Waste more, Want more!

The biggest challenge that the environment faces currently revolves around an issue of equity combined with man's never ending appetite, which wants to consume more than it can actually handle. As Conca and Dabelko explain in "Green Planet Blues", if you give a man a pasture and cattle, it is only a matter of time before he starts to crave for more: additional cattle and land space for the cattle to graze. While this can be looked at as "progress", it continues to degrade our environment, yet we are nonchalant because of the various personal benefits we gain from it. Then, it hits us that we are actually harming our planet, and that if we continue to do so, we will not be able to reap any more profits from it. And this is where the equity problem comes in, where the more developed nations impose their concessions on the less developed ones, expecting them to comply. Unfortunately, the latter nations view this whole situation as entirely unfair, due to the amount of restrictions constrained on them for merely imitating the former countries' actions to reach similar goals in terms of development. While these actions need to be taken in order to protect the planet, how exactly must they be carried out in as fair a manner as possible? Everyone wants to be able to have the same comforts and luxuries as the next person, so why are restrictions suddenly coming up that will inhibit people from certain nations to achieve that level of comfort? Or, at least, not gain it as easily as certain other nations have.

Fish's article definitely articulates the mindset of the majority of the people in the world, let alone the United States. While people are definitely getting more responsible for their actions and becoming more eco-friendly, it is still quite clear that we all could be doing so much more, but we are just not bothered enough to do it. And the little bit more than we can do, probably would not impose too much of a burden on us; we just could not be bothered to do it. I applaud those who go out of their way to make sure that every action they commit is the least pollutant to the environment, but the majority of the population is more concerned in their comfort and would not really go out of their way to ensure that their actions are more earth friendly. Maybe if we start with the little things, the bigger actions will begin to look attainable.