Global Warming and American Politics

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Global Warming and American Politics

Global warming has been an issue in the United States and the world over for several decades now. The video Hot Politics mainly highlights the issues surrounding Global Warming in the political world. The video outlined that global warming has become an issue that many presidents of the United States have been unable to deal with despite it being a very urgent matter. According to the video, some scientists discovered that the average climatic temperatures had increased significantly over time to become a cause for concern in the United States. The summer of 1988 was declared the hottest in the history of America and this elicited various reactions from different parties. Global warming is characterized by the increased level of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, which are produced by human action such as through deforestation and burning of fossil fuels. Global warming has been met by both positive and negative criticism. Some scientists consider global warming a myth of sorts. These scientists believe that a higher carbon dioxide level in the atmosphere is actually better since it will increase the level of greening in the planet.

The video also outlined the politics involved in the issue of climate change. According to the video, some mining and oil companies funded some of these scientists in their research, which prompted them to declare that global warming was not in any way a threat to the country’s welfare. Some economists also advised President George Bush against taking much action against global warming because of the impending cost implications. The president resorted to building the economy rather than attempting to reverse global warming. According to the video, voters in the United States believe that in relation to global warming, there is no consensus. Many administrations believe that regulation is mandatory to control the rising levels of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. Very few presidents pursue the matter religiously and over time, global warming has had even more devastating effects such as hurricane Katrina, reduced water available for consumption and attacks by grasshoppers on farms since they survived the winter. In the video, the presidents seem to take into account only the economic implications of regulating global warming through enforcing mandatory emissions. Many believe that the coal companies will be adversely affected by these regulations and this explains why many companies attempt to influence scientists into telling the public that global warming is a myth. Bull, Amos and Akesson believe that the incoming government will be faced by a major challenge of dealing with the climate issue.

The issue of global warming has been a very complicated and controversial issue for many years. This issue should be approached with the utmost seriousness since it posses a great threat to the well being of the American people. The government should treat the issue of global warming with high regard in order to preserve the environment, which will be important for the generations to come. In my view, industries should adopt a means of production that does not result in harmful emissions and one that utilizes renewable energy.  Although such projects may take a bit of time to be enforced, it will help in the restoration of the environment and in the end the overall well being of the world. In my opinion, environmental issues should be addressed before it is too late to reverse the effects of global warming. It is also important that leaders treat environmental issues with higher regard than political and economic issues since none of these can flourish in an environment that has been destroyed.

Work Cited

Bull, Peter, Deborah Amos, and Pascal Akesson. Hot Politics. Boston: Distributed by PBS Video, 2007. Film.