It’s Getting Hot In Here

Does that title make your skin crawl? It probably should. With a disastrous war in Iraq, a foreign policy that many have labeled as imperialism, and Bush recently spinning hypocrisy down in South America, it’s easy to think that the USA should just remove itself entirely from world affairs and stay at home infront of the TV. But when it comes to climate policy, let’s face it, the world needs the USA to get on board with a strict commitment and needs it now.

On March 9th, the European Union announced the most ambitious carbon reduction targets yet put forward on the government level. Will they follow through? That’s where the USA comes in.

The Economist writes, “There is one thing that would make it easier for Europe to stick to its ambitious targets—federal legislation in America. California and Europe are travelling hand-in-hand along their green path; but federal-level legislation would be more effective in dampening the volume of complaints in Europe. And if America does not act, Europe will undoubtedly, at some point, give up on greenery.”

The same has held true for India, China, and many other developing countries for years. If the USA does not commit, naysayers in countries around the world will be able to point an accusing finger at the world’s biggest polluter and ask, “What about them?”

In 2007, there are a number of campaigns already underway that hope to answer that question. One that I have been working on (and has been featured here on the blog before) is called Step It Up 2007. The goal of the campaign is to unite communities across the USA on April 14, 2007 with a unified message: “Step It Up, Congress! Cut Carbon 80% by 2050.” We have received a number of emails from activists around the world who have asked us why we don’t make Step It Up a global event. (As one student said at a recent conference, “They don’t call it USA Warming for a nothing!”) Our reasoning is what’s outlined above: we’re convinced that the best way to move the world forward, is to move the USA forward.

That said, Step It Up 2007 is becoming global without our support, and that’s fantastic. We’ve received photos from Botswana, looked at websites from the UK and Canada, and gotten confirmation of events in other countries around the world.

We’re all in this together. The greatest contribution students in the USA can make to the global movement is to get our shit together right here at home.