This was first published in the College Voice on February 13th, 2008
It’s important to look at problems as holistically as you can. Take the problem of creating mandatory international greenhouse gas regulations. The primary bastions of resistance to mandatory carbon caps (and incidentally also the two biggest greenhouse gas emitters), China and the United States, are in stalemate, neither desiring to commit to such restrictions until the other does.
As Prof. Frasure pointed out in the Focus the Nation panel on this topic on January 31st, there are good reasons for both sides’ resistance. Millions of people in China still live in abject poverty, and their recent explosion of development, powered by large amounts of dirty coal, is expected to trickle higher living conditions down to much of the population. Calls from the West to constrict their emissions sound to Chinese leaders as if we either don’t care about or aren’t considering their need to industrialize, or even worse, don’t want them to industrialize at all.
On the side of our own country, it’s not as simple as acting on a moral imperative, nor is it as simple as passing off the initiating of change to the Market, waiting until our political leaders feel like doing something. Yes, we have a moral imperative to do everything we can to address climate change. Yes, we also have a moral imperative to make sure that our economy does not suffer as a result. The situation isn’t purely one way or the other.
There are a few important things to think about, however. First, prominent corporate consulting firms have concluded that the US can make huge reductions in greenhouse gas emissions at small cost to the economy1. Perhaps even more persuasive are studies indicating that the cost to the economy will only increase the longer we wait before imposing restrictions2.
Prof. Frasure argued that these things may all be true, but the reality is that Congress will not vote to support any international agreement that does not include China. He knows what he’s talking about; this is likely the case. But that’s a problem that many refer to as lack of political will, and as Al Gore is so fond of saying, that is a renewable resource.
But getting politicians to act morally can be a difficult and grueling process, so what do we do while we’re waiting for our efforts to convince them? Well, it’s important that China subscribe to any climate agreement as well, as we know. But how can we help China continue its development while at the same time steering away from dirty fuel? Developing nations frequently argue that advocating for their use of renewable energy ignores the fact that all these technologies are patented in Europe and the US! So then, if we really want a global solution to this global problem, we not only have to ramp up our domestic pressure on political leaders, but also push for some technology transfer program. Only by dispensing with tunnel vision and seeing all facets of our problems can we come to a good solution.
