Down to the wire : confronting climate collapse / David - Index of
Down to the wire : confronting climate collapse / David - Index of
Down to the wire : confronting climate collapse / David - Index of
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leadership in <strong>the</strong> long emergency S 105<br />
Not least, <strong>the</strong> 44th president and all his successors must bring<br />
America back in<strong>to</strong> <strong>the</strong> international community on <strong>climate</strong>, security,<br />
and economic issues. There is no prospect <strong>of</strong> stabilizing <strong>climate</strong><br />
without a coordinated global effort that systematically addresses<br />
carbon emissions, poverty, and security (Hart, 2006; Speth, 2004<br />
and 2008). The world is waiting for U.S. leadership <strong>to</strong> help create<br />
a global partnership on <strong>climate</strong> policy. Given <strong>the</strong> disparity <strong>of</strong> his<strong>to</strong>ric<br />
and present carbon emissions, <strong>the</strong> United States is obliged <strong>to</strong><br />
set <strong>the</strong> right example and take <strong>the</strong> lead. But no one should assume<br />
that <strong>the</strong> present hostility <strong>to</strong>ward <strong>the</strong> United States will disappear<br />
without a signifi cant effort sustained over many years.<br />
Presidential leadership has many intangibles. The president has <strong>the</strong><br />
power <strong>to</strong> issue executive orders that affect government purchasing<br />
and management <strong>of</strong> federal facilities, among o<strong>the</strong>r things. Presidents<br />
have <strong>the</strong> power <strong>to</strong> initiate change in both statu<strong>to</strong>ry and regula<strong>to</strong>ry<br />
law. But in <strong>the</strong> fi nal analysis, this and future presidents must use all <strong>of</strong><br />
<strong>the</strong>ir persuasive powers <strong>to</strong> encourage <strong>the</strong> American people <strong>to</strong> move<br />
resolutely, boldly, and quickly <strong>to</strong>ward a much better future than that<br />
in prospect. If this opportunity is lost, <strong>the</strong>re will likely be no o<strong>the</strong>r.<br />
This president and his successors will have a great deal <strong>of</strong><br />
persuading <strong>to</strong> do. O<strong>the</strong>rs could assume a continually growing<br />
economy and <strong>the</strong>reby avoid thorny issues about fair income distribution<br />
by hiding behind old myths that rising tides that would lift<br />
all boats or wealth would trickle down from <strong>the</strong> tables <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> rich.<br />
The prospects for continual economic growth, however, are not<br />
good. Even Nobel Prize–winning economist Robert Solow now<br />
admits <strong>to</strong> being agnostic on <strong>the</strong> possibilities <strong>of</strong> continued growth.<br />
On a fi nite planet governed by <strong>the</strong> laws <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong>rmodynamics and<br />
ecology, <strong>the</strong> reasons are not diffi cult <strong>to</strong> fi nd. Economists <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong><br />
neoclassical persuasion assumed that economic growth would be<br />
possible by substituting more abundant for scarce resources and by<br />
increasingly heroic technology. The results, however, are rapidly<br />
diminishing resources along with rising inequity, ecosystems verging<br />
on <strong>collapse</strong>, and rapid <strong>climate</strong> change.