New Leadership Needed for Climate Change

In Thomas L. Friedman's recent op-ed post in the New York Times, he highlights Al Gore as championing leadership for climate change and disparages George W. Bush as not taking any action concerning this issue. Gore received very recent recognition for building awareness and acceptance of this issue by jointly receiving the Nobel Peace Prize. (He shares this award with the IPCC or Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.) Friedman quotes David Rothkopf, "Gore lost the election and had to figure out what to do with the rest of his life. He took the initiative to get the country and the world to focus on a common threat — climate change. Bush won the election and for the first year really didn’t know what to do with it. When, on 9/11, we and the world were suddenly faced with a common threat — terrorism and Al Qaeda — the whole world was ready to line up behind him, but time and again he just divided us at home and abroad.”

Rothkopf's quote illustrates the differences in the policy mind sets of W. Bush and Gore. The United States is a world leader and therefore must command this position. In a recent NY Times article entitled "At Its Session on Warming, U.S. Is Seen to Stand Apart," John M. Broder extends this concept further. The world faces the "common threat" as stipulated by Rothkopf, of climate change, however does not take a stand to lead in remedying this issue. In this article, an environmental leader from China voices that, should the United States take steps toward an emissions cutting plan, then China will also pursue legislation in this form. However, the current administration chooses to take a back seat in terms of the current global warming legislation, The Kyoto Protocol.

Instating new leadership is obviously necessary for any successful action in terms of climate change. Friedman states that Democratic Candidates for 2008, lack "real passion" surrounding the issue. However, many candidates platforms conceive positive issue stances in terms of successful global warming legislation. For example, Barack Obama supports a cap and trade international environmental legislation, like Kyoto, as well as domestic environmental measures.
The scientific consensus surrounding global warming is alive. The choice the world faces is to do something about the problem, or to sit back and deal with future consequences. It is up to American voters to elect a candidate who will pursue this issue with utmost perseverance so that the United States possesses the opportunity to take a leadership position to combat global warming, so that the rest of the world follows.