Environment: does anybody care anymore?

[Amara]

Everyone is aware of the problems but does anyone actually care anymore?

Would you or have you altered your way of life in the interests of preserving 'the environment'? Should governments take a harder approach to the issues...

I'm writing an essay on the federal government's power to legislate on environmental issues and whether there should be an express power under our constitution but I wonder whether the more important question is whether ALL governments should have an OBLIGATION to legislate and through that legislation initiate change.

Governments currently have a lot of freedom when it comes to the implementation of international standards and even before that, the establishment any standards can fall victim to a situation of 'lowest common denominator' - so the standards could be inadequate. Because a lot of environmental issues are borderless, it requires agreement and instead is prone to too much compromise.

Of course there is the issue of the right to develop and no doubt no-one wants to compromise their standard of living but honestly, shouldnt we do more....

 

[Tru Principle]

Don't worry about the enivroment, This planet has its ways of destroying what tries to destroy it. And yes I am worried about what we do to the enviroment, yes I try to do things that don't hurt the planet I live in.. But there's over 6 billion people on Earth, and all it takes is about a handful of people to destroy 1000s of species PER DAY, nuke ecosystem after ecosytem and burn holes through our ozone layer.

 

[The.Menace]

I care about the enviroment, but money doesn't and money rules this world, therfor politicans aren't intersted in those topics. I think it's stupid but.....maybe humans just are?

 

[PuffnScruff]

i dont think it is fair to say politicians are not interested in these type of topics, because that just simply is not true. the ones that do care just do not get media coverage because being a care bear does not sell. Governor of Montana Brian Schweitzer for example has shown not only he cares but also tries and find better alternative fuels that are cheaper and cleaner for the enviroment.

 

[S O F I]

Well, my post certainly won't help your paper, but I'll speak my mind on the matter.

I have not and would not alter my way of life to preserve the environment. Most people, if not all, could make the argument that governments should do more. However, governments don't.

 

[The.Menace]

i dont think it is fair to say politicians are not interested in these type of topics, because that just simply is not true.

Why is it then that the USA don't ratify the Kyoto protocol?

Let me quote wiki here.....

George W. Bush has indicated that he does not intend to submit the treaty for ratification, not because he does not support the general idea, but because of the strain he believes the treaty would put on the economy

....so what do we care about? The enviroment or the economy?

 

[PuffnScruff]

i was just trying to point out that there are some people in politics that care.i should have worded my statement better

 

[Amara]

i dont think it is fair to say politicians are not interested in these type of topics, because that just simply is not true.

Most people care, but just not enough. Not enough to change anything, not enough to implement certain standards, not enough to legislate, not enough to see that despite any growth of the economies or development, there are some things that money cant buy.

Seems like if you asked most people they would say, hmm yeah it is a shame that the environment is being devastated but would they actually be willing to change their lifestyle or would they welcome their governments strictly enforcing tight environmental safeguards to overcome certain problems? No-one wants to destroy the environment but its easier and more beneficial to keep going the way we are because there is no force pressing so dramatically upon us so as to ensure enforcement of standards. And even if they did, the standards arent all they should be.

Our governments are just like us, concerned about the now, trying to balance a lot of competing objectives. We all like our standard of living and if we were in a third world, we'd all no doubt welcome development to boost the economy so as to reach an acceptable standard of living. Because if this is achieved our governments are doing well, and if we as individuals maintain a certain amount of wealth, we have attained success - neither take into account the consequences. I just wonder what it will take to get out of this mindset, to stop thinking about gains in such a one track sense.

 

[S O F I]

....so what do we care about? The enviroment or the economy?

The economy.

Easiest question I had to answer in WoW.

 

[The.Menace]

i was just trying to point out that there are some people in politics that care.i should have worded my statement better

Yes some care but not those with power and it makes me sad. They put economy above anything else, above the envirment but also about social issues.

 

[Illuminattile]

....so what do we care about? The enviroment or the economy?

You say that as if the economy doesn't matter. You can't disregard the economy in order to protect the environment. It's a balancing act. Obviously Bush, in his infinite wisdom, thinks signing Kyoto would tip the scales.

 

[The.Menace]

You say that as if the economy doesn't matter. You can't disregard the economy in order to protect the environment. It's a balancing act. Obviously Bush, in his infinite wisdom, thinks signing Kyoto would tip the scales.

economy only matters so much. What people don't understand is that if some things come true, we might simply die. We might have another iceage etc etc etc. Of course I can disregard the economy. What if the worst scenario becomes true - then there won't be no economy left anyway..... people just lack of knowledge how serious the situation might be, they don't wanna hear it. It didn't happend yet so let's act the way we do right now, that is so incredible narrow minded that I don't want to accept it.

I think the focus on economy is the source of many problems, like I said before, all this social issues and the poverty in the world.

 

[Taliq]

I think one of the reasons people don't act in the 'interests' of the environment, is that it requires effort but does not yield a result straight away.

