Nothing Worth Fighting for is Ever Easy

The environment is in trouble. We all know this and it's about time we do something to safe our planet not just for ourselves but for future generations to come. And we can not save the planet by doing a quick 10 easy step program to changing your daily lifestyle to incorporate being "green". It's not that simple. There are no quick fixes that can happen if we all recycle or take short showers. They will help slow down the damage but they won't fix them because the problem is not necessarily us, its the system organized by our institution and economy. We consume because we're told that what we're told to do, but have we ever stopped to think that our pressure to over-consume and produce waste is causing all the environmental harm...nope, we haven't and we have to.
In Michael Maniates's article, he mentions that in order to avoid the worst affects of Global Warming the United States will have to reduce it's carbon emissions by 80% in 30 years. That's a drastic change that we can all help make happen by changing our consumption of fossil fuels and cars. We need to put pressure on our current economic system and government to change its tactics and to take the environment seriously. I think its terrible that according to those easy fix books they believe that "we, by nature, aren't terribly interested in doing anything that isn't private, individualistic, cost-effective and above all easy." I don't want to be portrayed as lazy and self centered by nature. And Michael Maniates shows that in history, the American people have rallied behind strong leaders requiring drastic change. We need more demanded of us, and then maybe more people will start stepping up to the plate to create and inspire a drastic social green revolution, that will be remembered along side the greatest revolutions including the Industrial and Medical. We need a drastic change and we need someone to stand up and demand it from us....now the only question remains, who is it going to be?