A Penny U
participant, Gwen Demombynes, wrote us this week, reflecting on travel in
Vietnam and other parts of southeast Asia that kept her from joining us on
March 3. It felt as though she were part of our conversation! She adds a
valuable international perspective to the discussion we had, which tended to
focus on what we each can do in our own communities.
"It
was funny to be thinking about what concepts, visual or otherwise, might
inspire people to greater consciousness while I was travelling in countries
that were no where near where the US is terms of thinking about these issues. It's
not that the issues aren't important to the people of these developing nations,
it's that the infrastructure is not there for even the most basic of services.
"My
stepson Gabe, who is a senior economist for the World Bank, pointed out that
the developing nations are the most vulnerable when it comes to the effects of
climate change, and are suffering the most from its effects. He believes that
the United States MUST enact policies that will bring all the other countries
along, that this cannot be addressed at the grassroots level. At the same time,
drinking water comes in plastic bottles, way more trash is generated everywhere
than can be collected by the numerous garbage collectors, charcoal is how everything
is cooked and run, rivers are used for everything, from fishing, to washing to
dumping, etc, etc, etc.
"It's
overwhelming. Gabe also pointed out that the biggest polluters are the
richest countries (well documented), with the US being the richest and worst.
"Anyway, I just wanted you to know I was thinking about
the issue, even though I wasn't there!"
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