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My Opinion on Global Warming
I'm not going to belabor this topic. I'm not going to get into a debate whether global warming is occurring or if this is just a climate cycle. I'm not going to deliberate whether humans affect the climate or if we're insignificant in light of the larger items on this planet. I am going to advocate doing something instead of nothing.
We're here, so we must affect Earth to some degree
There are an estimated 6.5 billion people on this planet as of February 24, 2006. We have cars (with and without emission controls), we have motorcycles (without emission controls), we have airplanes, we raise cows (producing a lot of methane), and we have factories (producing a lot of solid, liquid and gas wastes). We've cut down large portions of the Rain Forest - a forest proven to produce oxygen for this planet's inhabitants. We are affecting this planet and we are responsible to change our ways for the better when we know of better ways to behave.
"We're only one country"
In the past fifteen years it has been estimated that Asia has maintained a population eleven times that of North America (United States, Canada & Mexico), with China and India estimated, in 2002, at 2.4 billion people. So, there are many people who say, "What about China?" and "What about India?", "Aren't they responsible too, if not more so?"
To all those who wish to pin responsibility on others, I ask:
Since when do we look to China for leadership?
Doing Something versus Doing Nothing
How do we know that the changes we believe we're making for the better will actually make a difference? Well, if you want to ensure that all of the things we're currently doing will continue to do the damage the planet and our environment, don't change a thing. In other words, we will only know success if we try; we will surely know failure if we never try.
"We must be the change we wish to see in the World." -Mahatma Gandhi
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