Update from Durban- Drama at Sunnyvale High

Surprise, surprise, surprise. Another stalemate on an agreement for carbon emissions cuts at the Climate Summit in Durban, South Africa. It seems to be a repeat of a teenage coming of age made for TV movie.

There is the rich spoiled powerful character that is being played by the U.S. She is the most popular girl in the school. This character has caused serious damage and harm to many people's social lives; however, everyone is afraid to stand up to this diva type of character because of the repercussions, especially her click of friends known as the industrialized countries, like Japan and Europe. Then there is a new character that has recently arrived into town, who lives on the other side of the tracks and is getting the attention of the US friends. Of course, these this character, being played by either India and China, is relatively poor compared to the US, but is getting to be popular with everyone in the high school. Now, in this story, there is a major crisis that the US caused, but the US will not agree to a solution unless China/India agrees to it. Unfortunately, China/India will not agree because the US wants China/India to make certain sacrifices for things that US did. That is the problem in a nutshell.

Now back to reality. The US has been the largest emitter of carbon emissions in the world over the past decades and will agree to a emission reducing pact as long as China and India agree to the same restrictions. China, in particular, will agree to it only if the US agrees to a larger amount in emission cuts to catch up for the enormous levels of Co2 emissions it released in the atmosphere over the past decades. Of course, the US will not do it.

So there you are. It is the same story in Copenhagen and that is now playing out in Durban. It is also the same story you could find in any high school teenage drama on ABC Family, CW or Nickteen on cable/satellite TV. In these stories there is some happy ending where the popular girl realizes she is wrong and becomes friends with the outsider girl and they work together to resolve the major crisis at the high school. Of course, there really is no happy ending here. We hear it all the time. If there is not immediate commitment and action to reduce our carbon emissions, the end result will be catastrophic. These two high school girls will not be fighting over who gets elected president or gets to take the star athlete to prom. Instead they will be fighting for their own survival.

It is time for the US, China and India and the rest of the world to grow up and act like adults instead of teenagers in high school. At least, that is what the main characters did in Sunnyvale High School Day, the made for TV movie on Nickteen. They acted like adults and resolved their differences.