After months of talk about how George Bush and his friends over at PNAC were going to end the world it was actually quite refreshing to get to chapter 3 of Michael Moore's new book (Dude Where's My Country) and find that this one was all about global warming, the environment and the mad scramble for the last scraps of oil.
The picture Moore paints of a not too distant future is bleak and harsh. A world in which the governments squandered their chances to invest in finding alternatives to oil in favour of lining their pockets. A world in which billions die from starvation. A world with no hope.
Today we found out that he may not be too far from the truth. The Independent and The Guardian both ran front page spreads detailing the collaborative findings of scientists from around the globe. The results were shocking. Over 1 million species of life will become extinct in the next 50 years. 1 in 10 animals and plants will be killed off.
Welcome to mankinds greatest legacy.
We may debate Iraq, WMDs, terrorism and the pysychotic Republicans and Neo-Cons in the White House, but the fact is that it all comes down to the environment. There are 6 billion people on this planet. At our current rate we need 1.2 planets just to guarantee enough resources for the population. Meanwhile our politicians look greedily towards their next terms of office, ignoring the warnings.
Kyoto never went far enough. Something has to be done. It needs leaders. Leaders who aren't swayed by the money of big corporations. Leaders who don't let their own egos get in the way of making the big decisions. Leaders who care about more than their re-election hopes.
Alas, my ramblings have turned into utopian optimism. Truth is, I've never known a major political leader in my lifetime with one, let alone all, of those qualities.
I have to admit... I'm glad Holly and I are not planning to have children. Would I really want them to inherit the shit-hole of a planet this place will be by the time I die?
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