Low Expectations, Low Results

One thing i have noticed about coverage of United Nations climate change conferences is that U.S. newspapers tend to set the bar low, perhaps so people aren't outraged by lack of progress. The talks in Durban prove my point.

A New York Times article on November 28 neatly sums it up with the headline, "At Meeting on Climate Change, Urgent Issues but Low Expectations." The article lists off all the problems: "differing obligations of industrialized and developing nations, the question of who will pay to help poor nations adapt, the urgency of protecting tropical forests, the need to rapidly develop and deploy clean energy technology." Phew, that list is exhausting, the average American might think. Probably more trouble than it's worth.

The last paragraph of that article resurfaced today in the lead sentence of a Washington Post article summing up the resolutions in Durban: "it became clear that its real-world outcome will be largely determined in Asia, rather than in Africa or the West."

In a world much dominated by American military bases instead of peaceful U.S. diplomacy, China is winning a climate change PR battle. While the U.S. is embroiled with political bullshit, justified by a propaganda press, China is developing a carbon trade system that is at least the start of a solution.

Time and again the media regurgitates what NASA Administrator Michael Griffin told National Public Radio, “I’m not sure it’s fair to say that [a trend of global warming] is a problem we must wrestle with” and that averting climate change is a "a rather arrogant position for people to take." This assertion perfectly demonstrates a moral proximity that ignores some 200 nations seriously concerned but largely not responsible for carbon emissions.

It's too late for us, the U.S. media tells it's constituents; conform to inaction. Keep your expectations low so you won't be disappointed by low results.

As the Washington Post article notes, Durban came down to an East versus West division despite the fact that both are spewing almost 9 gigatons of carbon into the atmosphere every year. One side is (apparently) acting, the U.S. is not.

Will climate change obstinacy be another damning attribute of the failing U.S. empire? Time will tell whether we will be hung for it or, like a a possessive ex-boyfriend, we will burn down this planet down with environmental class warfare.

(Image Source: International Energy Agency. Graphic: The Washington Post. Published on December 11, 2011, 7:55 p.m.)