It is often said that we get the politicians we deserve...well, guess what what? We ARE the politicians...we ARE the world leaders. If we do not take responsibility for the world in which we live, there is no mysterious superhero World Leader going to come along to save us from ourselves. But having said that, I absolutely believe that our environment will be saved: by our putting pressure on our politicians to act and by acting ourselves in small incrementally helpful ways. And as that is increasingly what is happening, I have faith that (with God's help and by our own individual efforts) this environment WILL be saved.

It's tricky. Let's say nowadays most people need a car to drive to work and most cars run on gasoline. Alternatives are expensive and no option for most people.
Government makes us beleive that when they raise the price of gas, people will use the car less often or more efficient, which would be better for the environment. This doesn't help and they know it. It only brings more money into their pockets because of the tax. And nobody has to feel quilty this way because the can blame the people for using cars so much. Real smart.

Ask yourself why environmental friendly cars are so expensive. How about handing out benefits for everyone who trades in their regular car for a more environmental friendly car. There's an idea. Just like handing out benefits for people making an effort to insulate their houses and purchasing more energy efficient equipment for the house.
In 2004 I lived in the Netherlands and we got fully compensated by the government and our energy company for insulating our house. What does Canada do on this level? I beleive I did see a show on TV making this into a competition for couples to make their house more energy efficient and they could win a car or something.

It seems this world is run by Oil companies. Wars are being fought over Oil. Oil which fuels our cars. (As far as I know)
The forces in charge do not care about the environment. World leaders are in over their heads trying to solve this issue. All they can do is use their small blue box like you and I.
People do everything in their power to save the planet, but it's so depressing seeing the big diesel trucks, suv's and town busses blowing their filth into our air.
We have a long way to go. It's all about money and funding and some companies don't see a profit in saving the environment. Saving the environment also means investing huge amounts of money for transformation. The knowledge is there. All they have to do is apply it.

I saw a report on the CTV NEwsNET about the polar ice caps and how the wildlife will disappear with them. It makes me SICK how the world leaders are more interested in money. Our Canadian government's climate change plan is a JOKE! Not that I would be able to do any better, but I'm not a politican or a world leader. The Polar Bears are suffering, along with other wildlife. IT's not fair one bit!

But hey, as evangelicals will tell us, this is all part of God's divine plan. The Lord is going to put an end very soon to the evil in this world. He'll bring an end to suffering.

In my mind, this is complete BS (pardon my language). The responsibility lies with us human beings. We have a responsibility to be good stewards of this earth, to treat the animals with care and to take care of the environment. I realize I am somewhat of a hypocrite because I eat meat, But I'm not out there cutting down thousands of trees everyday, destroying natural wildlife. I saw a report a while ago about how the fishermen in the seas are destroying the coral reefs at the bottom of the oceans with their nets that they try to catch the fish with. Thus, they are destroying a natural habitat. And the government of Canada won't do anything about it because they want to see more scientific evidence. In other words, they don't want to lose money!

How long can this earth put up with our abuse? WAKE UP PEOPLE! Is God going to come down in a flash of light and save us from destroying ourselves? I don't think so one bit. As I said, the responsibility is ours.

I am getting sick and tired of what we are doing to this earth. And the evangelicals are standing aside focusing on other issues. Yes indeed, two gay people loving eachother is more damaging to society than Global WArming. Sex is more evil than destroying wild-life.

Sorry to go off on a tangent, but as you can see I am really passionate about this. Any thoughts?

Harry McNichol

We can not expect the leaders to do it for us. We must all learn what we can do in a small way, and implement those changes in our home and community. then we can expect someone else to do it. the fact that Al Gore is no longer in the government, but is actively promoting environmental solutions makes an obvious statement. It is unlikely that you can be strongly interested in the environment and keep your political job.
The Wars in Afghanistan and Iraq are about oil. Our governments are involved. They do not have the courage nor the vision to make those decisions for us.
the responsibility rests with each individual.

Of course they would do it...if they knew what it was they were supposed to do! Does anyone actually know what it will take to save the environment?

I think most people have to look at themselves and their own homes and lifes first. That's where people have the most power.
For one thing I would like to see a better recycling program in place which separates everything harmfull from our household garbage. Are the waste management companies up to date on that? Do they get enough funding to meet the standards?

It's so easy to put off fixing things when you know you're moving to another place soon and you can leave it all behind. Isn't that the attitude of most people, really?

