The Hot Politics of Global Warming

If you're like a lot of people who are confused (or ignorant, or simply don't care) about the U.S.'s position on Global Warming, do yourself a favor and watch the FRONTLINE documentary, Hot Politics. Watch the full program online. It's better than network TV.

"'The way it happened was the equivalent to flipping the bird, frankly, to the rest of the world … on an issue about which they felt so deeply.' That is how former New Jersey governor and the former Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Christine Todd Whitman describes the Bush administration's decision to withdraw from the Kyoto Protocol on climate change in Hot Politics, a FRONTLINE report co-produced with the Center for Investigative Reporting (CIR).

"As more and more Americans look for a response to the realities of climate change, FRONTLINE correspondent Deborah Amos investigates the political decisions that have prevented the United States government from confronting one of the most serious problems facing humanity today."

As you will see in the documentary, although the GW Bush administration put the last nail on the coffin on Kyoto Protocol, the messy politics of climate change spanned three administrations -- from Bush-Quayle, to Clinton-Gore, to Bush-Cheney. Check out the preview.




I'm saddened by the fact that the attitude of the U.S. on climate change is similar to its attitude towards Iraq, and even universal health care: economic growth first, people and planet come later. The U.S. is like the richest kid on the block who does what he likes to do just because he can do it. No wonder European countries (and other developed countries, not to mention developing nations) look at the U.S. with disdain and cynicism.

Hopefully, the 2008 election will change all this and put the U.S. back on the right track once again: a global leader not only in economic growth, but also in ethical, environmental and scientific endeavors.