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Opinion

Houston sweats global warming

Sarah Morgan

To most Americans, global warming is the stuff of movies, nothing more. Nowhere else has this ideology rooted itself more firmly than Houston, where oil is king. How ironic, then, to know that when global warming really gets rolling, Houston will be one of the first cities to feel its wrath. But, apparently, this city's administration is unconcerned.

Recap for those living under rocks: Global warming is the term referring to, what most experts say, is the warming of the earth because of excessive carbon dioxide in the atmosphere due to the burning of fossil fuels. Scientists say global warming is already causing more frequent and more severe storms around the globe, as well as an increase in land submersion and even a higher risk of mosquito-borne illnesses (flooding and mosquitoes -- do I need to make a clearer Houston connection?).

Rice University's Shell Center for Sustainability held a conference last week on climate change, bringing in experts from London and Houston to talk about what climate change could mean for the two coastal cities, as well as what is being done to combat the looming catastrophe.

Though Mayor Bill White has been very vocal about environmental causes, particularly air quality, promising to improve enforcement and monitoring, it seems that when it comes to climate change, mum's the word.

Elena Marks, Houston's director of health policy, came to the Rice conference on White's behalf. Marks talked about the initiatives to improve air quality standards in Houston, which are a large factor in climate change, but said almost nothing about the big, bad, topic itself.

When an audience member took her to task on her roundabout way of discussing the subject, she said, "We try to use language that doesn't put people off."

The city likes to talk about this subject in terms of "sustainable development," she said.

What?

After such tough talk about air quality improvements, why the submissive response to global warming? What is it we are afraid of? That all of the industrial facilities in the Houston area are just going to pack up their smokestacks and move out? Not likely. 

What made this incident even more embarrassing for Houston was the speech given just after Marks' speech. Lord Julian Hunt, a professor at the University College of London, spoke on behalf of the deputy mayor of London, Nicky Gavron.

Hunt talked specifically about what London is doing about global warming, including a recent measure that charges a fee for automobiles that enter the city center during peak traveling times. Hunt said that already, there has been a 30 percent drop in congestion in the area and a "massive shift" to public transportation.

Of course, this is not a viable option in Houston, as our public transportation system is still a bit of a joke. 

For a "world class" city, we sure do have a long way to go. And though White has made some strong strides toward that goal already, tiptoeing around the issue of global warming is a huge step backward.

Ignoring the problem and calling it a myth is one thing. But to acknowledge that "myth" as a legitimate issue and continue to shade it in oblique terms is cowardice.
 

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