from Sierra Club Issues Committee discussions:
One "root cause" I haven't seen discussed is world population. Perhaps because I am a math teacher I cannot help note that total greenhouse emissions = average amount per person x number of people.
We are losing ground on the second factor as the world population now about 6.5 billion is expected to grow to 9 or 10 billion by 2050. The U.S., now almost 300 million, is projected to grow to about 450 million. Programs to reduce this growth are under attack.
Another root cause that goes beyond technical fixes is the loss of a conservation ethic amongst our people, especially younger ones. Symbolic of this, as a teacher, I see college students who use the elevator to go up even one flight, or even use it to go down. They prefer to rent motor scooters to bicycles on our big resort Block Island. Serious attempts to deal with global climate change have to deal with individual responsibility, but we are up against things like Jimmy Carter being ridiculed for wearing a sweater!
-Barry Schiller
Providence, RI
One "root cause" I haven't seen discussed is world population. Perhaps because I am a math teacher I cannot help note that total greenhouse emissions = average amount per person x number of people.
We are losing ground on the second factor as the world population now about 6.5 billion is expected to grow to 9 or 10 billion by 2050. The U.S., now almost 300 million, is projected to grow to about 450 million. Programs to reduce this growth are under attack.
Another root cause that goes beyond technical fixes is the loss of a conservation ethic amongst our people, especially younger ones. Symbolic of this, as a teacher, I see college students who use the elevator to go up even one flight, or even use it to go down. They prefer to rent motor scooters to bicycles on our big resort Block Island. Serious attempts to deal with global climate change have to deal with individual responsibility, but we are up against things like Jimmy Carter being ridiculed for wearing a sweater!
-Barry Schiller
Providence, RI