Why the U.S. is fighting any Global Warming Reduction Agreements
 |
 |
|
 Seed Newsvine |
|
The two groups that oppose any climate change agreement are global corporate business leaders and the U.S. religious right. They oppose it for different reasons and their objectives vary greatly but together they have formed a formidable opposition block to any global agreement strategy.
The ideology of the global economic strategy is entirely dependant upon continued and advanced world economic growth. Globalism is the ultimate attempt by market capitalists to spread the free market/free trade system throughout the world. Within this perspective is a belief that the world�s standard of living can be raised only through the free market/trade system and in recent years there has been a tremendous commitment of investment from the corporate and financial world into making this work. All of this investment is dependant on substantial economic growth. This growth must occur at a rapid enough and sustainable enough pace if the global economy is to survive and flourish.
From the investment perspective, anything that puts this expansion in danger must be resisted at all costs. This is why there is so much resistance from the United States government and business leadership which are the primary proponents for the globalization strategy. The world economy cannot grow at the necessary level AND correct for environmental disaster at the same time. If corrective measures must be taken they threaten the entire world economic plan and the tremendous investment that has been put into this plan.
Hidden within this ideological perspective is a belief that it makes more economic sense to fight the effects of global climate change than to actually correcting the problems that are leading to man-made climate change. Correcting the problems will come at the cost of economic growth. On the other hand; preventing corrective measures and directing efforts to addressing the problems created by climate change may actually help economic growth.
The American religious right views the issue from a different perspective. First; they bring a long established skepticism of science and all scientific conclusions. If scientists say the climate is changing then one can expect the religious right to oppose these conclusions simply because of the messenger. Scientists cannot be right if the Bible is true. Conversely, if the planet is warming it may foretell the end of the world and the resulting �second coming of Christ.� This is to be embraced rather than fought against.
Together, these two groups have backed all U.S. government opposition to global climate agreements. Any such agreement proponents will have the formidable task of countering these powerful forces in American politics.
Recent PB Submissions:
