The G20 Leaders&rsquo; Summit was held here in Brisbane, Australia, in November. World leaders came in with their delegations from 20 of the leading economically developed countries, plus an entire entourage of reporters and other stakeholders. Having never witnessed such a gathering before, I must say it was impressive. Vladimir Putin, who was destined to be taken to task over the Ukraine and the MH17 airline disaster, arrived late and left early. The big stars, of course, were President Obama, arriving on Air Force One, and Xi Jinping of China. As he is the leader of one of the largest emerging economic superpowers, many were anxious to dance with Jinping, so to speak. Australia&rsquo;s Prime Minister Tony Abbott was determined not to put global warming on the G20 agenda. Obama, however, while speaking at the University of Queensland to a large group of students, politicians and others, placed it squarely on the agenda, and other countries followed suit. The Great Barrier Reef (GBR as its known here), one of the Seven Wonders of the World, is being decimated by rising sea temperatures and a host of other factors. &ldquo;Here, a climate that increases in temperature will mean more extreme and frequent storms, more flooding, rising seas that submerge Pacific islands,&rdquo; Obama said. &ldquo;The incredible natural glory of the Great Barrier Reef is threatened.&rdquo; He went on to say that that while he had not yet had the opportunity to visit the GBR he wanted to be sure it was preserved for his daughters to visit. &ldquo;I want them to be able to bring their daughters or sons to visit and I want it there 50 years from now.&rdquo; The auditorium thundered with applause. I&rsquo;m mentioning this because here in Australia, in the U.S. and countries around the world, we still have those who believe that global warming is a hoax. Science is not on their side, the facts are not on their side and the environmental degradation continuing to be levied on our world as a result of those who bury their heads in the sand is quickly becoming irreversible. Renewable fuels like ethanol are just a part of the solution, but an important part. When I see the U.S. EPA dragging its feet, politicians acting on behalf of special interests and even the environmental minister of Australia supporting large increases in mining and dredging along the GBR, it infuriates me. If Western countries invested hundreds of billions, even trillions of dollars developing renewable energy projects around the world, which in turn would employ millions of people and at the same time help protect the global environment, that to me would make much more sense than new pipelines, more oil exploration and mining for coal. It&rsquo;s not just America, the entire world needs a wake-up call before it&rsquo;s too late. That&rsquo;s the way I see it.
Author: Mike Bryan Chairman, BBI International mbryan@bbiinternational.com

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Renewable fuels like ethanol are part of the solution to global warming, writes Mike Bryan, of BBI International. Although some believe it is a hoax, science is not on their side.  

World Needs Wake-up Call

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