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U.S. a Major Problem in Global Warming Crisis
The Kyoto Protocol is a set of regulations for many countries to cut back on their emissions. The goal was that countries that signed on would lower their 1990 emissions rates by 5% by 2008-2012. There are over 170 countries worldwide that have signed on, which counts for about 60% of the greenhouse gas emissions. The reality however, is that if everything goes as planned, the emissions could be lowered by 11% by 2008-2012. If more policies were adopted the emissions could even be reduced by 15%. While this is encouraging news, there are still problems.
The United States is a large part of the problem. The U.S. is not a Kyoto country, and therefore does not have to abide by the regulations. And this shows. The United States' emissions levels are 26% above its 1990 levels. While the rest of the world is doing their part to save the planet, the United States is only getting worse. Our country is the top emitter out of all rich nations and accounts for 2/5 of the industrialized world's greenhouse gas emissions.
The United States needs to do its part in order to curb emissions. Although some action is being taken to help, drastic measures are necessary. Google recently announce that they were going to begin to create alternate energy sources. They hope that in 10 years their energy prices will be competitive with the price of coal, which will lead to more people using alternate energy sources. This is an excellent plan for the future, but drastic measures are going to need to be taken and everyone is going to have to do their part in order to solve this problem. There are also things that people can do in their homes which will help. Simple things such as turning off appliances when they are not in use, unplugging chargers and electric appliances and buying energy efficient light bulbs. All of these steps can help, but the most important thing is to educate people. If people are not aware that a problem exists, there is no way they can solve it.
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