>>Snip<< But the core of the problem, which is faced by all democratic countries, is that environmental problems only have expensive, long-term solutions, and we simply don't have the political mechanisms and infrastructure to establish them on a sustainable basis.
Politicians can see no further ahead than the next election, where the whim of the electorate could put them out of a job. A project that needs ten years of consistent manpower and funding to achieve anything also needs to maintain a vulnerable cross-party consensus on its necessity, and the political will to defend its budget against the more pressing claims of short-term projects that would yield tangible electoral benefits.
Paradoxically, the only country with the political will and long-term vision to actually solve environmental problems is China,>>Snip<<