What we're up against

The US and Austrailian governments refuse to demand an actual cut in emissions levels despite warnings from the IPCC reports that say we must not only stop our current emissions levels - we should actually cut them back to avoid serious disaster within the next century. Major studies warn of mass extinctions, climate changes that will disrupt resource availability and natural habitats, and sea-level rises that will disrupt major communities. If we don't REDUCE our emissions, these disasters will affect us within the next 50 years, and they will only get worse after that. Yet these leaders refuse to make sacrifices now to minimize the disasters that our children and grandchildren will have to face. Did the leaders not read the scientific reports, or do they just not believe them? Or do they just not care about their grandchildren? Maybe they think that the "economic growth" built on energy from fossil fuels will be enough to protect their progeny. Why don't they have faith in the economic potential of investing in alternative energies? Plenty of historical examples show that banning one product leads to innovation in alternatives. The only logical explanation (that I can think of) for the behavior of these leaders is that they have some good buds in the fossil fuel industry who haven't yet invested seriously in renewable, clean energy.