20/20 reports on end of life on Earth and blames you, me, Jones Day and bad industries... basically, they blame Ohio

Submitted by Norm Roulet on Wed, 08/30/2006 - 21:49.

 

The disturbing juxtapositioning of social unconsciousness in NEO, reflected by the billboards above, found on Detroit at W. 28th Street, says it all about what is wrong with America today and our economy. Raw selfishness championed by the baby-boom generation has corrupted core, co-conspiring, selfish Gen-X leadership, placing Cleveland and human existence in jeopardy. In a quote from a 20/20 program today on the end of life on Earth, a scientist said "our children and grandchildren already tell us we ruined everything" and that is so correct. I apologized this weekend to my 12 year old daughter for today's leaders destroying her planet, and challenged her to focus her life on saving Earth, as the future clearly depends upon her and the next generations. After an hour and half of the 20/20 program "Last Days on Earth", exploring what may end human existence, from comets and pandemics to nuclear war, the program's conclusion was that we are already destroying the planet through CO2/pollution, and climate change will end human existence in less than 100 years, without significant change in human behavior and global leadership.

In exploring the issue more deeply, the scientists 20/20 interviewed about global warming pointed out that all real scientists agree man has destroyed the environment and global climate, and they blame a few corrupt industry leaders for the fact humans are not now fully addressing the problem - this is the fault of the same "tabacco-industry" style leaders who control NEO... coal, industrial polluters, their lawyers like at Cleveland's Jones Day, and corrupt politicians and mainstream media... all on the payrolls of industry. One scientist 20/20 interviewed gives mankind 50 years... I expect less. So, as the program asked, what do we do in the face of eminent human extinction? Have kids, pray or get drunk? How about demanding change and taking responsibility in our own lives and for the behavior of orhers.

The greatest risk to human existence is the anti-science, irrational fundamentalist religious virus that has infected America, and other corners of the planet. In a recent USA Today poll, clearly 85% of Americans do not even believe in evolution - they are anti-science and are not going to be easy converts to the concept that man is destroying the planet, as they place their trust in their selfish futures in whatever version of God to which they subscribe. Bad politicians have mastered the exploitation of these fundamentalist extremists to great global harm, just as religious terrorists use religion to justify mass human extermination, and that has finally tipped the global scales away from environmental balance to disastrous ends. If society is not able to place scientific reality above religious fanaticism, human existence is not sustainable, and the end will be very soon and not be in rapture.

Assuming religious fanaticism is put in check, at a global level, the battle for the survival of humans will become a global cause, but be fought at the national and local levels. I am confident that over the next two years enough of the intelligent and rational people in America will realize human existence is in jeopardy, and will demand change in our nation and at a global level. I do not know if we can influence China and other major polluting nations, but I am hopeful global economic interests will eventually balance the ecological scales to buy mankind more time to develop mature long term strategies for the future of the planet. Where I see that thus impacting NEO is we have the choice now to become a good champion of the future, or to be to blame for the woes of 6 billion people - right now we are the enemy of global human survival.

If you follow the media and political spins on coal and pollution in NEO you know Ohio is pro-pollution, as that is viewed as pro-industry, as our industry-funded leaders see it. Based on such regressive environmental positioning, NEO and Ohio are positioned to be hated by all informed, enlightened people of Earth... this embarrassment is in addition to the scorn we already face for the high level of religious fundamentalism in our leadership ranks, making us a laughing stock of the enlightened. Under such circumstances, it is inconceivable that smart, progressive people will move and stay here, as this is not a place that is morally acceptable to them. As such, no progressive, "new" economic development policies will stick, as the people that the new economy depends upon will shun our dirty air, land, water, politics and economics. So, to be real about economic development in NEO, we need to be real about our global position on pollution, now... a windmill won't do it.

Polluting economies are the enemy of progressive global society and human existence, but, with great, progressive leadership today, NEO could rise to the ranks of great communities at a global level... we are small enough to shift focus and act quickly in a very big way... but not if we act spoiled, and think, "so what", as we demonstrate today on our surface.

 

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Does this make you want to live in OH or California

Submitted by Norm Roulet on Thu, 08/31/2006 - 11:11.

There is an important Associated Press article supporting my position on the importance of strong environmental leadership for the future of the NEO new economy, buried and in brief on page A8 of the 08/31/06 Plain Dealer, but not on Cleveland.com at all (another reason Cleveland.com is not of value to the world) - a more thorough treatment of the subject is found on the home page of the New York Times online... "Officials Reach California Deal to Cut Emissions". Such progressive political leadership is one of the reasons California is so desirable to enlightened and progressive global citizens, who are the leaders and engines of the global new economy. Read the brief highlights below and consider would you rather live in a progressive, problem-solving state like California, or a regressive, pollution-promoting state like Ohio.

California’s political leaders announced an agreement on Wednesday that imposes the most sweeping controls on carbon dioxide emissions in the nation, putting the state at the forefront of a broad campaign to curb the man-made causes of climate change despite resistance in Washington.

