American Dream vs. American Interests: What will win the environmental challenge

While not likely to happen anytime soon, the debate on whether or not to invest in the reduction and reversal of climate change should be a short one. The bottom line and the harsh reality, is that our environment needs to be improved, or else we may not have much of a planet to live on soon. Unfortunately, there remains too much discussion about ‘how we’re going to get there’ and the need to change our ways, and not action being taken to actually make an impact that future generations can benefit from.

Businesses are slowing things down and have significantly impeded government progress on regulating pollution. Their argument usually comes down to solutions being ‘antiethical to their economic interests’, as this GreenBiz article points out. And while businesses certainly have to the right to express their opposition to the rules that our government looks to put into place, at some point they (and we as a people) need to recognize that the millions of dollars they are feeding into propaganda and misinformation to keep the status quo is only going to hurt us in the long run.

GreenBiz continued to point out some of the steps that countries across the globe are taking to put themselves ahead in the envrionmental race. Germany, for example, has been and continues to be a dominant force in alternative energies while China and it’s growing economical and political clout is investing over $750 billion dollars over the next decade to clean energy technology. These countries are aware that the leader in these forms of technology can and most likely will lead the global economy in the 21st century.

Our president has been quoted saying as much, and it’s obvious he would prefer America to be the nation that leads. However, with the steps some companies and organizations are taking in the name of profit, we may be our own worst enemy and find ourselves playing catch up to others who found a way to put profitability second to positive change.


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