Yesterday I read in the paper that they have bought a low emission Go-Bus and planning to get more of these low fosfor diesel busses. It brought it down 90%.
It's nice to see a big company like "the Go" making a difference and setting an example for other big companies.
I guess things are changing.

I work in politics in my day job and if we don't pressure our elected representatives to see the environment as a real political issue they are not going to listen. We don't need to be militant, trust me they tune that out but we do need to be steadfast and resolute. Also know that there are those who are working from the inside to bring about this change, in all parties.

The stats say 3 in 4 people do not believe that world leaders will do what it takes to save the environment.

Let's be clear on this. We are talking about the earth's ability to sustain life.
We are part of the environment. Do 75% believe the earth is doomed or that the action needed to save it will come from forces other than world leaders?

If you believe people other than world leaders need to take action, what action are you taking?

Mass pessimism spooks me.

We have personal power to make choices that reduce harm to the earth.
Inform yourself, and others, and take action.

Please don't sit there waiting for the sky to fall around you.

Phil

Amen Phil! We are the most powerful weapon we have and yet it is the most underutilized. How can we sit ideally by and expect our politicians to do something when we don't.

I voted no, however that doesn't even come close to expressing how I actually feel. I would hope that a government would put the environment at the forefront of any list of issues. However, that is not the case in politics today. Humans (whether or not this is human nature is not for me t osay) are short-term thinkers. We think 5 years ahead, instead of 25 years. This leads to another problem. Politicians are given a very short time period, in which they have to do two things:

a) Keep the people happy, and do what they feel is best.

b) Stay popular with the voters, so that they can be re-elected.

These two goals are sometimes not both obtainable. And when it comes down to it, they would rather keep their job than do what is right. Thus, instead of making policy that favours the environment, they make policy that favours the economy. Rarely is it possible to make a decision that affects both in a positive way. This is the reason that no politician is willing to risk economic instability for the sake of the environment. The saying "Short-term pain, long-term gain" applies. However, in a political setting, if you are the one responsible for the short-term pain, you certainly won't be re-elected to bask in the glory of the long-term gain.

This is why the people need to be the ones who start saving the environment. Sometimes , I think I am making a difference, I think that by recycling, and going to the washroom outside (Being a guy makes this one pretty easy) I am making the world better. But who am I kidding. We are going to need to undergo some major cuts to the lifestyle that we are accustommed to in order to really make a difference. We need to re-think every aspect of our daily lives, and the majority of people (who are the people only thinking in the short-term, about making more money and having a nicer car and a bigger house) will not be willing to give up the comforts we have become accustomed to.

I have been considering a complete change in lifestyle (I'm 17, so I will be deciding how I am going to live my adult life). I've thought about moving up north and living with as little dependance on electricity and fossil fuels as possible, or perhaps moving to Africa and living a nomadic life. These are extreme ideas, but sometimes I think that these are the only ways that I will truly feel good about myself. And it always comes back to things like healthcare. In order to have healthcare, we need a western-type society. However, all the baggage that comes wirth that society is what we don't want. It's quite a catch 22.

When there are so many peole in the world longing to live like we live here in Canada, I sometimes find myself longing to live like them, in a society where we aren't concerned with chemicals and pollution.

Recently, I have moved away from "believing in God" in the formal sense of the word. It seems to me that I don't need to believe in God to do good things with my life. But maybe God is the answer in all of this. I don't really know how, but it seems like the easiest answer...

Sorry for such a long tirade (with so many different issues adressed) but I have been thinking of these inter-twined issues for a long time now.

-Goeff

as much as its easy for me to yell at every politicians who seem to ignore the kyoto accord, or cancel improvements to bike paths and transit systems (yes, that happened in winnipeg!) i think a lot of this is caused by the general populations apathy. - politically, environmentally, and i am sure on many other issues as well. in winnipeg, it seems like whenever there is an environmental concern raised its the same group of 20 people lobbying. the same 20 people at the grass roots environmental conferences. the same 20 people trying to engage 600,000 winnipeggers and win over the opinions of city council. its no wonder environmental issues are not top concern - no great mass of people express concern. take, for instance, the last civic election here - only 38% voter turn out- what does this say about concern for any issues? no one cares, or no one expresses their concerns to politicians.
so, even if we were to get beyond the great apathy and become politically active - do people actually care about the environment?
i watched a story on the cbc national a few nights ago, highlighting the effects of global warming in africa. already poor villages are being faced with extreme droughts, and when it does rain it floods. local bodies of water have gone up 4C over the last 50 years, which is promoting algae growth. soon their water sources will be covered in algae, toxic to humans and wildlife. they are left with no useful land to grow food, no water sources.
though we - the suv drivers, the people expending tonnes of energy to heat and cool our homes, amassing and then disposing of a gross amount of plastics and junk - feel a bit of consequences of our actions. every second child in canada has an asthma puffer, our cities are hazy with smog, gmo's, a few polluted natural areas here and there. leaching of execrement from a commercial pig farm - the huge environmental problems seem to be ravanging the people who arent involved in the large scale pollution.
will we only care when its affecting us directly? it all comes back to that NIMBY thing....
and the fact we dont want to giveup our lifestyle - consider vegan-friendly "meat" or energy efficient cars, or drugs without side effects....
it seems like it all comes down to apathy & standard of living

