America the Insular

Posted on | January 5, 2010 |

The USA is remarkably large. And because of that it is sometimes remarkably deaf to what the rest of the world is up to.

Reading the Guardian.co.uk today I noticed that the British government has just implemented a scheme to replace inefficient gas boilers in many homes, and has done so complete with subsidies. Further down the page is an article about how local agencies are making more land available for the uk’s gardeners to grow more of their own vegetables, thus lessening a dependence on foreign crops and reducing the carbon footprint of the transportation services.

This is all in the spirit of lessening CO2 output and dependence on foreign oil/gas.

If all politics is local, then this is the way to go. Global warming is not an abstract to the residents of the British Isles. It’s here, now, and needing attention.

Has the USA done anything even remotely close to this sort of grass-roots campaign? Doesn’t look like it - although believe me I’d be only too delighted to be proved wrong.

Comments