The Fantastic Four were a group of super heroes who, according to Wikipedia, have been portrayed as a “somewhat dysfunctional yet loving family…they would squabble and hold grudges both deep and petty, and eschew anonymity or secret identities in favor of celebrity status.” Enter The Group of 8 (G-8). According to the Associate Press, eight industrial countries—the United States, Japan, Russia, Germany, France, Britain, Italy, Canada, China, India, and South Korea, vowed to cut oil use—a heroic notion indeed.
G-8 are “pledging greater investment in energy efficiency and green technologies to curtail petroleum use,” and while none of the nations set forth any clear amount of money to pledge toward greener efforts, this is exciting and hopeful news. Yet, with the dawn of this fantastic agreement, the United States Senate killed a bill that would cap the production of heat-trapping gases and force polluters to buy permits to emit carbon dioxide.
After three and a half days of debate for this bill, Democrats motioned to end the debate and cast final votes. Republicans argued the debate was not lengthy enough and suggested the bill would raise energy prices. In the end, the bill needed 60 votes to succeed and only gained 48. How can Americans not be discouraged by such mixed messages from our government? Our administration seems insincere in its concern for the future of the planet, especially when it kills law-making, tangible changes for the better. Perhaps it is the bi-partisan nature of the senate, perhaps a new administration is needed to really make our planet a priority, or perhaps it is simply best left to individuals to make as much of a difference as they can because not even Mr. Fantastic can get us out of this mess.
2 Comments
I just discovered your blog. Nice post.
Be reassured - or quite the opposite - in France it is a bit the same problem : the new president did a series of meeting last year to know what we had to do on the environment.
Know, we know exactly what to do, but nothing happens. Hope both the US and France will move toward cutting carbon dioxide emissions and oil consumption. We can’t wait !
Keep up the good work !
Thanks for your comment, Edouard. We can only hope our governments begin to “walk the walk” and make some important changes. Thanks again for reading.