After Mr. Al Gore's Inconvenient Truth, I found the video below a good summary of where we are at presently in the global environmental crisis. I got this video from www.worldwatch.org.
Ultimately if we want to make a difference in the condition of our environment it is up to us and it is for our sake and that of our children. Unfortunately governments are masters at shuffling blame and painting rosy pictures; counting on them to come together to make a difference will probably only happen when cities like New York, San Francisco, London, Mumbai or Hong Kong reach the brink of disaster with sea level rise like where the Seychelles, Maldives and Tuvalu are. Even then they will still need a round of finger pointing before they finally decide to point it at themselves.
In Malaysia (as I imagine is true also in other developing nations) for instance both politicians and the population in general don't give two hoots about global sea level rise. Here Earth Hour and Earth Day are commercial opportunities for big companies to show off and for people to change their status on FB to jump on the bandwagon to be a cool environmentalist for a bit; after that its back to oblivious hunky-dory-ness as far as the environment is concerned. Awareness of recycling, the dangers of dumping plastics and reducing ones carbon footprint has barely improved from a decade ago.
With high population density and a growing middle class in Asia, environmental awareness programmes can make a huge impact. Yet little is being done by governments, national education systems and enforcement to get everyone to prioritize environmental care. Everyone is hungry to make money with little regard to cost or consequence.
It is time to change these attitudes. It is time to realize our daily habits today are as important to our livelihood and the future generations as making lots of money or owning a house or a car. By the way if you are planning to buy a new car you can help a great deal by getting a hybrid or better still a fully electric car. In case you are not aware there are such things as Fully Electric Cars and they are AS GOOD in performance as gas / petrol powered ones. Despite being available for more than a decade hybrid cars are still a rarity in much of Asia, let alone fully electric ones. It is time to change this trend, especially here in Asia and demand for more choices of fully electric cars from car companies and demand from the government a power grid for charging these cars (ones that use high percentage of renewable energy–solar, wind and mini hydroelectrics).
It is time that we woke up to the fact that as a collective group of seven billion people we are a formidable force of nature. Though this truth flies past us when we compare our individual life to our planets immense weather systems the bigger picture of our global impact is upon us and there is extreme urgency of action if we are to change the tide of climate change. Lest we are blamed as the selfish generation that could care less; simple decisions like how to dispose of that empty plastic water bottle, or how we want to get to work tomorrow or whether to use the fan or air-condition should be treated as important as decisions we make to keep ourselves and our family safe and secure.
Ultimately if we want to make a difference in the condition of our environment it is up to us and it is for our sake and that of our children. Unfortunately governments are masters at shuffling blame and painting rosy pictures; counting on them to come together to make a difference will probably only happen when cities like New York, San Francisco, London, Mumbai or Hong Kong reach the brink of disaster with sea level rise like where the Seychelles, Maldives and Tuvalu are. Even then they will still need a round of finger pointing before they finally decide to point it at themselves.
In Malaysia (as I imagine is true also in other developing nations) for instance both politicians and the population in general don't give two hoots about global sea level rise. Here Earth Hour and Earth Day are commercial opportunities for big companies to show off and for people to change their status on FB to jump on the bandwagon to be a cool environmentalist for a bit; after that its back to oblivious hunky-dory-ness as far as the environment is concerned. Awareness of recycling, the dangers of dumping plastics and reducing ones carbon footprint has barely improved from a decade ago.
With high population density and a growing middle class in Asia, environmental awareness programmes can make a huge impact. Yet little is being done by governments, national education systems and enforcement to get everyone to prioritize environmental care. Everyone is hungry to make money with little regard to cost or consequence.
It is time to change these attitudes. It is time to realize our daily habits today are as important to our livelihood and the future generations as making lots of money or owning a house or a car. By the way if you are planning to buy a new car you can help a great deal by getting a hybrid or better still a fully electric car. In case you are not aware there are such things as Fully Electric Cars and they are AS GOOD in performance as gas / petrol powered ones. Despite being available for more than a decade hybrid cars are still a rarity in much of Asia, let alone fully electric ones. It is time to change this trend, especially here in Asia and demand for more choices of fully electric cars from car companies and demand from the government a power grid for charging these cars (ones that use high percentage of renewable energy–solar, wind and mini hydroelectrics).
It is time that we woke up to the fact that as a collective group of seven billion people we are a formidable force of nature. Though this truth flies past us when we compare our individual life to our planets immense weather systems the bigger picture of our global impact is upon us and there is extreme urgency of action if we are to change the tide of climate change. Lest we are blamed as the selfish generation that could care less; simple decisions like how to dispose of that empty plastic water bottle, or how we want to get to work tomorrow or whether to use the fan or air-condition should be treated as important as decisions we make to keep ourselves and our family safe and secure.