*Ahem*, everyone listening? Okay. That poll question is not black and white, it's gray. World leaders WILL try to do something .... but it might be way too late for us when they finally realize they have to do something.

Are we willing to pay more for everything? Possibly much much more?

Are we willing to risk that some of our industries will go down the tubes, at least in the short term?

Are we willing to have less stuff?

Are we willing to redefine waht a healthy economy is?

Until a majority of people are ready to say yes to those questions and to push our leadership to accept those realities then change becomes, at the very least, terribly difficult.

Until we all develop a 'it's not about me' centredness and change our North American pronouns from 'I' to 'we', why should our politicians?

Knowing the motivations that bring people to office is important. For some politicians there is a real interest in doing the right thing; for others it is a job like any other. For the former group, I believe the science has made it clear that we must pay attention to this creation we are called to steward; for the latter, if we the voters make it an important issue, self-interest and a philosophy of re-election will make a difference.

Another positive move may be 'outlawing' corporate political contributions and lobbyists.

We can't depend on political leaders to make the changes necessary. Those changes will only come when we demonstrate by our actions that WE want change and are willing to work for it. The first steps are ours to take, however small. Take the time to recycle all we can. Use low flush toilets and low flow shower heads. Turn down the thermostat. Move closer to work and take the bus. And then challenge ourselves to take additional steps, however small, each year. And surround yourselves with people who will support you as you take those small steps, and encourage each other to keep moving.

Do I thnk our leaders will do what it takes? I'm not sure we even know what it will take. But I think, at this stage, it will take some fairly drastic measures. I know we like to feel that "if I do a little bit and if you do a little bit and if we all do a little bit, it will help". But, honestly, I think we will have to make some real changes in the way we do everything. I think that, somehow, we will have to rethink some of our most basic structures and ways of doing things. We might have to accept that success won't be what it is now ... we look at a successful person as one who is doing the job they like and are good at. Maybe we will have to accept that it isn't good for the environment that everyone has a job. "The one-family-home" might have to be a thing of the past and we may have to go back to where 2 or even 3 generations share the same home ... all at the same time. Maybe one car will have to serve 2 or 3 families, one lawn mower manufactured to last because it will have to serve 10 families on the same street. To manufacture goods that are "programmed" to break down in a certain length of time, to me, is sinful in a world that is using so many non-renewable resources. I'm not very good at explaining how I feel, but I'm aftaid that we've reached the point where the sacrifices we have to make might be very basic and very difficult and very different from what we've known. Our expectations will have to change and get back to where our entire society is operating in a sustainable manner. Maybe we will even get to the point where, when we buy a new pair of jeans, we expect to wear them out through hard use ... not already worn out by machines, in the name of fashion, before we even put them on. Because the energy used to wear that fabric out is valuable and needed for more important things.
On the bright side I do see change happening and some of it is good. Values regarding employment have changed and I find our childrens' views and expectations are changing from what ours were. Bill and I would have been devastated if we were not employed. We expected our careers and our employers would last our entire lives and to be without a job was a disgrace. But our children often work on "contracts" and look forward to the periods when they are not employed and spend the time home looking after their children.
As I said before, I'm sometimes not all that great at expressing myself. I see that huge change will be needed in our culture but I also see younger people who are more open to change than my generation was or is.
The thing is, I feel, that our leaders haven't a clue what it is going to take in the long run. History shows that an economy can be changed almost overnight if "war" is declared. It may be necessary to "declare war" on the causes of climate change and the other things that are killing us in our environment. During WW2 (according to what I've read - I'm not that old) people put up with rationing and did without a lot, whether they liked it or not. Such changes, done fairly so that they affect EVERYONE equally, may be what we have to do. But someone has to tell our leaders. I don't think they'll come upon it by themselves.
But I'm only one person and probably way off base in what I'm thinking. It just seems to me, though, that God gave us a nearly perfect world to live in and we've messed it up pretty badly. I hope we get the chance to do what we can to fix it up again.

