At the moment, there is much talking on the political level about Environment; many politicians now seem to understand that our little planet is in danger. But little is really done by the responsible politicians to reduce this danger.
There are many aspects concerning the danger to the environment; I will just talk of two of them:
First, the CO2 output made by cars. In the Rich Countries, almost everybody drives a car, and many people want their car to be big and speedy, which means it uses much fuel and blows much CO2 into the atmosphere.
Is that necessary? Can the industry not build cars that use little fuel and exhaust little CO2? Of course it can, and some car factories already do. Yet, not many people buy them.
Here, the politicians should act: Make laws that force the industry to build only such kind of cars, and force people to drive moderately.
Second, the Methane gas exhaust of animals, especially cattle. How ricidulous! Have animals not always lived and exhausted methan? Yes. But nowadays, in the rich countries people eat meat in exceeding quantities, which means breeding exceding lots of cattle.
Is that necessary? Everybody knows that it would be much healthier to eat less meat. And now I do not even talk about the terrible effect it has on the food supply in the Developing Countries when cattle food for the Rich Countries is grown instead of food crops for the local population.
Here, the politicians should act: cattle breeding for the richt countries should be reduced.
Politicians should stop talking and start acting!
Tags: Environment, CO2, fuel, cattle, Methane gas
October 18, 2007 at 11:47 pm |
Actually, pollution is MUCH worse in the developing countries. And in countries like China and India, where populations top 1.5 billion, if only 10 percent of the people drive cars, that’s vastly more cars than in the entire U.S. And I’ve traveled in many of those developing nations, and the cattle are primarily for local use — unless you’re in India, where they are sacred. Will you take the sacred cows away from the Hindus? And have you ever been to China? The pollution is staggering — so bad you can’t see most cities from satellites — even without many cars. Or have you traveled in South America, where growing crops means cutting down and burning rain forest. (And where burning the grasslands each spring puts twice the particulate matter into the air of the explosion of Mt. St. Helen’s.)
So yes, there is a problem, but nothing you’re suggesting addresses the real causes. Your desire to save the planet is admirable, but you need to look at the real problem and the real causes — and then try to think of what you’re going to tell the rising middle classes in all those developing countries when they want to drive cars.
The problem is not as easy as you seem to think.
October 20, 2007 at 1:42 am |
Of course, the pollution problem is very complex, and I only took out two small aspects of the whole subject.
Maybe, pollution is worse in the developing countries – but I am an inhabitant of an industrialised country, and I am talking of the part my own country is contributing to the problem.
You are right, if in China and India the same proportion of people as in our countries – i.e. almost everybody – would drive a car – it would be the breakdown of our environment. But we cannot say to Indians and Chinese “Don’t use cars!”. It is we who must reduce car driving or design and use cars less nuseable to the environment; only then we can try to make this a standard worldwide.
Cutting down and burning rain forest in South America for crops: This is just what I am talking of: Most of it are not food crops for the population, but crops transformed to food pellets food for mass animal breeding in Europe; e.g. Germany is importing more than 3 Million tons of Soja yearly from Brazil only.
I am not talking of the sacred cows in India – where they are used for milk, leather, fuel, work on the farms and stroll around eating much of the waste in the townships, so even contributing to a cleaner environment. And I am not even talking of the cattle in the Sahel Zone of Africa, although they are a bigger problem, since they are not so much used for food but because a big cattle herd means prestige for the owner. What I am talking of is the mass animal breeding in my country, where meat has become much cheaper than vegetable – and this is absurd!