Rob Beckers
12th December 2011, 07:15
With the expiration of the Kyoto protocol our esteemed leaders gathered in Durban to talk about its (dare I say) continuation. Unless I missed something, I'm not quite following the celebratory talk of the participants, along the "it was tough but we did it" line. Best as I can tell we went from limits set but the never implemented in the Kyoto protocol to nothing other than a vague promise to meet in the future "and talk about it" in the Durban protocol. Calling that progress sets the bar very low indeed.
Of course, with politicians' time horizon barely reaching to the next election who can blame them: The economy is making headlines, who cares what our grand kids will have left to call "home". The real culprits are of course the voters (as far as the countries with some sort of democracy go, which is true for the worst per-capita polluters); they voted those politicians in power. Not that the time horizon of the average voter is any better than that of the politicians, heck, most don't look beyond their next paycheck and populist promises of blaming foreigners and a better life persuade all too many.
I suggest next time those esteemed leaders meet in some decrepit village in the high-arctic that is about to keel into the Bering sea. That could help them focus.
-RoB-
Of course, with politicians' time horizon barely reaching to the next election who can blame them: The economy is making headlines, who cares what our grand kids will have left to call "home". The real culprits are of course the voters (as far as the countries with some sort of democracy go, which is true for the worst per-capita polluters); they voted those politicians in power. Not that the time horizon of the average voter is any better than that of the politicians, heck, most don't look beyond their next paycheck and populist promises of blaming foreigners and a better life persuade all too many.
I suggest next time those esteemed leaders meet in some decrepit village in the high-arctic that is about to keel into the Bering sea. That could help them focus.
-RoB-