I wish people would get off this kick that this general global warming trend is anthropogenic. It isn't. There is no evidence whatsoever that any of this is man-made. These global warming alarmists supply proof that the planet is warming and then pass that off as also evidence that humans are causing it. Baloney!

Too many people out there want to believe that we're way more infuential than we really are. Maybe it's because we want to think of ourselves as being more significant than we really are.

I think when, as a society, we try to rid ourselves of God, all we're left with is ourselves. But the truth is, we're just too small, and that fact makes us terribly uncomfortable. So, we attempt to elevate ourselves by telling each other that we're capable of really BIG things; like killing our planet.

On top of that, too many of the people advocating for government action on things like climate change, etc. simply like it when other people listen to them and actually do what they say. In other words, they're busybodies.

Why is it that Sweden, Britain and even the United States with much larger and denser populations are capable of reducing their greenhouse emissions but Canada cannot?

It seems that we have a wide derth of leaders that lack vision, ethical standards and sadly lack the courage to do what is absolutely right for future generations. It is our children and grandchildren that these men are threatening with their refusal to meet the needs of our planet.

The devastation that will be caused will make the World War I and II look like nothing. Maybe it is the last days and it is our fundamental greed that will cause the deaths of billions of people.

I think you have expressed yourself very well, Woodshedwife. And I agree that some major changes are necessary in the way we think. Some of your ideas are ones which I share. Unfortunately, it seems to me, we usually change our actions and our mindsets in small steps. So my hope in encouraging folks to believe that the small things matter is to encourage a sense of responsibility and concern for the environment. As that develops, as we come to see and love the holiness in Creation just as we love the holiness of God, then we become more inclined towards and capable of taking larger steps. That may seem like an impossibly long term project, but I hope it isn't. If we can instill some of these ideas in our children maybe things will change in a generation. Is that too long? I would love to think that we could declare a "war on pollution" and have a sea change in our attitudes in three years, but I am not convinced. For what it's worth.

Further to my earlier post:

Al "I invented the internet" Gore pretentiously warns us all, claiming: "We are altering the balance of energy between our planet and the rest of the universe."

The universe?!? What we're doing here on Earth is upsetting the entire universe?!? Sheesh, I knew the ol' ex-veep laboured under delusions of grandeur and has always been possessed of a major messiah-complex, but now he doean't just think that we all need to listen to him in order to save ourselves or the world, now he thinks he's saving the whole universe! My goodness.

C'mon people, let's just stop and think for a moment. It's being drilled into us that human activity is warming up the planet, and I do acknowledge that there exists a general warming trend over the past 150 years or so. But climatologists on both sides of this 'anthopogenic warming' debate agree that the planet has warmed up a total of about 0.6 - 0.8 degrees Celsius. It's also agreed that most of that warming occurred during the period covering ca. 1890 to 1940. That warming then decreased a little throughout the 40s to about 1975. Since the mid 70s general temperatures have experienced a slight upturn in warming. Although the year 1992 saw marked cooling, but that was because of the massive dust and soot thrown into the atmosphere by the eruption of Mt. Pinatubo. (Which is why Al "I was the inspiration for the book and movie 'Love Story'" Gore otherwise arbitrarily starts several of his climate calculations from that year. Not exactly all that forthright of him, is it? If he had started in 1991, taking the cooler temperatures of 1992 into account, he would have needed to conclude that we're experiencing global COOLING!)

But all this is the exact opposite of what should be happening if global warming is man-made! With all the industrial activity since 1940 that human civilzation has engaged in--not to mention WW II--by far most of the warming should have taken place since then, but it hasn't. Want further evidence? Each night, while watching the weather forecast on the news, note the date of the majority of those record highs. Note how many of them ante-date 1940. My goodness, many of them pre-date the turn of the 20th-century!

Are some of those record high temperatures being broken now? Sure! I've already acknowledged that we're experiencing a general warming trend. But if we're to blame for all the warmth now, at the beginning of the 21st-century, what's to blame for all that warmth at the end of the 19th?

