his week a large group of nations took an important though modest step in addressing the concern that motor vehicles, factories and other developments are altering this world's climate in potentially dangerous ways. We now have in effect The Kyoto Protocol, which commits 35 industrialized nations to reduce the emissions of six so-called "greenhouse gases," that trap heat in the earth's atmosphere, by 5 percent less than 1990 levels. When we speak of "greenhouse gasses," we mean, principally, carbon dioxide.
Thus far Kyoto has not lived up to its promise and it should never have taken this long to come into force. Kyoto suffers from the absence of the United States, for we are, by far, the world's largest emitter. President Bush has certainly been no help as he has pursued a do-nothing climate policy of very little research and very little action. He has ignored alarm bells from the EPA, the Pentagon, The National Academy of Sciences and many other expert groups.
One of my special guests this week was Laurie David, wife of Larry David co-creator of Seinfeld and star of "Curb Your Enthusiasm." She has had a highly successful career in television and now has become known as one of the most effective of Hollywood-based eco-crusaders. She's a trustee of the Natural Resources Defense Council and co-founder of the not-for-profit Detroit Project, which is aimed at pressuring automakers to produce fuel-efficient cars.
Our meeting, though quite brief, covered many questions. She is never shy to be outspoken.
When I pointed out that the famed novelist, Michael Crichton, (his current work "State of Fear") took a very skeptical view of global warming, she immediately pounced on my words and asked me not to plug his book, which she considered dumb and dangerous. She is correct. Crichton claims that Global Warming is the creation of environmental groups looking to make money and become famous. That is such nonsense.
Dr.Crichton, global warming is real and impacting the world's climate. The arctic ice-sheet has been reduced by fully 20% since 1979. But he knows that and he knows a lot more. I look forward to my next opportunity to pose many questions to the distinguished author. Eight years of work brought together 141 nations for a collective response to something they consider to be very real and potentially extremely dangerous to our fragile ecology. With Hollywood and the environment in mind I think there have been a handful of most successful and effective motion pictures which have explored various aspects of the environmental degradation we live with and face in the future; Erin Brockovich... The Day After... Silkwood. I really think they have made an impact on our national attitude towards environmental issues.
Quoting Laurie David, "Everybody should have the right to clean air and clean water...just as they should have the right to affordable healthcare and racial equality. What's more basic than healthcare. One in four back kids in Harlem has asthma because of pollution. Now that's a civil rights issue."