 

[HitEmUp21]

I think one of the reasons people don't act in the 'interests' of the environment, is that it requires effort but does not yield a result straight away.

I agree with this. I think people kind of have a sense of fatalism when this topic comes up, especially now we hear of India and China with huge populations becoming developed and industrialised, and I think that people feel that the burden is not on them any more. That said, I don't think we will truly listen until something becomes imminent, sadly. And also in relation to Taliq's statement, I think the inability to see the effects of what we are doing makes it difficult to really empathize. I mean, if you are told that you are emotionally scarring someone else, yet you see no difference in the way they act, do you change the way you act to let this up? In theory you may, but if you don't actually see the results of what you are doing, then it may be difficult to really keep up your actions.

I don't honestly care enough at all. To me, there are priorities and I think that people who in a lot of danger now are more important than people later. However, eventually this is going to be much bigger than people can imagine, I just lack the foresight to really see where the problems are headed. It's a shame too, because now it is actually well-known and we are told about it constantly, it's no longer some kind of Left-wing/Greenpeace counter-culture, it is a well-known thing, you would think that Governments (who haven't already) would act. (That is before you consider money, though.)

 

[Amara]

I don't honestly care enough at all. To me, there are priorities and I think that people who in a lot of danger now are more important than people later. However, eventually this is going to be much bigger than people can imagine, I just lack the foresight to really see where the problems are headed. It's a shame too, because now it is actually well-known and we are told about it constantly, it's no longer some kind of Left-wing/Greenpeace counter-culture, it is a well-known thing, you would think that Governments (who haven't already) would act. (That is before you consider money, though.)

Does it or should it make a difference that it is enshrined in the Rio Declaration that inter-generational equity in regard to the environment is to be given as much consideration as intra-generational, so that we are "obligated" by international convention to care about the effects of what we do now upon people and the environment in the future?

I dont think it takes too much particular foresight to comprehend that continued pollution, enhancement of the greenhouse effect, coupled with further urban development and land clearing ( which are already problems now), are going to be much worse if something isnt done... not being able to adequately assess the extent of the problems in the future doesnt justify not giving it the consideration it deserves now. Because if we look back and say, we didnt know it would get this bad, it would be a lie, because it's not that we dont really know or that we cant know, it's just that people choose not to think about it because we are too selfish and greedy and dont understand how messed up our priorities are.

 

[HitEmUp21]

Does it or should it make a difference that it is enshrined in the Rio Declaration that inter-generational equity in regard to the environment is to be given as much consideration as intra-generational, so that we are "obligated" by international convention to care about the effects of what we do now upon people and the environment in the future?

It certainly should, but I just think that it is so much easier to see what is happening now, rather than predicting what will happen, even if we have a very good idea of what will happen. It just seems that the future is still an abstract concept and the present we can actually see, so it is something that actually has a chance of hitting us and forcing us to do something about it. But sometimes that still isn't enough, I mean that so often people won't act on something unless it threatens their immediate interests. Plus the fact that we see ourselves as somewhat separated from "the environment," we need to begin to ourselves as truly part of the larger ecosystem, and until we do that we will continue to exploit the environment for whatever we can, with certain dire consequences.

I dont think it takes too much particular foresight to comprehend that continued pollution, enhancement of the greenhouse effect, coupled with further urban development and land clearing ( which are already problems now), are going to be much worse if something isnt done... not being able to adequately assess the extent of the problems in the future doesnt justify not giving it the consideration it deserves now. Because if we look back and say, we didnt know it would get this bad, it would be a lie, because it's not that we dont really know or that we cant know, it's just that people choose not to think about it because we are too selfish and greedy and dont understand how messed up our priorities are.

You are right, I'm not denying that. Don't get me wrong I'm not trying to justify my/our inaction, I am only putting forward reasons as to why we have this inaction, perhaps slightly rationalising it, thought. What you wrote and I put in bold is what I think the major problem is, and it goes back to people not acting until they/we see something threatening their/our own interests.

 

[The.Menace]

good posts hitemup21, I completly agree.

Because if we look back and say, we didnt know it would get this bad, it would be a lie, because it's not that we dont really know or that we cant know, it's just that people choose not to think about it because we are too selfish and greedy and dont understand how messed up our priorities are.

Agreed. That's why I see humans as stupid race. Seriously. We are so arrogant, feel so much bettert than animals - but if we can't avoid danger, what is our mind for? To invent cars and HTV (or whatever) - our mind makes us "special" and blessed but seriously, I doubt that these days - we know that something bad is going to happen, still we go str8 towards this direction - it simply doesn't make no sense. Humans are stupid, we deserve to die.

Another point I might make here is that from an evolutionary point of view, the human race has never actually proven that it was meant to live. We feel like we're here since forever but that ain't true. The human race is nothing but an experiment still and it might fail. That is what people should realize. The dinosaur died as a consequence of enviroment changes, they couldn't make it through and the same thing might happen to the human race. We have proven nothing yet