Are We Doing Enough?

Maniates's article definitely raises serious and timely concerns about the U.S. and our role in stopping, or at least affecting, environmental degradation. What he is suggesting is that it is in the politicians' hands to alert citizens as to what we need to do about this problem. While I agree, it seems as though environmental issues are still somewhat taboo in government circles. What we need first is for our leaders to have a clear understanding of what and who is causing environmental degradation, that it is a dire situation, and what needs to be done. Before this happens, it will be difficult to convince Americans that we need to do much more than recycle, replace our light bulbs, and conserve energy; someone needs to act as the glue to bring us all together. Once this happens, I believe we can make a huge impact on the planet--in a good way. Maniates has it right when he says, "...Americans are at their best when they're struggling together, and sometimes with one another, toward difficult goals." In the meantime, though, at least a message is getting out there about the environment and people are starting to take steps, baby steps, toward saving our planet.