Let's calm down, folks. All the geological evidence--including those ice core samples Al "We've got to get a handle on over-population, yet Tipper and I have four kids" Gore laughably points to and claims that we can see, with the naked eye, where he and Clinton passed the US Clean Air Act--shows that our planet goes through a natural climate cycle that covers about 1500 years. During the 1st-century, it was so warm (at least in the northern hemisphere) Roman records show that some of the finest wine throughout the empire came from cultivated vineyards in Britain. How many world-class wineries are there in the UK today? During the 11th-century the Saxons were producing wine in Britain. Can't do that now. About a 1000 years ago, it was so warm, Vikings were growing crops in Greenland that could sustain them year-round. Can't do that now. Around that time Russian farmers were growing wheat throughout most of Siberia. Can't do that now. It's too cold. But when things warm up, just think of all the land that will be opened up for growing more food.

dcyates - ive heard a bit about that new trend as well - how the world is kind of cleaning its atmosphere up lately.
global warming is definitely a hot topic, however, to really look at environmental issues youve got to go beyond one subject. even if global warming isnt what its made out to be, the affects of the western lifestyle on the environment cannot be ignored.

I understand what you're saying, colourgreen. But at the same time, I honestly don't think it's something we really need to worry about. I've already mentioned this on another thread, so at the risk of repeating myself, all human civilization throughout the world emits approximately 2 - 3 billion tonnes (otherwise known as gigatonnes, or GT) of CO2 into the atmosphere per annum. Now I realize, on a human scale, that seems like a heck of a lot. But let's remember, there's anywhere from 750 to 830 GT of CO2 in the Earth's atmosphere at any given time. Earth's own land and oceans emit about 210 GT of CO2 into the air each year, dwarfing our contribution. But even aside from that, given that the variance of CO2 in the atmosphere is around 80 GT, our emissions of 2 or 3 GT is, at most, negligible. And besides all that, it turns out that as far as global warming greenhouse gases (GHG) are concerned, CO2 plays an extremely minor role as a 'forcing' agent. CO2 makes up a mere 2% of all the GHG in the atmosphere to begin with. The real culprit is water vapour, which makes up about 97% of the GHG. Here it turns out, we shouldn't be going after big oil; we should instead be protesting against the sun's shining and should start lobbying against the planet's hydrological cycle. But somehow chanting, "Down with big clouds! Down with big clouds! Up with dry riverbeds!" just doesn't have the same panache as "Down with Halliburton! Down with BP!"

dcyates- your explanations re:global warming have the ring of "truthiness", but let's face it, what do you really know about science? It's not helpful for us to be still debating whether or not global warming is a fantasy. It reminds me of the debate around the homeless people living in my city.....we see their numbers growing daily...we walk right by them on our way to work....but there are still some who think that it's not really a problem, because the poor have always been with us, right? And I wonder, how bad do things have to get before something is done? And who is going to do it? The government? community groups? you? me?
With global warming, it will take all of us, of course, working together to shift things back to a sustainable path. And I really don't know if we're going to be able to respond to the challenges that await us....I'm doing what I can. My family drives a Prius, we've been recycling for years, we buy organic or locally grown food as much as possible. and fair trade goods when we can....but I have to admit that I'm discouraged by the fact that most of my neighbours and my government do not walk the talk.....yet.

I'd love to say yes to this one but I am skeptical. Politics is most often about power, not about what is right and good. As a people, we have to abandon the apathy we have demonstrated in the past and realized that we have power we are not using. We elect our politicians and yet the reasons people say they vote for someone are often appallingly ill-informed and/or irrelevant. In addition, we need to learn to live mindfully. Have you noticed that we are getting more organic foods in our grocery stores because we are buying more of them? We are buying smaller cars, that use less gas, and are building smarter, more energy-efficient houses. However, as David Suzuki and others have been trying to tell us for some time, TIME is of the essence. Will we wake up in time? Will the politicians wake up in time? I HOPE so.

I believe the Bible says that if Jesus did not return humans would destroy the planet and we seem bent on that.

I'm fed up with hearing what politicians are or aren't doing to save the environment. What am I doing? should be the question in all our minds? Am I walking instead of driving? Am I staying home instead of running to and fro when it's unnecessary? Am I rejecting purchases that arrive in wasteful packaging? Am I recycling as much as possible?

I must quit looking at the castoff cigarette butt in someone else's eye and yank out the full can of garbage in my own eyes.

I believe the politicians and business interests will follow when they see what is important to me They will still want my dollar whether it's for an over-packaged item or a simply-packaged item.

Democratic leaders ARE following the priorities we set else we would vote them out of office!