Climate change a disaster of our own making
Kevin Rafferty says our collective failure to slow global warming will send us over a tipping point
We are all stewards of this beautiful but fragile planet but far too few of us understand, let alone accept, the responsibilities of how to protect it, to make it a continuing treasure for our children and grandchildren.
We must be increasingly worried that the combination of distortions in the driving force of modern capitalism, added to indifference or apathy on the part of the masses of peoples and the arrogant greed of the rich and powerful, will push the earth beyond a tipping point where it will become uninhabitable.
Most people are too preoccupied by the business of keeping a job and staying healthy even to think about the grand problems of the survival of the planet, while the rich and the powerful cash in on their advantages.
Climate change is just one example where greed is pushing the earth too close to the edge
This was all too evident last month when US President Barack Obama gave a stirring speech, which suggested that he had at last got religion over the issue of climate change. He promised "a co-ordinated assault" against the damage being done by climate change, using a variety of green weapons, from small things, like better insulation of buildings, to big tasks such as massive promotion of green energy projects.
Yet, immediately, Republican Mitch McConnell, the minority leader in the senate, lambasted the president, claiming he was declaring war against coal and against jobs. It was instantly clear that whatever Obama might promise, the Republicans in Congress would do their darnedest to deny him.
When you examine Obama's plans in detail, without congressional backing, most are more hot air and rhetoric than practical plans that will do much to control dangerous emissions of greenhouse gases. Obama will have to show more guts and determination to get his way than he has hitherto displayed.
Climate change is just one example where ignorance and greed are pushing the earth too close to the edge.
On May 10, readings at the Mauna Loa Observatory in Hawaii showed that the concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere had exceeded 400 parts per million on a daily basis for the first time since readings began, and in three to five million years, some scientists believe.