Chapter 14 - The Global Environment?

 

The reason there is a question mark at the end of the title is not to dispute that there is in fact a global environment that has effected human development throughout history, but it is only until very recently that humans have started to recognize it.

And so the question - are environmental issues - their politics and proposed solutions - really global? or do they just have a global impact. All Pollution is local, Its effects may become global but some states put energy into fighting pollution (like France, UK, Germany, etc. Some ignore it, like Russia.

I have a friend who simply does not believe in global warming. He simply does not believe it is happening nor that humans cause it. A science professor at LACC reminded me that the really is not a "clear consensus" among the scientific community - especially over the cause of climate change. Its easy to catch the hype and not question it.

But more to the point - i think my friend is wrong, but that does not change the fact that my friend is not alone in the world - or even in the global community - whomever that is.

The numbers of folks who have local interests to pollute - to rape their own resources, will continue to do it even without the help of western corporations or governments, but is that a reason not to try to coordinate government efforts on a global scale.

The problems of the depletion of fresh water around the world is literally the problem of the Owens valley and LA. too many people taking fresh water, raising the saltiness of the water un till a breaking point of ruin. That - so far - has been avoided in Owens valley but at a great cost to people and nature.

There are always competing agendas at the local level - that can never be ignores but development is not a level playing field and neither is polluting. Large scale project - whether corporate of government - extract a large toll on the local population in any industry from fishing to agriculture to mining to whatever you can imagine.

The world's greatest polluters are corporations and governments who know what damage they are doing abut who have made a short term decision regardless of long term consequences.

What corporation can be expected to have a fifty year plan? What domestic government can have (and implement) such a plan? Corporations and governments exist - in a very real sense - only in the here and now - and in the future may not be held as accountable as today. The world is very fluid. "The global community" is not a stable concept nor a stable reality.

Just a disturbing reality to illustrate the levels of human impact on nature: No river in the USA, nor in Europe is without some measurable amount of human birth control chemicals. I'm not exactly sure what this says except that we pollute everything we touch. Is this pollution dangerous? How can we tell at this stage of the pollution, ask in fifty years. Also, what can be done about it? Not much - even if you can "stop" the pollution, some chemicals stay in water systems for much longer than humans can measure.

I think the answer to why the international community cannot agree on what to do is simple - ask my friend - he and I can't agree - and we're friends.

If they cannot agree on the problem, the need, and who can pay the cost than how can they do anything?

Now that you have seen a glimpse into the international system - I think you can see how amazing it is that there is any international agreement (that is worth anything). The reality is that this is a "shrinking world" yet real human progress has been and continues to be made by humans around the globe.

I hope you have also had your curiosity raised just a little - there is more in heaven and earth than there is in anybody's philosophy (if I may paraphrase Shakespeare).

Good luck on the final - answer all four questions to the best of your ability!