Opinion: Climate change - all talk, little action

Ask 10 Canadians, and statistics say that 7 of them will point out that environmental issues are one of the leading concerns we face. And with the Kyoto protocol set to expire in 2012, the Copenhagen protocol will mark a significant step in whether or not we tackle this growing problem, or whether we let it slip back into the political background. While climate change is a global issue, it is essentially on the shoulders of a few countries to lead the way in not just promoting effective climate change policies, but actually implementing them. And when it comes to these nations, we are hearing a familiar voice: One that talks about environmental problems, but is unwilling to take the first step. In fact, it's been nearly the opposite. There's a multitude of factors contributing to the environmental conundrum. While there's the classic 'household problems' such as inefficient appliances and a wasteful lifestyle, the public has shown the willingness to take the steps to reduce our personal impact on the planet. However, we are simply the end-user in a giant game, and how we pollute is largely dependent on the providers of the pollutant. For example, take one's car. Vehicle pollution was one of the first flags raised as major pollutants, but Canadian and American public transit systems are years behind Europe's. In my home city of London, Ontario, there's no commuter train service, no subway, no light rail - not even a highway system - leaving city buses as the only public transportation. And it's so poorly run and the network so incomplete that many can't or won't take it - myself included, as I work in the south end of the city, where the closest bus stop is a 15-20 minute walk away. While public transit in larger cities does help alleviate some of the pollution problems associated with transportation, it's not the entire solution. There will always be people commuting by whichever method is more convenient. And right now, cars are far and above the cheapest and most convenient solution. But more disparaging news surrounds car emissions - Europe, the unofficial global leader on environmental intervention, weakened their car emission targets by a whopping 40%. In a continent of 830 million people, the impact will be substantial. This brings forward the obvious statement: what's needed isn't a sole dependence on public transport, but cleaner technologies. And although there's certainly progress with hybrid and electric vehicles, both of these technologies rely on two major polluters - electricity and oil. Oil has long been the topic of emission concerns, and this is where developed nations are guilty of all talk, little action. Take the Alberta tar sands - while undoubtedly important to Canada's economy and to the global demand of oil, they alone produce more greenhouse gases than some countries. Meanwhile, Canada's position on climate change targets prompted a mass walk-out at climate talks in Thailand two weeks ago, mostly by developing nations. Instead of trying to unite the countries that depend on first-world nations' actions and policies, a growing divide with the developed countries is the reality. What kind of example is that? Meanwhile, Barack Obama has been doing a lot of talking himself about climate change; but likewise, there is little action behind the words. At the New York City climate change conference in late September, he called upon other countries to work together to achieve global environmental targets. However, there has been no official plan released by the United States on what they plan to do to combat climate change. And combined with China, who has also not released any official plan, the two nations that combine for 20% of global emissions continue to pollute rampantly. This has led to the EU claiming Obama needs to do more, but he's simply the officiator of the judicial system - the house of representatives have agreed on a emissions reduction target, but congress has done nothing, and the expectations are that Obama won't be signing anything until December at the earliest. In the meantime, Americans are losing interest in environmental issues, with a drop of 9% (from 44 to 35 percent) believing that global warming is a serious issue. This drop in interest is alarming - if public support erodes, there's an increased chance that the US will push the issue to the backburner. And with the states being the largest consumers of energy, their leadership is needed to implement the action that is needed globally. Canada's actions are intertwined with the US's energy demands - if they put regulations on cleaner energy, other countries will follow suit and deliver the product. With the US losing global influence on a multitude of other topics, climate change is one where they still hold many of the cards. And with Canada being a stronghold of resources, as well as the worst country for emissions per capita, a lack of American interest will cause a cascade effect that will start in North America, but undoubtedly spread to other corners of the world. And if China in particular feels the pressure is off for environmental concern, they have the potential to single-handedly make the global emissions into a runaway problem. Meanwhile, India's emissions are also hurtling upwards while their government denies any wrongdoing. This could potentially create a situation where the world's three most populous nations are all contributing uncontrollably to greenhouse gas productions. If that was the case, all the energy-efficient light bulbs in the world wouldn't save us from the devastation that would follow. For many of us, the crunch to start viable action for climate change is now. However, all the politicians seem to be doing is talking.