Is Global Warming a Human Rights Issue?

Thank goodness for the UN. At least someone is taking human rights seriously again.

GENEVA (AFP) - Climate change is now officially a human rights issue , as the UN Human Rights Council on Friday passed a resolution on the subject, recognising that the world's poor are particularly vulnerable.
The council also gave the green light for a study into the impact of climate change on human rights, describing climate change as a "global problem .. that requires a global solution".
The resolution, submitted by the Maldives and passed without a vote, also noted that the poor tend to have limited resources to cope with the impact of global warming.

No one needs to know or do anything about the growing slave trade, or "honor" killings, or open seas piracy. But in a world that hasn't seen any appreciable advance in btu content in at least ten years, you'd think someone would notice the "the poor" can't be any more affected by a non-event than anyone else.
Just in case you are one of those cretins that are still unaware of this post-modern tragedy, several cities are uniting under the aegis of Earth Hour 2008 to cut their lights, at least some of them, in order to draw attention to their own misplaced concern for the future of humanity.

"It may not sound like a classic Saturday night blow-out, but at 8 p.m. on March 29, millions of people around the world will turn off their lights to celebrate Earth Hour.
This event, sponsored by the WWF, a global conservation organization, is intended to increase awareness of global warming and spur action to combat the issue.
The movement began last year when the WWF asked residents of Sydney, Australia, to turn off their lights for an hour. So on March 31, 2007, 2.2 million people and 2,100 Sydney businesses turned off their lights. Even icons such as the Harbour Bridge and the Sydney Opera House went dark.
Electricity in many cities and countries is powered by coal-fired plants that produce carbon dioxide, the most important greenhouse gas that human activities emit into the atmosphere. The WWF estimates that if the greenhouse gas reduction achieved during the Sydney Earth Hour was sustained for a year, it would be equivalent to taking 48,616 cars off the road for a year."

This article reminds the reader about the guilty rich American, doing his/her part for humanity...

Chicago - When Brian Becharas sits down to dinner with his sweetheart Saturday night, they'll eat by candlelight.
Guests at the Inn of Chicago on the city's Magnificent Mile will walk into a darkened, candle-lit lobby. And when they look out at the iconic skyline, it will look different: the Sears Tower, the Hancock Building, the Ferris wheel on Navy Pier, and some 200 downtown buildings plan to turn out the lights at 8 p.m.
It's all part of "Earth Hour," an international climate-change awareness campaign that started last year in Sydney, Australia and that the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) is taking global this year. Starting in New Zealand, and rolling out through dozens of cities, including Bangkok, Thailand; Dublin, Ireland; and Tel Aviv; the campaign is urging individuals, businesses, and landmarks to go dark between 8 p.m. and 9 p.m.


Like Disco music and fears of rampant global starvation, I have no doubt that this fad will also pass. The only question I have is how much damage will occur before we lose interest in this version of calamity-chic.