Paraphrase of the Day:
Around the world there is growing anger that while the rich are the cause of global warming it is the poor who will suffer the most.
— Satish Kumar, director of programmes at Schumacher College International Centre for Ecological Studies in Britain.
See Story
Stephen Leahy, International Environmental Journalist 
Is it fair to blame the rich? Plenty of people below the poverty line in the U.S. contribute to the production of greenhouse gases by using older cars that are not regularly maintained. They have little insulation and use regular incandescent light bulbs.
Lots of rich people drive a Prius, change their light bulbs to CFLs, compost, use computer-controlled HVAC systems, use solar power, or otherwise help reduce energy usage.
Granted the American family of 4 that brings in $20,000 combined is much more wealthy than the people of Ethiopia, Eritrea, Niger, Chad, etc, etc, etc. But they are still “poor” based on their societal position.
Instead of pointing the finger, I am in favor of working to make each one of us, individually and regardless of wealth, better keepers of the Earth.
Is it “justifiable rage” or is it being busy passing the buck and not actually do something?
I think Kumar’s point is that the poor in the US and elsewhere can’t afford to buy a prius etc but generally their lifestyles already result in less CO2 emissions. They’re not flying to europe or hawaii, more likely to use buses or walk because they can’t afford anything else.
Agreed everyone could do better but the facts are that those having the biggest impacts by far are those of us living in wealthy countries.
If you have no choices or power to make changes and those that do don’t, “justifiable rage” seems inevitable.
In one breath you say that poor people live a life of less CO2 emissions, but in another you say they didn’t choose that life. So what’s justified about their rage?
Rich or poor, we are all in this together; so as I see it, the only justifiable rage should be coming from those people who are trying to improve this world and are watching their attempts turn futile.
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It’s a shame you don’t seem to get lots of comments, but hopefully you have a large readership. You should try making a BlogRoll of related interest blogs.
Their rage comes from that fact they are getting hit hardest by the impacts of CC and don’t have the money or options to avoid/mitigate those impacts unlike us.
There’s plenty of rage to go around but I agree that it is not very helpful except to wake up the complacent.
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More comment’s would be great. I’m a novice at this so haven’t figured how to set up a blogroll yet. its probably easy but haven’t had the time ;] about 70 to 100 people check in each day. Thanks for your interest
A blogroll isn’t any harder than anything you’ve already done with your layout.
First:
My Dashboard > Presentation > Sidebar widgets > Move “link” into either the left or right sidebar
Then:
My Dashboard > Blogroll > Add Link
Or instead of adding each link by hand, you can visit any blog you like (or would like to include, rather) and at the very top right corner go to: Blog Info > Add to Blogroll
I personally am having trouble finding decent environmental sites, which is why I noticed you didn’t have a blogroll.