Alviston Blog

I thought that maybe the conference in Copenhagen would be like the Olympics, where all the countries in the world would get together and have a big energy party. Maybe it would be like a huge teach-in and be covered by all the media, as they did for the Olympics in China. That was something. I am thinking that the fate of the world is at least as important as the pommel horse.

Imagine all the countries learning from one another ways to stop global warming. Denmark could show off its wind turbines. Germany could teach everyone about solar tech, and Japan could show off their hybrid cars. There are houses now, called net-zero houses, that make as much power as they use. What if everyone had one of those?

It was known going in that it would be a struggle to get 192 countries to agree on something as complex as what to do about global warming, but at least it was happening, and all of the countries attending know something has to change, and soon. The countries that make up the Organization of Small Island States were there to plea for the very existence of their land, as rising sea levels will have them underwater very soon.

I thought that bringing people together from all over the world might help the various cultures understand each other better, from rich countries that have only begun to feel the effects, to poor countries who have been feeling the effects of global warming for a long time as their water supplies dry up and their villages flood. I think we are all now feeling the pain of the Earth.

I thought the Copenhagen Conference was going to be a good chance for unity.

However, as it progressed, none of this seemed to be happening. It was as if they were waiting for a leader that never showed up. For the first time, I realized that while we have world leaders, we do not have a leader of the world. Our leaders are not leading the world at all; they are only leading their own countries.

What needs to happen is already happening: the people of the world will have to unite, create the changes needed to survive, despite what their governments are doing. There will be countries that take leadership roles, some have already committed to being carbon-neutral by 2020. We need to look to them for inspiration and examples of how it can be done, instead of pointing fingers at the other countries.

The issue of global warming is overwhelming. However, ignoring the issue will only make things worse.

I suggest we have the Energy Olympics in the same spirit as the regular Olympics. Each country brings their energy-efficient technologies, ideas, and plans. Then, they go in front of the judges to make sure they are viable. Instead of giving out medals, new technologies are given to the countries that need them. And for the countries that have the technologies, the rest of the world can teach them the value of a healthy Earth.

We are not going to solve global warming until we all pitch in to save our common home.

–Mark Alvis