Despite global warming, people are polluting more than ever

At this point, the scientific community pretty much concurs that global warming is real, and that the consequences could be devastating.

Nevertheless, an article in today's Christian Science Monitor tells us that "Global emissions of carbon dioxide are growing at a faster clip than the highest rates used in recent key UN reports."

Huh?

In other words, we're exceeding the highest (or worst) expectations for propagating the climate change problem via our own shameless addiction to large gas-guzzling vehicles and corporate polluters gone wild.

And that's going to make the problem even harder to solve, of course.

Experts quoted in the Monitor article attribute much of the increase to China's recent industrialization. But that doesn't leave us off the hook. After all, U.S. emissions of carbon dioxide account for 23 percent of the world total.

So why do we do it?

10 or 20 years ago, when the SUV craze was just starting up, global warming wasn't on the radar. Back then, all the yuppies needed their SUVs to transport all the supplies from Home Depot to their sprawling new suburban homes. And there was no known reason not to. My then-husband's Jeep Cherokee simply wasn't an issue back then. Nobody really knew about global warming, and so nobody worried about it.

Fast forward. Now we know. Now we should care. Here I am feeling guilty over my 30+ MPG Toyota Corolla, and looking forward to buying a hybrid as soon as I can afford a new car.

But, sad to say, I'm clearly in the minority. In the office parking lot, in the shopping center parking lot, on the freeway, and in the neighborhood, big SUVs dominate.

And I need to know: Polar bears are dying. Islands are drowning. Why exactly do you need to drive that big fat pollution machine?