Web Letters: Hoodwinked in Bali on Carbon Credits

The wrangling in Bali is unreal, in that the actual problem is not being addressed, I think because it is scary and probably unsolvable. To begin with, this business of trading is fundamentally flawed: all it does is lets people who can afford it (in exchange for cash) to continue to do the same or more of what they are doing. It also exposes the policy of maintaining hegemony by the US in all matters: the US continues to impose its will disregarding the (needs of the) world community, simply because it is too powerful and no one can do anything about it!

The problem that needs to be tackled is that of ever-increasing, unchecked consumption mostly by the developed countries of the West and Japan, but also by the potentially mammoth emerging economies of China, India, Brazil etc. The political reality, however, is that in addition to the problems of hunger and dire poverty, the standard of living in the countries of the South in general is so low (compared to the developed countries) that the demand for goods and services in these societies cannot be ignored. Therefore, talk of limiting consumption in those societies is unrealistic.

Furthermore, the force created by expectations for attaining the Western model of lifestyle created by the consumerism-driven globalization ethos makes any attempt to consider controlling/reducing demand futile. Where it makes sense to start considering limiting consumption, from a rational point of view, is in the countries which already consume most of world's resources. But what politician is going to get (or can expect to get) elected by proposing that he or she will reduce consumption of their constituents to save the world when they get elected? Everyone (including Al Gore) seems to hide behind the faith that science/technology will come to rescue us. Science is not religion, and faith does not solve problems that cry for rational thinking. Planting a few more trees and generating few more kilowatts of power from wind mills will help in the margins, but none of the measures on the table now would resolve the fundamental problem. We seem to have hit upon a hard brick wall, and pessimism arising from Bali is not unexpected.

M. Siddique

Chevy Chase, Maryland