Ich Bin Ein Berliner!
By Kiera O’Brien
When it comes to matters of climate change, I have to agree with JFK's famous words from the 60s. “Yes, friends, I too am a donut.”
Over the last few weeks, Angela Merkel—formerly Germany's environment minister and now it's supreme Chancellor as well as one of the most powerful women in the world—has been pushing President Bush to take a stronger stance on climate control at the upcoming G-8 (Group of Eight wealthy nations) summit.
She certainly isn't out there alone though: Japan, Britain, France, and Italy have all thrown their full diplomatic support behind Berlin and its communiqué on climate control.
Having not ratified the Kyoto Treaty, citing the pathetic excuse of 'well, if China and India are not included then there is not point...' (Why not set a good example then?), the current U.S. administration is unwilling to even consider the proposals set forward for the G-8 summit.
So, as usual, the U.S., supposedly the shining beacon of progress on this planet, refuses to take the lead on this critical issue, leaving it instead to the far-greener mentalities of the Eurozone.
This is nothing new, of course. A few days ago the New York Times had a great piece highlighting how the EU nation's governments (with Germany leading the way, go figure) have leapt ahead in the field of sustainable and environmentally friendly architecture.
As early as the mid-90s, buildings in Europe had to meet certain energy efficiency requirements that already outpaced their American equivalents. With the exception of a few new green projects like the Hearst Tower in New York City, American architects and developers are largely disinterested in (or face fierce resistance to) exploring the broader possibilities for Earth-and-energy-friendly constructions.
And, well, all you really need to do is book a flight across the Atlantic to pretty much any city and have a gander at the kind of investment they make into public transport, or quite simply the number of people riding their bikes rather than driving four blocks to get some milk from the local grocery store, to see the vast differences in attitude and ideology between the U.S. and the Eurozone.
So, to borrow that critical question that the New York Times asked of its American audiences last week: why are they greener than we are?
Opinions expressed on the “Open Border” are solely the expression of their authors and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the editorial staff.
