The Rio Conference and Its Impact

The unprecedented scale of the Rio Conference alone speaks volumes of the potential impact such international meetings can achieve. 172 governments participated in the talks, and over 2,400 representatives of various NGOs took part in the conference. Over 17,000 people attended the NGO forum which took place as the conference was going on. To be sure, the full impact of something as monumental as the Rio Conference will not be know for years, possible decades, to come. Well, here we are, years and decades away. And what have we seen? To be blunt, not very much.

The focus on fossil fuels as the world's primary source of energy has only increased. Sustainable development has taken a backseat to less-costly means and furthered our decline into oil dependence. As a nation, America drives the global economy and promotes free-market capitalism, its emphasis on the bottom-line included. This certainly doesn't bode well for any form of environmental protections, locally or globally. As a quick aside, we have very little possibility to change this as those who make the decisions are so easily, and frequently, bought off by the companies reaping the most benefits from the current system. While oversight and regulation continue to be sacrificed at the alter of profit, we see global markets distribute wealth to those in control as they push for the cheapest option available, often to the detriment of the environment and the consumer.

The other side of this debate in recent years, man-made global warming, is just as counterproductive. We don't need more regulation, we need different, better regulation. The proposals currently on the table to reduce emissions by this amount by this year, blah blah blah, will cost an exorbitant amount of money and give us literally nothing in return. These global warming alarmists have hijacked the debate, focusing our attention on dreams and unattainable ideals instead of providing people an opportunity to focus on issues where we can make a difference today. What if all the money spent on advertising and marketing and summits and agendas for global warming was spent on AIDS or malaria in Africa or malnutrition the world over. Focusing our time and money on drinking water and basic sanitation would have an immediate, measurable affect.

Of course the environment is negatively affected by humans, and work should continue to try and improve our interactions with the earth so as to mitigate, to the best of our abilities, the scars we leave for the next generations. But countries are not yet ready to make serious commitments to change, that much should be apparent in the years following Rio. Let's cut our losses. As a global community where there are common goods which will benefit everyone, let's focus on those. Let's feed people who are dying today before we worry about our grandchildren. We're not getting anything done for them by meeting, arguing, and then agreeing to try again in ten years. Let's focus our time and money on where we know we will get the best return for our investment. If I feed you today, you can live tomorrow and maybe invent the next great carbon sink or solar shield or hydrogen battery. We have the money to help these people, but we feel we have the right to worry about other things first. That's simply unbelievable to me.