For the past few years, environmentally sustainable sources of energy and fuel have been at the forefront of the media and minds of Americans more than ever before. Going green seemed to be a globally inevitable trend. .
But even with funding for green energy increasing and one of the most persistent promoters of information on global warming (Nobel Prize recipient Al Gore) reaching celebrity status, we are seeing a startling net increase in the emissions of the greenhouse gas Carbon Dioxide and a revitalized political commitment to dependence on oil, foreign and otherwise.
Scary Science.
We are seeing such staggering figures as 9.34 billion tons of carbon dioxide in our atmosphere, which figures to a 3% increase of emissions in a single year (2006-2007). The IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) came nowhere near that figure when predicting the worst-case scenario last year in a global warming report in which they estimated a possible 6.4% increase of greenhouse gasses by 2099. .
One problem lies in the developing countries that make up just over half of the world's carbon emissions. According to the report, China is the leader in greenhouse gas production, having added 2 billion tons of carbon to the atmosphere in "07. India's emissions are also on the rise, and they are poised to overtake Russia, which is currently ranked third. Measured per ca pita, however, the U.S. retains its status as the most prolific CO2 polluter, releasing 1.75 billion tons that same year. .
So rapidly developing countries are a rapidly developing problem, as predicted. The problem in America? .
Politics.
Drill, Baby, Drill.
As a political election tactic to solicit the support of those who are overwhelmed by high gas prices, and to maintain the exchange of increasingly huge amounts of money between Washington and oil companies, legislatures from both sides of the aisle insist that allowing the expiration of an almost 30-year moratorium on offshore drilling will lend confidence to speculators and reduce the export of wealth to foreign oil producers, encouraging a drop in gas prices and abating our reliance on foreign oil.
