Earth 2100????

[inchworm]

True. So the individuals need to take on the initiative. My local town had their first "Greenfest." A church had tables for swapping clothes, they had recycling lectures and bins, lectures on composting, vendors for rain barrels, etc. They had a great turn out -- especially for a rural area. The town provided crowd control, a volunteer group did the planning, and the vendors paid for the rest.

 

[2dream]

The governement does exactly what the people allow them to do. Right now that allowance is anything they want. We the people can change it at any time. The problem is WE THE PEOPLE are at odds with what WE want. People over here want to save the whales, and those over there are trying to save the spotted owl. Joe Blow and Susie are wanting to continue to drive their SUV and live in a mansion while Dick and Jane want backyard chickens, a garden and a reduction in plastic use. Bob and Sally retired 3 years ago with wonderful pensions because Bob made a killing in the stock market and they don't care about any of it. Bob golfs everyday and Sally is President of the local garden club and their grandchildren attend private schools so they won't have to deal with the low lifes. All the while homeless people are looking for their next meal and children in the Appalachians are starving.


All Aboard - This Handbasket will be leaving soon.

 

[kohburn]

The governement does exactly what the people allow them to do. Right now that allowance is anything they want. We the people can change it at any time. The problem is WE THE PEOPLE are at odds with what WE want. People over here want to save the whales, and those over there are trying to save the spotted owl. Joe Blow and Susie are wanting to continue to drive their SUV and live in a mansion while Dick and Jane want backyard chickens, a garden and a reduction in plastic use. Bob and Sally retired 3 years ago with wonderful pensions because Bob made a killing in the stock market and they don't care about any of it. Bob golfs everyday and Sally is President of the local garden club and their grandchildren attend private schools so they won't have to deal with the low lifes. All the while homeless people are looking for their next meal and children in the Appalachians are starving.

too true, there is a serious disconnect in the nation. I blame part of it on the federal government trying to do everything rather than leaving it up to individual states to handle. its easier to get a single state to agree than a whole nation of states.

so for now each of us does what we can and votes accordingly, hoping for the best.

 

[Wifezilla]

people seem to forget that the governments are supposed to be representative of the will of the people.

Depends on the country. We still have a lot of monarchies, dictatorships, war lord areas, etc...

If the "leaders of the world" are so smart, how did things get to this point in the first place? America hasn't been around that long. Where are all the government lead utopias? These other countries had a several thousand year head start on us.

 

[Big Daddy]

people seem to forget that the governments are supposed to be representative of the will of the people.

Depends on the country. We still have a lot of monarchies, dictatorships, war lord areas, etc...

If the "leaders of the world" are so smart, how did things get to this point in the first place? America hasn't been around that long. Where are all the government lead utopias? These other countries had a several thousand year head start on us.

Well the USA created a signifigant portion of the problem. Europe of course was the first industrialized continent and started the mess. When the US hit their industrial revolution the mess got much bigger. People didn't realize what we were doing until the 60's. That would be the alarmist stage. At that point you had the believers and the ostriches in the civilian population. Then there was the alarmist's and the corporations putting out the info. Both sides knew what was going on and what was happening to the air. The corporate crooks of course didn't care and of course their political party had to satisfy their corporate masters so they looked the other way and let it continue. Of course that party wasn't in power all the time so occasionaly some laws would get passed to make things better much to the dissatisfaction of the corporate blood suckers. But the party that cared couldn't stay in office all the time. We had to have a bona fide crook and then an actor that convinced his followers that govt is bad and then an Alfred E Newman type guy that didn't believe in science. With all those set backs especially during the last 8 years it is no wonder the earth is where it is. America is a world leader and has the influence to make things better. Too bad the last 8 years was a total waste. If it wasn't for the electoral college we would be a lot farther along. We can't correct the last 8 years but we can pull our heads out of the sand and try to make things better now.

 

[FarmerChick]

it's up to the governments of the world to take care of controlling it

'Cause they are doing such a BANG UP job now???

I hear you in general about the govt....but truly, people won't do it for themselves. Govt must step in and take control at some point. will it help??? who knows???
and remember--govt. is only human beings we elect.....

 

[FarmerChick]

The governement does exactly what the people allow them to do. Right now that allowance is anything they want. We the people can change it at any time. The problem is WE THE PEOPLE are at odds with what WE want. People over here want to save the whales, and those over there are trying to save the spotted owl. Joe Blow and Susie are wanting to continue to drive their SUV and live in a mansion while Dick and Jane want backyard chickens, a garden and a reduction in plastic use. Bob and Sally retired 3 years ago with wonderful pensions because Bob made a killing in the stock market and they don't care about any of it. Bob golfs everyday and Sally is President of the local garden club and their grandchildren attend private schools so they won't have to deal with the low lifes. All the while homeless people are looking for their next meal and children in the Appalachians are starving.


