What will change in the sustainability world in 2008?

[sustainabilityforum]

Welcome to our first blog post in 2008. We would like to start this year with a question and your opinion. What will change in the sustainability world in 2008 in your opinion? Will companies act more responsibly? Will the US government finally accept that Climate Change is happening? Will the next US government be different when it [...]

More...

[MartinSykes]

I think the big change is that people are going to start to plan for how they will deal with inevitable climate change when it happens instead of just hoping that waste and emissions reductions will solve everything.

A sustainable lifestyle is not just about personal and corporate responsibility to minimise your harmful impact on others and the environment but must necessarily include a defence against any harmful impact that others or the environment may have on you. You have to be able to roll with the punches so that none of them deliver a knockout blow.

[isenhand]

I think we will see more of the same, with things slowly getting worse. It will have to start hurting the rich before any real change happens.

[rc white]

I think that history shows us that humans proceed by reaction rather than pro action, in this light what 2008 brings will depend upon what happens in 2008.
We might well see the election of an Obama government in the USA, and given the political system in that country what the corporate interests want will decide what happens on climate change and the business as usual with paying lip service to all such issues will continue, with perhaps a new coat of green wash in the upcoming election campaign.
Overall we look to the USA for leadership in these areas in vain, after all George W and his cronies are going to be raptured up at any moment, and since god is on Americas side anything America does must be god ordained, so all of those resources must of been supplied by god for Americans to squander as they see fit.
There will be a subtle change with a new administration but as pointed out many times the presidency of the USA is a weak institution that is basically restricted to foreign policy which in practice translates to waging war on behalf of corporate interests.
Executive governments that have real internal power such as those found in Europe can deliver on these issues and this can be clearly seen by the European experience, whereas the corporate interests that fulfill the same roll in the USA care only for there own survival, and since it is a zero sum game they can only win if everybody else looses, and all corporate strategies are predicated upon this, with of course a suitable coat of green wash for camouflage.
Overall I can only see anything other than business as usual being disrupted by some cataclysmic event that is very demonstrably due to climate change, and I am not holding my breath.
rcw

[Corey]

Originally Posted by rc white

I think that history shows us that humans proceed by reaction rather than pro action, in this light what 2008 brings will depend upon what happens in 2008.
We might well see the election of an Obama government in the USA, and given the political system in that country what the corporate interests want will decide what happens on climate change and the business as usual with paying lip service to all such issues will continue, with perhaps a new coat of green wash in the upcoming election campaign.
Overall we look to the USA for leadership in these areas in vain, after all George W and his cronies are going to be raptured up at any moment, and since god is on Americas side anything America does must be god ordained, so all of those resources must of been supplied by god for Americans to squander as they see fit.
There will be a subtle change with a new administration but as pointed out many times the presidency of the USA is a weak institution that is basically restricted to foreign policy which in practice translates to waging war on behalf of corporate interests.
Executive governments that have real internal power such as those found in Europe can deliver on these issues and this can be clearly seen by the European experience, whereas the corporate interests that fulfill the same roll in the USA care only for there own survival, and since it is a zero sum game they can only win if everybody else looses, and all corporate strategies are predicated upon this, with of course a suitable coat of green wash for camouflage.
Overall I can only see anything other than business as usual being disrupted by some cataclysmic event that is very demonstrably due to climate change, and I am not holding my breath.
rcw

Within my "Quaker" group I scored lowest for carbon footprint. Please don't lump me and others with Bush.(Some I know are striving for 90+% reductions by 2030. in light to monobiots pointing out the switch of the terms Co2 VS. Co2 + equivalent. as the final number to lock the 4 degree c. change.) We wan change it a mater of how to influence others to change. Take up arms?

I am constantly thinking of how I can reduce consumption especially in the entertainment circles to try to eliminate as much Consumption as possible. Biggest part is buying other people used stuff like used movies and games. avoiding using anything new unless unavoidable. Getting books and digital media from the library instead of buying a copy for myself.