Create Debate Question One

Who is going to be paying this "Carbon Tax"? How will you (or anyone) make the highest polluting "developing nations" reduce their carbon footprint? China will be uncooperative, so will India and Russia.

It seems that the science and technology are already available to effect change. What seems to be lacking is the will and cooperation of nations.

I agree with Gene though I have one question. Yes, China, India and Russia will be uncooperative. Does that mean we get a free pass and don't have to do something anyway?

Like I have said in other posts, maybe I'm a bit simplistic but couldn't we say to countries like China, "If you want us to continue to buy your lead based toys, you need to produce them in a factory that does not further damage the environment?"

No, we wouldn't get a free pass, but since this is a global issue I don't see how we can do it alone.

I agree 100% with your simplistic thoughts - if they don't cooperate, then WE should stop funding their development! All the junk we buy from China, India and other developing nations feeds their development. Since we are their biggest customer, I don't see why we can't use our buying power as a lever. But I don't think it will work that simply. As long as greedy American companies are making money they'll use their lobbying power to thwart anything so simple and workable.

Sure, that's a great idea. Tax the polutors. That way, at least they will have to put some money in someone's pocket for it. After taxing them then, of course, some kind of nonsense jobs will need to be created to spend that money. Meanwhile, the polution is still there, and growing even bigger.
And so, now what the question is that we are faced with, is, "Now that America has gone to so much trouble to get all the other nations to join them in their materialistic world of greed, by getting them to join along in building these big city life fantasy world's, how in the hell are they possibly going to get them to stop, now, without resistance? That is the honest integrty of this debate queston and response.
And I must say, that two paragraph response sure doesn't impress me.

What do you plan to do with the proceeds of carbon taxes, Mike? What do you mean with a "massive scientific effort"? We don't need further scientific research to confirm that harm has been done at a massive scale, over many years. We know what causes the harm and the blame is with politicians who have failed to act and continue to do so. Proposing to delay the much-needed action and instead suggesting that we needed further scientific research sounds like a proposal to stall action even further. We need a package of measures, including taxes on emissions, but the proceeds of these taxes should NOT be used to fund scientists, lawyers, politicians, etc, but the proceeds should instead be used to support local supply of better alternatives, such as electricity from clean, safe and renewable sources. Market mechanisms can further sort out what works best where.

When you look at the amount of money Places like the US and China spend on Petroleum (As they say Money talks and BS walks). I think that when other nations see the cost savings that Alternative Fuels would provide they would want to get on the bandwagon. Problem is we need to spearhead this effort and show the rest of the World that this is more than a possibility. Time for talk is over, we need to make it happen. Sure the initial cost is going to be huge but wouldn't you be willing to give the government a Percentage of your income to make the world better???? I would. Trick is to cut out all the middle man bottom feeders that would want to get their grubby paws on the money. Before you say it would cost more than we can come up with, ask yourself how much the War in Iraq has cost to this point? If we can spend a Trillion Dollars on a War we could spend the same amount to become Energy Independant. God gave us the Sun and our planet is covered 3/4 in water. There are two of the sources of energy that would make us energy independant. With global warming the amount of water is rising which means more fuel. Hydrogen when burned revertes to its natural state, water. More fuel. Why not use the desert to make fields of Solar Cells that would create the Electricity to convert the water to Hydrogen? These are all possibilities that can be implimented. This is just the tip of the Iceburg. Underwater turbines generating huge amounts of electricity from the currents in the ocean. Wind power, has anyone been to Kansas? Vast open ranges of wind and a lot of it. How about solar hot water? I know a guy that hasn't paid for hot water since 1972 in one of the most cloud covered states in America. Do you realize that about half of your Electric bill is due to heating water? This all depends on how many Teenage Daughters you have (Just Kidding). This was accomplished with a 4 foot by 6 foot solar water cell that is on the roof of his house. Its time for us to get busy and make it happen. Think about if every American replaced their water heaters for Solar heated water. Think of the energy savings in just one year. Its huge, And Possible.

One point I forgot to mention is why the hell do we need the Politicians to tell us if its ok to start fixing the problems that need fixing. What the hell are we waiting for? Someone to tell us we can do it.

Nice speel Bruce. I'm with you 100%. The problem lies with CORPORATIONS and politicians that work for corporations. That's why our American-made cars suck when it comes to MPG - oil companies are rolling big time, and they don't want to change that. The car commercials tell us how we want and need that hemi motor in our 11 mpg truck. Now they (darn it) threw a wrench in the mix with the "35 mpg by 2020" thing. By then Honda and Toyota will be pushing 65 mpg cars. America loses again, or so it seems. We love to condemn the Japanese for infringing on "our" market, but they have the right idea. They are helping us in a big way, by providing what our own companies won't - efficient, durable cars that are not that expensive to buy and CHEAP to operate. Am I un-patriotic for saying that? No, because they are made right here by American workers that are happy to have a decent paycheck

But getting back to the point of energy independence... we could have been independent a long time ago, like your friend with the solar panel. But it's expensive and it requires a huge "mind change" in America. We are obviously not ready for that yet because nothing is happening. This big, fat and very over-weight America is hard to move. It takes some serious pain. I think when they start hitting us for $6 a gallon for gas the pain will be enough to get us moving.

An added note... What happened to the big uproar over the vanishing rain forests? Did they grow back or something? Alot of people don't know this, but trees remove CO2 from the atmosphere. Much of the rain forests are gone now, and with them went the natural ability of the Earth to control the CO2 levels in the atmosphere, causing climate change. While we harp about global warming the chain saws keep running so the lumber companies can keep making money to pay off politicians to shut up about it.