All Aboard - This Handbasket will be leaving soon.

good post 2dream!

you are right cause humans are users. we are not in the nature order anymore and eventually it will all be so unbalanced that drastic action will have to be taken.....who knows what and when but it will come!!????

 

[FarmerChick]

people seem to forget that the governments are supposed to be representative of the will of the people.

Depends on the country. We still have a lot of monarchies, dictatorships, war lord areas, etc...

If the "leaders of the world" are so smart, how did things get to this point in the first place? America hasn't been around that long. Where are all the government lead utopias? These other countries had a several thousand year head start on us.

Well the USA created a signifigant portion of the problem. Europe of course was the first industrialized continent and started the mess. When the US hit their industrial revolution the mess got much bigger. People didn't realize what we were doing until the 60's. That would be the alarmist stage. At that point you had the believers and the ostriches in the civilian population. Then there was the alarmist's and the corporations putting out the info. Both sides knew what was going on and what was happening to the air. The corporate crooks of course didn't care and of course their political party had to satisfy their corporate masters so they looked the other way and let it continue. Of course that party wasn't in power all the time so occasionaly some laws would get passed to make things better much to the dissatisfaction of the corporate blood suckers. But the party that cared couldn't stay in office all the time. We had to have a bona fide crook and then an actor that convinced his followers that govt is bad and then an Alfred E Newman type guy that didn't believe in science. With all those set backs especially during the last 8 years it is no wonder the earth is where it is. America is a world leader and has the influence to make things better. Too bad the last 8 years was a total waste. If it wasn't for the electoral college we would be a lot farther along. We can't correct the last 8 years but we can pull our heads out of the sand and try to make things better now.

alot of people see these problems as countries.....I see it as human problems. People are the users. All countries use. So do all the business in Africa and China and everywhere else have compact flourscents in their light sockets? Do their stop lights have LED in them like my town does now?

yea some countries use more than others but America and other big users also implement alot of conservation measures......

so I guess it is the old catch 22. more people mean more usage and some use more than others but it still boils down to people on this planet.

 

[DrakeMaiden]

Heidi -- Here is a link to an article on ABC about Earth 2100 , it looks like the video of the program may be over in the right margin.

 

[Big Daddy]

alot of people see these problems as countries.....I see it as human problems. People are the users. All countries use. So do all the business in Africa and China and everywhere else have compact flourscents in their light sockets? Do their stop lights have LED in them like my town does now?

yea some countries use more than others but America and other big users also implement alot of conservation measures......

so I guess it is the old catch 22. more people mean more usage and some use more than others but it still boils down to people on this planet.

The US is far ahead on controlling the pollution. When I was in Germany in 1981-83, none of their cars had emission controls. All the trees along the autobahn were dying. There was a lot of talk from their green party about putting a speed limit on the autobahn since cars put out so much more pollution at higher speeds or to use emission devices. It got shut down of course. In Germany only well to do people drive. Most of the population can't afford the cost of getting a license. It was 2000.00 in 1981 for a German citizen. It was 5.00 for a US citizen. That cost included 40 hrs of driver training for the Germans.

Look at India and China. They are 3rd world countries that are just now going through an industrial revolution. Who's responsible for their industrial revolution? Mostly the US. Before we started outsourcing all our jobs, those 2 countries had little industry. They are now industrial giants. Problem is that their factories put out the same emissions that ours did in the 50's and 60's. In China the govt is the evil corporation and of course profit is more important than quality of life or clean air to breathe. Since they are communist's the people got nothing to say. The only reason for them to put scrubbers on their smoke stacks is to make the US and other consumer countries happy. Both countries have no emission controls on their cars. Of course most of the population uses bicycles.

Brazil cuts down all their trees to make money through the wood industry. The only thing slowing it down is the US and Europe paying them more to leave the trees there than they can make cutting them down.

The people that are in power and in charge of corporations are for the most part evil and greedy. Most politicians are the same way. It is a people vs country problem. It's just that the people that live in some countries are better able to control what happens through elections. When people stick their head in the sand and say that everything is alarmism to make a profit nothing gets better. The corporations just keep on destroying our world. I'm glad to see that most of the people on this thread are able to accept reality and willing to make an effort to make things better.