The States Lawyer Up.
e’ve got a little good news showing on the radar. Several states are moving forward on suing the federal government over greenhouse gas emissions.
New York is one of more than a dozen states, led by California, preparing to sue the Bush administration for holding up efforts to regulate emissions from cars and trucks, several people involved in the lawsuit said on Tuesday.
The move comes as New York and other Northeastern states are stepping up their push for tougher regulation of greenhouse gases as part of their continuing opposition to President Bush’s policies.
The federal government is not leading us anywhere good on this issue. I’m extremely pleased to see states taking a stance on global warming. I do think that the majority of the effort, as far as curbing greenhouse emissions, is going to have to come from individuals. If each of us makes the effort to purchase green products, and “green” our homes, then the market will respond by providing more and better green products and options. The government doesn’t even have to get involved. I just don’t know if doing it that way will get the job done quickly enough.
(Photo credit: SolComHouse.com.)
October 26th, 2007 at 1:38 pm
No, I dont think it will get the job done fast enough–and heres a little story that illustrates why.
Once upon a time, in another life, I was a housewife who sorted her trash, carefully putting every can and piece of cardboard aside to recycle and composting whatever I could. I used canvas bags at the grocery store, and rode my bike whenever possible. Then I became at waitress at the Restaurant Where You Work. And I saw a hundred number ten cans go into the garbage in a single weekend, along with plastic tableware, styrofoam to go boxes, glass ketchup bottles, etc, etc, etc. More went into the garbage on that weekend, than I recycle in a YEAR.
Mutiply that out, by every restaurant in our small town and the amount that concientious citizens are putting in those color coded bins becomes pitiable.
Business and industry will not change habits voluntarily, esp if what they are already doing is easier and cheaper. It takes time and effort to behave responsibly, and so they are not interested. Its all about the bottom line.
Change will only come when it is mandatory. Hopefully it is not already too late.