Wanted: 21st Century American Leadership

“In the case of China, [climate change plans] so ambitious that it could well become the front-runner in the fight to address climate change. The big question mark is the U.S.”

Yvo de Boer, the UN climate chief, made the above remark this past Monday. De Boer offers a lot of praise for a country who may account for 60% of global greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 according to a study by the Energy Foundation and WWF. So what exactly did President Hu Jintao of China promise? No more illegal coal power plants? A ban on Hummers? Actually, he explained that Chinese factories, power plants, etc would accomplish “notable” improvements in carbon efficiency between now and 2020. “Notable.”

My point, however, is not to complain about Mr. Hu’s vagueness. The true tragedy in this story is that a offer of “notable” improvements is enough to make one the “front-runner” in the fight against climate change. Where is the United States? Well we won WWII, so I guess we’ll leave this one up to the rest of the world, right?

Why is the United States so impotent when it comes to addressing what may be the greatest issue of our time? We got Obama, so why can’t we get anything done? It would be easy to pass this off on the rascals in Congress, but I suggest we look inward first. The US population drives this country, and we are all members of this population. So what can we do?

I believe the answer is sacrifice. What better way for the United States to lead than by example. In 2004, the United States accounted for 33% of world consumption (we account for 4.6 percent of the world’s population). China may have intense air quality problems and India serious water problems, but the US’s problem is more disgusting in my opinion. We suck down the earth’s resources and then wonder why our role as world leader is vanishing. As citizens of the US, we get to vote during elections. But we also vote every time we spend our hard-earned money. So instead of eating a banana everyday in the Pacific Northwest winter or gobbling up electricity with the Xbox when it’s raining outside, why not seek a regional/seasonal breakfast alternative or have a conversation with a friend about global warming when the rain keeps us inside.

It’s time for some new American leadership. Winston Churchill once said, “You can always count on Americans to do the right thing – after they’ve tried everything else.” Let’s not waste time on trying everything else. We’ve seen a scary vision of what global warming could do to the world (flooded New Orleans). We cannot let this happen. We need demonstrate that the caring spirit of the people, not their wealth, is what makes a world leader in the 21^st century. Less is more when it means saving the people and environment of this world from the climate change crisis.