Today I personally am not proud to be an American citizen. If you have not been following the Climate Summit negotiations in Copenhagen you will be surprised to know that at this moment countries around the world do not hold our country in high esteem and indeed it looks like we will be known for what we are: the biggest polluters on the planet and unwilling to change our lifestyles even when developing countries, who have added little to the global emissions build up, are beginning to suffer the effects of climate warming.
350.0rg sent a message last night that our current agreements will result in over 3.9 C degrees of warming by 2100. The goal was to keep parts per million (ppm) of carbon dioxide emissions to 350 ppm or below. The current commitments will be 770 ppm. Obama will arrive in Copenhagen today but the expectation is that he’ll continue to offer only a 4% reduction below 1990 levels by 2050. This is not much of a commitment in terms of what the rest of the world is willing to do. Mud on our faces…but worse, all our children and grandchildren will inherit a world where living may be a nightmare. I personally thought we would do better than this. But why? Special interests have always ruled American politics. Obama, like all others before him, has caved to these interests, and in trying to be reelected, he has assured he will become a one term President. I am very disappointed in his leadership.
We can say without exaggerating that Americans shopped while Rome burned. Shame on us!
Susan Feathers 