I took this photo from a river boat on the Danube River in Austria as we approached Vienna. There were wind turbines all along the river in Hungary, Slovakia, Austria and Germany. Also there were residences with photovoltaic solar panels in many places. The Europeans are setting the pace on adoption of renewable energy, that's for sure. It's about time the USA got its act together and took the lead. I am grateful for Mr. Bush's long overdue recognition that global warming is a real and serious danger. Maybe things will begin to happen.
2 comments:
I have a naive question: why are we so far behind Europe in renewables? Are they staring more directly at the crisis than we are? In my experience in Europe, they know more about
US politics than we do. Is it our comfort level that is different from that in Germany, say? What I'd like to know is how to motivate Americans to be as politically active as the Europeans.
Rhonda, you are so right. The obvious answer is lack of leadership in the White House. Despite that there is a ground swell of action at the state and local levels this year. Over 700 cities nationwide have signed onto the US Mayors Climate Protection Agreement. 32 states have started major climate initiatives. Look at what happened in Florida after a man named Bush left the governor's mansion and was replaced by a man named Crist who has taken Florida to the forefront on climate change initiatives. The world has to mobilize globally and what is essential to accomplish that is leadership from POTUS (the president of the United States). That's why I will vote next year only for a candidate who takes global warming seriously and is willing to lead this country and the world in addressing it.
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