[Vision2020] Fwd: Worldwatch: It May Not Be Too Late

[Tom Trail]

>Visionaries:  Some interesting observations from World Watch Institute.


Tom Trail

>			<http://www.worldwatch.org/> 
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>It May Not Be Too Late
>
>A year-end perspective from Worldwatch President Christopher Flavin
>
>
>		 <http://www.worldwatch.org/click/1000/20061227>
>Let's make the top stories in '07 stories of success! Please help us 
>disseminate the facts-and inspire action-by making a 
><http://www.worldwatch.org/click/1000/20061227>year-end 
>contribution. Our goal is to raise $50,000 before the new year 
>begins. Your <http://www.worldwatch.org/click/1000/20061227>gift 
>could be the tipping point.
>
>If the world succeeds in avoiding ecological collapse, historians 
>may one day look back on 2006 as the "tipping-point" moment.
>
>Around the globe, the past year has produced a remarkable series of 
>indicators that human societies are waking up to the precarious 
>state of our world. If current trends are not reversed-and soon-we 
>will hand the next generation not only a natural resource base on 
>the verge of collapse, but a global economy on the edge of failure.
>
>Even though 2006 was marked by its share of acute crises, led by the 
>conflicts in Iraq and Darfur, the less acute but more profound 
>crisis of global climate disruption reached the top rungs of public 
>attention for the first time. Scientists warn we may soon cross a 
>threshold of no return as dying forests and warming tundra release 
>additional carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, enabling climate 
>change to feed on itself. In fact, some believe it could already be 
>too late.
>
>This urgency is being reflected in public opinion. In tallying the 
>results of 2006 elections and opinion polls in several countries, 
>the news service Reuters adapted an old James Carville phrase, "It's 
>the environment, stupid." In Europe, which has long eclipsed the 
>United States in such matters, even conservative parties have taken 
>up the environmental banner. And in the pivotal U.S. mid-term 
>elections, analysts were surprised to find that global warming 
>played a role in many races, often at the expense of incumbents who 
>had ignored the problem. As a result, climate policy will be high on 
>the agendas of both Democratic and Republican legislators in 2007.
>
>The awakening of the United States from years of fitful hibernation 
>is my nomination for the most momentous environmental development of 
>the year. Without the leadership of the world's leading 
>superpower-and biggest polluter-it is impossible to mobilize the 
>global consensus needed to tackle this daunting problem, or to 
>galvanize the second and third most important countries, China and 
>India.
>
>The most intriguing part of the U.S. story involves my home state of 
>California, which in September adopted 
><http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/31/washington/31warming.html?ex=1314676800&en=73ac6c1cd03cb13f&ei=5088&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss>landmark 
>legislation to limit greenhouse gas emissions. Notably, venture 
>capitalists and Silicon Valley entrepreneurs played a key role in 
>pushing the new climate bill through. Today, renewable energy 
>technologies like solar power and biofuels are growing at nearly 20 
>times the rate of fossil fuels, and major institutions and investors 
>like 
><http://www.greenbiz.com/news/news_third.cfm?NewsID=33279>Wal-Mart, 
>DuPont, and Goldman Sachs are channeling billions of dollars in 
>their direction.
>
>In the more than three decades that Worldwatch has tracked global 
>environmental trends, there has never been a year like the one now 
>coming to a close. We have entered a period of rapid, non-linear 
>change, not only in our planet's ecosystems, but in the worlds of 
>business and politics as well. The question now is whether humanity 
>will continue to mobilize-before it's too late. 2007 will provide a 
>test of whether this incredible new momentum can be maintained.
>
>Please help us disseminate the facts-and inspire action-by making a 
><http://www.worldwatch.org/click/1000/20061227>year-end 
>contribution. With your help, 
><http://www.worldwatch.org/click/1000/20061227>gifts of all sizes 
>will help us raise $50,000 before the new year begins. Your gift 
>could be the tipping point.
>
>
>
>Online Poll: Give Us Your Feedback!
>
>What do YOU think was the biggest sustainability news story of 2006?
><http://www.worldwatch.org/node/4816>Cast your vote and add your 
>comments in our online poll.
>
>1. <http://www.worldwatch.org/node/4815>Climate change debate ends 
>in the United States.
>
>2. <http://www.worldwatch.org/node/3874>China embraces landmark 
>renewable energy law.
>
>3. <http://www.worldwatch.org/node/4489>Fighting in Lebanon triggers 
>oil spill in Mediterranean.
>
>4. <http://www.worldwatch.org/node/4711>Scientists warn global 
>fisheries could collapse by 2048.
>
>5. <http://www.worldwatch.org/node/4682>Microfinance movement 
>recognized with Nobel Peace Prize.
>   
>6. Other:                                   (suggest a story!)
>
>
><http://www.worldwatch.org/node/4816>Click here to cast your vote.
>
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-- 
Dr. Tom Trail
International Trails
1375 Mt. View Rd.
Moscow, Id. 83843
Tel:  (208) 882-6077
Fax:  (208) 882-0896
e mail ttrail at moscow.com
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