In the end the world will know that we Americans have responsibility for 25% of the co2 and other greenhouse gasses produced over the last hundred years or so. This is calculable and the world court should find in favor of the world vs. the people of the United States of America in the case of global warming.
In order to regain and keep the moral high ground in the coming century, America will have to own up to and lead the way in stopping and mitigating the effects of global warming. This means that it will be less expensive in the long run to do what we can right this minute. Ninety nine percent of the technology we need exists already. ninety percent of humanity live within a few miles of the ocean. Katrina was the first example of what warming will do to our coastal areas.
Nature isn’t going to be able to adapt immediately to rapid changes in the climate. For example; The bayou buffer between the ocean and the interior all along the florida and gulf coast. Cut up by pipelines carrying oil from offshore rigs, the swamp rolled up into largeish (house sized?) balls of plants and mud and rolled through the lower ninth ward of New Orleans knocking over houses as they went. What used to protect a fragile environment from the ravages of hurricanes and tropical storms, became a terrible and devastating force of nature. It wouldn’t have happened were it not for the damage done by oil companies over the last 40 or 50 years…
