Is Bali Climate Meeting our final chance and....

......... last best chance to correct some of the injustices derived directly from human-induced global warming?  

If not now, then when?  Time is of the essence.

From my perspective, we have a remarkably large and loud number of people, many of them are our present leaders, who are denialists and naysayers with regard to the science of global warming. They have been doing what they are doing now during much of my adult life. What they are saying and doing, I suppose, is derived from one form or another of self-interested-thinking. At least one consequence of their widely shared and consensually validated way of viewing the world could lead the human community into danger. Let me say more now about what I mean.
Self-interested-thinking is potentially dangerous because it serves to hide the truth of global warming, among other things, as well as "poison the well" of public discourse regarding climate change.

Too many of our politicians, economists, big-business benefactors and the talking heads in the mass media are all "whistling the same tune." What is even worse is the way leaders entice many appointees and surrogates to whistle that same tune, too. After all, who can resist offerings of great wealth, power and privileges that accrue to those who go along with one's self-interests, with whatsoever is political convenient, economically expedient, religiously tolerated and socially agreeable.

In the face of such temptation, we can readily understand why the scientific gains of the IPCC would be everywhere, in every way, rejected by the denialists and naysayers. The science from the IPCC could forcefully impede their acquisition of more wealth, more power and more privileges.

Not only are too many leaders trying to hide or otherwise deny the good scientific evidence of human-driven climate change, they are also actively involved in poisoning the well of public discourse by strategically disseminating disinformation. And for what? Evermore power, wealth and privileges for themselves and their minions so they can carefreely play out the "conspicuous consumption fantasies" of their "Me Generation" by living large and unsustainably, come what may, having forsaken the future of their children and forgotten how human life depends upon Earth's limited resources and frangible ecosystem services for its very existence.

It seems to me that the human community has reached a crossroads in Bali, Indonesia, December 2007: EITHER we will choose to "stay the current course" of endless economic growth, ever increasing conspicuous per capita consumption and skyrocketing human population numbers OR we will find other ways to go forward. If these distinctly human overproduction, over-consumption and overpopulation activities we see overspreading the surface of Earth are unsustainable, then I am going to suppose we will insist upon some changes in our behavioral repertoire so that sustainable ways of living in the world are proposed by policymakers and adopted by our leaders.