A soon to be released study says we must get carbon emissions below zero within 20 years to avoid excessive warming (over 2 degreees C). http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/09/20/us-carbon-climate-idUSTRE78J3IK20110920
If, like me, you've followed the US presidential race at all, you know this will never happen. Obama's administration is in crisis, it's worsening every day. The Republicans actually have a shot at toppling a sitting President in 2012. And who is the front runner? Climate change denying Rick Perry!
Just one of the contenders admits Anthropogenic Global Warming (AGW) is real. One of this fossil-fueled group of walking brain-dead idiots is likely to become the next "leader of the free world." And he's not likely to want to limit carbon emissions.
Hell, even if there were a President who wanted to do something about it, I don't think he (or she) could. The system is just that messed up. The great vision of the founding fathers of the US was that the system is one of checks and balances. That way no one could hijack things and make radical changes.
But today a radical change is needed for survival. And we've got gridlock at the highest levels. Not only that, but there is a large faction of irrational people basing public policy on Biblical revelations, petroleum profits, and lobbyist pay-offs.
If we are lucky, the US economy will tank further. If the US becomes irrelevant, then perhaps the world can come to an understanding without the US. But as long as gun totin' V8 drivin' red-blooded Americans rule the world, we are doomed.
Get out your shorts. It's going to be a warm century ahead.
Some say, "Think positive." But a rational perspective on the state of the world can only come to one conclusion: We're doomed!
