I must be dense. I've read almost everything I can get my hands on around the various "solutions" our politicians have to the impact we humans are having on the environment, and I just don't get it.

I've come to the conclusion that in order to stop global warming, we are going to have to stop burning fossil fuels.....not slow down, reduce, conserve etc. .....STOP.  In order to stop burning fossil fuels we are going to have to come up with alternative energy sources. What we have today for alternatives (wind, solar, nuke, tide, etc.)  won't cut it, in my opinion. The ultimate solution to global warming is in finding and developing alternative energy supplies.

I'm left wondering if, in fact, all the current political solutions are counter productive. Are we being lulled into thinking we are solving the problem by taxing carbon, trading questionable carbon credits, changing light bulbs, buying more energy efficient cars and appliances? Should we be expending all of our talents and energy on finding alternative energy supplies instead of debating Kyoto or dreaming up new schemes to trade carbon credits?

The latest financial crisis has shown us that the world leaders can and will get together and solve issues when they perceive a crisis. There are trillions of dollars to be found to bail out our banks and start wars. The secret seems to be to create a sense of urgency. Fooling ourselves into thinking that our current actions are solutions instead of band-aids, is detracting from this urgency. How bad does it have to get, before we start throwing trillions at finding alternative energy solutions?

I understand the theory that reduction will (may??) buy us time to find alternatives. My belief, however, is that it is that it is not time we need, but political will. Once our leaders see these issues as crisis, they will throw resources at the problem and solutions will be found. We can only hope this happens sooner than later.

And so, I'm off to vote. I'm no longer overly concerned about carbon taxes, carbon credit trading, Kyoto etc. I don't see these things as a big deal and they won't influence how I vote. Thanks to those who tried to help me understand these issues.