By Jean-Marc Atherton

As the saying goes, “when America sneezes, we all get the cold”. I have noticed a change in the environment, (no pun intended). If you have read any of US publications like Forbes, Time, Money or American Way or watched cable recently, you would see there are now more advertisements for hybrid cars, bio-fuel and electric-powered cars.

Even former body builder and California Governor, Arnold Schwarzenegger has an “eco-friendly” ride. On one of the episodes of the MTV popular reality show Pimp My Ride, Arnold had his 1965 Chevrolet Impala installed with an environmentally friendly 800 horsepower engine that runs on bio-diesel fuel and cuts the car’s emissions of greenhouse gases by 50 per cent. However, it can be classed as a super ride clocking 0-60 under 5 seconds!

Reading the Miami Herald on October 5 there was an article questioning whether Hollywood is really serious about the green thrust. Even though many popular celebrities are vigorously promoting the need to fight global warming, the production companies are still using lighting that wastes energy because the temperature gets so hot that air condition must be provided to keep the work environment comfortable and cool.

Production companies use tons of lumber, steel and other material that the producers don’t recycle after they are torn down from a set. Often, these resources are just dumped and ironically Hollywood is taking on the task to highlight environmental issues even though they contribute to a massive amount of waste themselves.

We are constantly being encouraged to pursue a healthy lifestyle, but still some of us, myself included, tend not to make healthy choices. I am not sure if anyone travelling through Miami International Airport ever noticed, but there is “smokequarium” or chamber where smokers can puff away like goldfish in their glass box.

Strange how something that was so cool a few decades ago is now scorned with disdain. Granted we were ignorant of the health risks of smoking many years ago but now what is the excuse? With so much information we cannot say that we are not properly informed.

Similar can be said for the different governments around the world. With the signing of the Kyoto convention*, it would seem that rulers of some developed countries should be placed in their own “smokequarium” when there are countries such as China, one of the major air polluters in the world promising to do all that is earthly possible to reduce their output of smog, how hypocritical. Truly if one has a president that would go to war ignoring the UN, it would not be surprising that he would refuse to take measures to reduce air pollution. Hmmm….

When we are discussing the “green concept” we should put it into practice, and not by just saying the right things but by doing it. When we young people are faced with a world that is going out of sync, by our actions, we are the one to ensure that we don’t make it any worse for our children and grandchildren.

* From Wikipedia: The Kyoto Protocol is a 1997 United Nations treaty that was introduced on December 11, 1997 and entered into force February 16, 2005 with the objective of reducing Greenhouse gases that cause global warming.

As stated in the treaty itself, the objective of the Kyoto Protocol is to achieve "stabilization of greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere at a level that would prevent dangerous anthropogenic interference with the climate system."

More details about issues affecting the environment later.