 Although the deal in California is strongly opposed by Republicans in the Legislature and many business leaders across the state, it assures that a bill on the restrictions will be passed before the legislative session ends Thursday and will be signed by Mr. Schwarzenegger, the leaders said Wednesday.

Since taking office in 2003, Mr. Schwarzenegger, who is seeking reelection in November, has supported efforts to fight climate change, most recently by signing an agreement with Prime Minister Tony Blair of Britain to do cooperative research on new clean-energy technologies.

The governor said Wednesday that the deal struck with Democrats would make “California a world leader in the effort to reduce carbon emissions.”

“The success of our system will be an example for other states and nations to follow as the fight against climate change continues,” Mr. Schwarzenegger added.

The Assembly speaker, Fabian Núñez, who sponsored the bill along with Assemblywoman Fran Pavley, said at a news conference here, “We feel that California has always been a leader in protecting the environment.”

“We now have moved it to the next level,’’ said Mr. Núñez, a Los Angeles Democrat. “We’d all like to see California one day be carbon free.”

The state’s action, he said, could set off a “bottom-up” movement for curbs of heat-trapping gases in states around the country.

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PD has amazing editorial from EU Ambassador to USA

Submitted by Norm Roulet on Thu, 08/31/2006 - 11:37.

I was amazed to read in the PD this morning an editorial writen by the Eurpoean Union Ambassador to the United State, intended to encourage more Americans to take action about global warming. This offers astounding insight about America that is highly disturbing. At the core, Ambassador John Bruton points out that...

The United States is the biggest emitter of greenhouse gases in the world, accounting for more than a fifth of the total. Yet, a recent Pew Research Center survey showed that less than a fifth of Americans are really worried about global warming, while almost 50 percent worry little or not at all. A recent Discovery Channel documentary cited a poll showing almost a third of Americans admitting they "don't know" if temperatures are increasing or whom to believe on the issue, with a further 13 percent believing global warming is just media hype.

These statistics show a disturbing similarity to the USA Today poll results that show only 15% of Americans believe in evolution, probably being most of the less than 20% who believe in global warming. If America is to become part of the world's solutions to the extermination of the human race, rather than the world's biggest problem, the US media must do its part and start educating the public about the harm we have already caused Earth and all our citizens, and the greater calamity to come. The media must absolutely attack all those who lead the corruption and hype driving our nation to the greatest depths of social irresponsibility on record, including exposing political and industrial forces causing environmental harm. And Ohio must look to progressive states like California and progressive areas of the globe like Europe for the roadmap to our new economy and survival of our species. As Ambassador Bruton writes, in our local paper, on our own turf:

There's no doubt about it: The world's weather really is changing. If the recent spate of 100-degree days wasn't enough, the National Academy of Sciences says the Earth is hotter now than it has been for at least 400 years - maybe for as many as 2,000. According to NASA, 2005 was the Earth's warmest year in a century, with the three preceding years not far behind. Climatologists say the warmer weather results in everything from the formation of more hurricanes in the United States to the melting of Greenland's ice cap. These changes have global consequences, potentially devastating ones. Were global temperatures to rise by five degrees in the next century, the level of the sea would be 80 feet higher than today, putting Boston, New York, Philadelphia, Miami and Washington, D.C., under water within the lifetimes of our grandchildren. In Ohio, wildlife would suffer tremendously as high water temperatures in lakes and streams degrade water quality and increase evaporation.

Our release of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases into the atmosphere has contributed greatly to the alarming rise in temperature. The EU recognized this as early as 1990, when we committed ourselves to stabilizing our emissions of carbon dioxide at the 1990 level by the year 2000. We succeeded, and through our commitments under the Kyoto Protocol we have set even more ambitious goals for ourselves as we continually strive to reduce emissions. The EU, which today accounts for 14 percent of the world's greenhouse gas emissions, will have reduced that figure to around 8 percent by 2050. Since 2000, we have launched more than 30 initiatives to address climate change, including research and development on energy efficiency and alternative renewable energy sources such as wind, sun, water and even waste. Our efforts range from getting big factories to reduce their emissions to what we as individuals can do to make a difference in our daily lives. We have demonstrated that proactive climate policies produce results and that they do not necessarily endanger economic growth.

But global warming is an issue affecting the entire world and, as such, requires global action. Unfortunately, many have still not grasped the magnitude of the challenge, and the response from policy-makers globally has been lacking as a result.

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Ohio leaders, Christians believe in GLOBAL WARMING

Submitted by Norm Roulet on Fri, 09/01/2006 - 01:59.

Considering the huge power of Christians in politics in America and Ohio, I think it is very important to point out a quote from the recent Foreign Affairs article"God's Country" I referenced extensively on REALNEO... "A group of leading conservative evangelicals recently signed a statement on climate change that stated that the problem is real, that human activity is an important contributing cause, that the costs of inaction will be high and disproportionately affect the poor, and that Christians have a moral duty to help deal with it." Spread the word, as this message doesn't seem to have gotten through to the right people in America, yet, and we wouldn't want all our politicians going to hell, would we.

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