World set back 10 years by Bush's new world order, says Blair aide

[kskiska]

George Bush has had a "devastating impact" on global sustainable development and set the world back more than ten years, says Jonathon Porritt, the prime minister's senior adviser on the subject, today.

Writing in Guardian Society Mr Porritt, who is the chairman of the Sustainable Development Commission, says it is hard to exaggerate the damage done to the planet by Mr Bush's drive for a "new world order".

On a whole series of issues including climate change, international aid, family planning, nuclear proliferation, trade and corporate responsibility, "staying true to a discredited model of extreme economic liberalism has set the world back a decade or more", says Mr Porritt.

He says it is not surprising that the rest of the world has done so badly because Mr Bush has given them the perfect "out" from their responsibilities.

"Developing countries are increasingly disenchanted with what they see as a narrow, unfair and protectionist agenda," he says, "Japan is mired in its own economic and political failure, Russia plays the field for whatever it can get out of it, and even the EU has started to lose the plot, with a least five countries seeking to renege on their climate commitments. ..."

more…
http://society.guardian.co.uk/environment/story/0,14124,1191517,00.html

[Eye and Monkey]

1. Backwards is forward, war is peace, work makes freedom

Something reminiscent of an older order here.

[GoddessOfGuinness]

4. All are equal

...but some are more equal than others?

[JoFerret]

2. Thank you Mr. Porritt and

thank you Guardian.
Of course - this does imply the doubtful or at least questionable notion of human progress.

[orwell]

3. and...

will you be looking for a new job immediately, or will you just wait until you are sacked by the sock puppet.
O

[Occulus]

8. no, not really

it only questions the ability of humanity to put in place leaders who will work for humanity.

[DieboldMustDie]

5. 10 down, 95 to go...

if he's going to take us all back to the good ol' days of William McKinley.

[Barrett808]

6. kick

[central scrutinizer]

7. he's got it partially backwards

Setting us back ten years would be a GOOD thing for the environment - less ozone depletion, less global warming, more rainforest, etc. Actually, * has sped up the degradation of the earth - maybe he meant that in three years, * has "achieved" ten years worth of damage.

[AP]

12. What he means is we've gone back 10 years in terms of cooperation

among nations on these issues.

He's right about this. Throw in tax policy too (the US, EU et al were working towards eliminating tax havens) and you have a pretty good list of things that, during the Clinton years, nations agreed to take seriously.

Because Bush no longer is taking them seriously, and becuase the US controls the boards, everyone else can't afford to play by rules that, if they do play by, means they lose huge amounts of money to American corporations.

[truthspeaker]

9. Thanks for speaking up. Don't take any walks alone in the woods.

We know how Tony deals with dissent.

[JohnOneillsMemory]

10. 9/11 is an analog for what W is does to the world. Wait for destruction

beyond repair to set in to make war permanent.

Gawd, I hate knowing this and seeing it confirmed every frikkin' day.

[TeeYiYi]

11. He confirmed it last night . . .

. . . in his press conference. (re: making war permanent.) I don't have a quote but I seem to recall him alluding to wars that we haven't even started yet. I think that he thinks he's going to be king of the world forever. The US as 'war machine' is part of his plan.

TYY

[peterh]

13. By the time Kerry takes office next year….

We could be back to 15th century England….I fear Kerry will not have a very cooperative congress to push forward with any type of real success for a couple of years….which may tend to frustrate folks like myself….the neocons, before leaving office, will leave a playing field that will be like walking through a gauntlet paved with landmines…..the cultural war and the war on terror will just be one friggin’ escalating war….