Kyoto accord on global warming, signed by 178 nations last March. In its place, President George W. Bush has put forward a "voluntary" plan for U.S. corporations to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Environmental groups have strongly denounced this plan, charging it "would do nothing to halt global warming." (New York Times, Feb. 13.)
Bush's approach is in sharp contrast to the emission limits mandated by the 1997 Kyoto accord.
Bush has accused China and India of being major contributors to global warming.
But the United States is by far the world's biggest polluter, both in absolute terms and in proportion to population. Reuters reported on Feb. 15 that the U.S. emits one-third of the developed world's human-generated greenhouse gases--mainly carbon dioxide.
"Greenhouse effect" is a euphemism for the drastic climate changes causing havoc in many parts of the world.
U.S. automobile and oil corporations, by consistently lobbying against public transportation for decades, forced a system of private transportation on this country that has helped make it the major consumer of the world's oil reserves.
Bush is willing to sacrifice the environment to protect the profits of the oil industry--the major perpetrator of global warming.
Corporations that generate electricity also play a giant role in global warming. Most of these utilities are fueled by oil. The top three electric utilities also maintain exceptionally close ties with Washington, as the Enron scandal shows. These utilities emit over 100 million tons of carbon dioxide annually. Coal companies contribute approximately 5 percent of all carbon dioxide emissions. (Corpwatch.org)
So when George Bush lays the blame for climate changes on China and India, it is a bald-faced lie.
POLLUTION PROPAGANDA,
The U.S. energy industry organized the Global Climate Coalition (GCC) in 1989 to head off attempts to address global warming by environmental groups, explained author Jeremy Leggett in "The Carbon War."
Leggett noted the U.S. government's role in watering down wording on the earliest international pronouncements on global warming. The U.S. made every effort to cast doubts on the very existence of the problem, and Bush is continuing in this mendacious tradition.
White House press secretary Ari Fleischer said last June, in reference to a report on the effect of greenhouse gases on the earth, "It concludes that the Earth is warming. But it is inconclusive on why--whether it's man-made causes or whether it's natural causes." (Washington Post, June 7) This is contradicted by all the latest scientific evidence.
Ross Gelbspan's book "The Heat is On," points out how members of the GCC, the American Petroleum Institute, the Automobile Manufacturers' Association and Western Fuels have worked behind the scenes since the 1990s to limit international control over carbon emissions.
The group has spent more than $63 million to combat any progress toward addressing the climate crisis--including a $13 million ad campaign in 1997 to support a Senate resolution against ratification of the Kyoto Protocol.
Last Earth Day, Mary McGrory wrote that the new president had just "cut funds for solar energy research by 54 percent-- and wind, geo-thermal and hydroelectric power, all by 48 percent."
BUTTERFLIES, POVERTY AND STRUGGLE
An unusual storm hit central Mexico in January, accompanied by unprecedented freezing temperatures. Millions of migrating butterflies died as a result. Dr. Bart Drees, an entomologist at Texas A&M University, said this devastation of 80 percent of North America's Monarch butterflies should be a "wake up call" to those who would ignore the climate crisis. (United Press International, Feb. 14)
Global warming is real and it is already producing a crisis that directly affects not only animals and plants, but, most directly, the world's poorest people.
Global warming has melted 40 percent of arctic ice, according to the National Aeronautics and Space Agency. Melting permafrost is rapidly releasing carbon dioxide, threatening the Arctic peoples--especially indigenous peoples of North America and Siberia. (www.solcomhouse.com)
As the polar ice caps melt, the fragile islands of the Coral Sea thousands of miles away become uninhabitable as the rising ocean destroys their fresh water.
Already global warming has caused up to a 20 percent decline in rice production in Asia, where hundreds of millions already face hunger. ("Consequences," Dr. Cynthia Rosenzweig and Dr. Daniel Hillel)
Forty of the world's poorest countries are likely to see major losses in their ability to produce food--declines of up to 25 percent--if the climate continues to warm substantially. Nations in tropical climates--including India, Brazil and much of sub-Saharan Africa--will see huge losses in food production. This assessment was released last July at a major gathering of world climate scientists in Amsterdam.
More temperate climates, by contrast, could experience large gains in crop yields as higher temperatures lengthen growing seasons. (Los Angeles Times, July 11) But in the temperate climates of the Northern Hemisphere, rising temperatures have produced drought, fires and a plague of insects that threatens humans, animals and crops. (Scientific American, August 2000)
Nations in the Southern Hemisphere face insect infestations, droughts, storms and ecological devastation. They have to contend with climate destruction by the U.S. oil industry and struggle against increasing exploitation by the imperialist powers at the same time.
When they organize to resist the terrorism of imperialism, they face the military might of the United States that guards the interests of the capitalist class. And the U.S. has waged war for oil--the core commodity of the climate crisis.
The scientific community and environmental movements have taken up the issue of global warming. To save the earth, they must now join the anti-imperialist struggle against the system that is presently condemning millions to death through the twin crimes of capitalist exploitation and militarism.
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