Do US a favour

摘要

Water is rising - up the agenda, that is. In a recent poll of the US science and engineering community, as to what were the 20 greatest technological achievements of the last century, water supply and distribution came fourth. According to the US National Academy of Engineering, which conducted the poll, water has risen rapidly in the hierarchy of technological greats because of the impact of global warming and the threat to water supplies in many parts of the world. While it's great that climate change and the security of water supplies are high on the scientists' agenda, it ever more urgently begs the question: what about the politicians? After all the hype and all the expectations that something good might emerge on global warming, the G8 communique from July's Gleneagles summit was little short of embarrassing. If i were Tony Blair I'd rather lick a wrestler's armpit than put my name to such a bland and uninspiring document. Although the G8 nations agreed 'to act with urgency and resolve' on climate change, they didn't say how. They didn't even mention the need for targets. This was, no doubt, a ploy, designed to keep the US at the table - for, as Tony Blair said after the summit, "If we do not have the US, India and China as part of the dialogue, there is no possibility of succeeding in resolving this issue".