I completely agree with Michael Maniates article on America's approach towards current environmental issues. Often we hear politicians or even the president announce initiatives for things such as a greater transition towards cleaner energy by 2020, but many times the "transition" is so small that it's unnoticeable. Not to mention the possibility of the deadline year being pushed back. It's hard to have such a pessimistic view when there are positive actions being taken such as the incorporation of hybrid cars into the market. But at the same time, such actions aren't aggressive enough. If hybrids only consist of 2 or 3% of sold vehicles, we haven't been very affective in our message that global warming is an urgent issue.

Although I agree 100% with Maniates, the environment is an extremely touchy issue. There have been people who talk of the severity of environmental degradation, but often they are ignored because they're thought of being extremists. A large part of our society turn their noses up when they hear things like the melting rates of our glaciers and the extreme changes in our weather patterns which call for action NOW. They can't visualize environmental destruction in the future, and if they can't see it many think that it's not such a serious problem.

Now don't get me wrong, this isn't an excuse to not take greater action and call upon the people for their help, but the question that I continue to struggle with is how do we do this affectively? What tactics do you use to convince families to decrease their consumption rates and get rid of 3 of their 5 cars, or how do you tell someone that they don't really need that shirt their going to buy? This is an issue that's often pushed aside, but as Maniates says, "The time for easy is over."