the US should, and all of the big polluters should too.... i don't think the US should pay for any other countries, it should pay for it's own emissions reductions.....
its about sustainable production, finding a means for the world to live and be happy, but do so in a way that is SUSTAINABLE. that is one of the big things with the green movement, it helps makes production sustainable, using renewable resources, that is not happening now......
i don't agree with the whole taxing carbon, or cap and trade, i explained why in another forum here...i can do it again if you wish..... i used to agree with it because of my principles, but the way in it proposes the change to be carried out is unfeasible.
i'm more concerned with the global perception of the US.... as much as you hate obama, he said in his victory speech that the US is a beacon of light and hope for the rest of the world, i like to think of the country in this fashion, and I would hope you do too....
but when a world leader, one that has a lot of stage presence, one that for some reason a lot of people listen to, stands on stage during a global conference and calls the US and other wealthy nations the "imperial dictatorship" and the whole room erupts with applause....... it's a scary situation.... we are not an imperial dictatorship, this is the land of the free, where i can be a staunch atheist one day, a religious fanatic the next, swing from one political ideal to the next without fear of repercussions from the government or elsewhere, this is the nation others strive to be, yet the global community is seeing us as oppressors, even while we hand out billions and billions of dollars in aid, help struggling countries, and serve as the home of the most important financial centers on earth.... this country should not be perceived as a dictatorship, empire, yet it is... and it bothers me that a lot of people here don't care, they care more about there being applause for chavez, during a speech which he said marx twice, than what the implications of that applause really are.... like it or not we are all on the same boat, it's called earth, and it seems to me the world doesn't see the US in the same light anymore, when it should.....
i don't know if you understand my concern, it's kind of hard to put into words..... we are looking at the unimportant and making it important, while the reality of the situation flashes before our very eyes, and we stand there, looking at it, oblivious..........