Jon Gabriel

opinion contributor

In a selfless effort to save the planet, Legoland theme parks are banning plastic straws. The 75 billion plastic bricks Lego sells annually, however, are here to stay.

"Like many of our guests, we are concerned about the negative environmental impact associated with the disposal of plastic straws," CEO Nick Varney of Merlin Entertainments, which operates the parks, stated in a press release. "It is something we can act on immediately as we continue to assess how we minimize the use of plastics within our business."

The largest Legoland park includes 42 million plastic Lego bricks, but thankfully there won’t be any plastic straws. Those might harm Gaia.

'Belief' without action is useless

Our attitude toward the environment is an odd one. Activists will praise Legoland for their anti-straw PR campaign, but few will ask them to discontinue the little bricks that their business was built upon.

It seems every other week, we’re subjected to another warning that the planet is minutes from destruction thanks to climate change. Despite these apocalyptic predictions, saying that you care about the environment is far more important than doing something about it.

Claiming that you “believe” in climate change is useless without action.

The G20 summit in Argentina was just the latest example of praising talk over action. Every country signed on to a “nonbinding communiqué” that promised to “continue to tackle climate change, while promoting sustainable development and economic growth.” Every country but the U.S., that is.

Why are their emissions still rising?

Nineteen nations “believe” in climate change. How are they backing up their statement of faith?

China was praised for signing on to the Paris Climate Agreement and in Argentina reaffirmed its commitment to controlling greenhouse gas emissions. Last year, however, China increased those emissions by 1.7 percent.

India, the fourth largest source for CO2, saw their emissions grow by 4.6 percent in 2017. Luckily for them, they too were praised for signing that “nonbinding communiqué.”

Overall, the European Union raised their CO2 output by 1.5 percent.

France, home of the Paris Agreement, is leading the diplomatic effort to save the planet. They increased their greenhouse gas emissions by 3.6 percent.

Pollution in France will likely rise further this year from the burning cars alone. French President Emmanuel Macron announced a sharp increase in gas and diesel taxes last month. This sparked the largest riots seen in Paris in nearly 50 years as yellow-vested citizens blockaded roadways, burned vehicles and damaged artwork and infrastructure.

Maybe we care more than they do

If the nations paying lip service to climate change aren’t meeting their goals, imagine how poorly the oil-drilling, coal-mining Americans must be doing. President Donald Trump was pilloried for withdrawing from the Paris Agreement and for being only G20 leader who refused to sign the climate change statement in Argentina.

From 2016 to 2017, U.S. greenhouse gas emissions decreased by 2.7 percent. Emissions from large power plants declined 4.5 percent since 2016, and nearly 20 percent since 2011. All without signing a piece of paper in Paris or Buenos Aires.

MONTINI:Trump's daffy, dangerous climate change denial

While other leaders fly fleets of jets around the world to clink non-GMO champagne flutes, America is quietly getting the job done. With a booming economy and surging energy production, we’re drastically cutting CO2 emissions through technological innovation rather than government mandates and international pressure.

America might not “believe” in environmental apocalypse, but it cares a great deal about clean air and a healthy environment. Looking at the evidence, we care far more than the rest of the world does, despite their grand summits and nonbinding communiqués.

Jon Gabriel, a Mesa resident, is editor-in-chief of Ricochet.com and a contributor to The Republic and azcentral.com. Follow him on Twitter at @exjon.

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