Comments on: It’s the Economy, Stupid

By: Lindsay Meisel

Lindsay Meisel — Mon, 05 May 2008 16:10:37 +0000

Cary Anne – For the most part, I don’t think rapid development in places like China can be said to stem from greed. The Communist Party’s “negligence toward nature” may be at least somewhat due to its “really bad ideals,” but is probably mostly due to its desire to help its people attain a very basic level of affluence. Some Chinese may want our goodies, but mostly they want our infrastructure — the kinds of things we Americans, even the eco-conscious among us, largely take for granted: paved roads, schools, hospitals, etc.

Aaron – Yes, it’s unfortunate that the effects of the climate affect the poor most strongly. I don’t think you need to look very hard to see examples of this — Katrina, droughts & rice shortages, Malaria outbreaks — not necessarily or definitively results of climate change, but no less important to consider and address.

By: Liz

Liz — Mon, 05 May 2008 15:03:48 +0000

This should be seen as an opportunity for the United States. If we lead the way on building a strong economy based on renewables, then the rest of the world will see that it works, it creates jobs, and will ultimately be better for their economy than dirty energy. If they can see that it makes economic sense not to pollute, they won’t do it anymore, clearly. The US needs to set the example. Hopefully the next administration will be open to that.

By: Aaron

Aaron — Mon, 05 May 2008 01:28:19 +0000

It’s a shame that the people climate change will affect most, the poor and downtrodden, are near powerless to stop it. What news is there on this issue? International EJ? I’d love to learn more if anyone has any interesting links to check out.

By: carry anne

carry anne — Mon, 05 May 2008 00:35:15 +0000

Yeah, I agree, people often see sacrifice as so horrible and unthinkable… I am sure though that if you look at the harm that breakneck development has contributed to, it’s just as bad in the shot term and waaaay worse in the long term for peoples’ standard of living. I guess I’m idealistic, but I think the problems are usually from people ignorance and greed more than other things. I think the Communist Party’s negligence toward nature is due to it’s really bad ideals (absolute materialism) and desperation to satisfy peoples greed since exploiting the land and corruption keep a few influential people very pleased. I am always suggesting that the current regime is rotted and purely self satisfying, but when the propaganda people are so powerful, its an uphill battle.

Please take a look at my blog, no more CCP

Peace

By: R Margolis

R Margolis — Mon, 05 May 2008 00:00:05 +0000

This is a good dose of reality. It is expensive for most countries just to build standard infrastructure. The current cleaner technologies are even more so. Any solutions must acknowledge these facts.