The great G8 summit of 2009. The heads of state flew into the earthquake-stricken town of L'Aquila, where they all sat down to business at round tables, the egalitarian furniture that proves no one is more important than anyone else.Technically speaking, Italy no longer ranks in the top eight, so someone should have pulled Silvio Berlusconi's chair away as he sat down, letting him fall to the floor. But that wouldn't be very diplomatic, especially as he's the host.
The agenda included the lousy economy, the dollar as global reserve currency, the lousy weather and all those fast-growing and big countries like China, India, Indonesia and Brazil. I don't know who's in charge of the language at these meetings, but someone changed global warming to climate change. What's that about? Is that like regime change? Does the new term give us a sense of empowerment?
Whatever the words, the developing countries balked at slowing their own reckless growth just to save the planet. Who, me? They say that the US and Europe spewed zillions of tons of hydrocarbons into the air for decades; now it's their turn.
Someone has to tell these people, life is not fair. You cannot relive the era of prosperity enjoyed by the US in the decades after World War II… even the US can't do it. Do you really want your own toxic wastelands like Love Canal, the Aral Sea, the Danube Basin? Can you not see your great cities already choking to death on traffic and automobile exhaust? Come to İstanbul -- a perfect example of unplanned urban sprawl. Huge swathes of this city lack any significant green space, much less what we quaintly refer to as parks.
A friend from Nairobi said the rains are not as dependable as they used to be. You used to be able to set your clock by the rain, for it started at 4 p.m. in the rainy season. I'm no farmer, but I know that if I had a field of corn in Thrace, I would prefer more rain than we've had this summer, and a gentle rain all over instead of the downpour that hits one spot.
People rarely change harmful behavior unless they feel the consequences, unless they feel pain. The trouble with the environment is that it can absorb a tremendous amount of abuse before flinching, and humans, too, can adapt to god-awful conditions. If a river catches fire -- that gets people's attention, for in the dim recesses of our collective mind, we know that water does not burn or at least isn't meant to. But if it's just filthy air… well, it's not as bad as smoking. Collectively, we humans are very slow to learn.
My neighbor has a beautiful garden in the heart of the city. She has the finest house on the block and the nicest garden, too, with flowering rose bushes, wisteria vines, a palm tree and a big mulberry tree. Her neighbors on the other side complained that her mulberry tree was dropping fruit in their courtyard, making a mess and drawing flies. Her cleaning lady was about to climb the fence and sweep up the mess, but she noticed that the mulberries had fallen on piles of trash, and she didn't feel like cleaning up the neighbors' garbage. The neighbors are stupid.
China and India use the same faulty logic when they complain that the old industrial economies have emitted most of the greenhouse gases in our atmosphere. Have they not learned that the earth, 99.9 percent inorganic, is nonetheless a living organism? This is like arguing about who set the fire while the house burns. Earth science is not a blame game.
We used to play a game when we were kids, a hide-and-seek game where you would tell the players they were getting warmer, getting warmer, if they were moving closer to the hiding place. I would like to tell the developing countries that they are getting warmer, but for a heat wave, it's awfully chilly out here.
