Sharon Campbell: Not so exceptional

I recently returned from a river cruise on the Danube, going through Germany, Austria, Slovakia and Hungary. Besides the beautiful palaces, cathedrals and abbeys and the great natural beauty, we saw huge solar farms and wind farms, many solar panels on roof tops, local transportation systems of silent trolleys and buses and racks of green bicycles that can be picked up and returned at another station.

Roads and bridges seemed in excellent condition; cities and villages were clean; ancient historic buildings were in good repair.

While Germany is leading the effort to get off fossil fuel entirely by the end of this century, a keen sense of environmental awareness was apparent at all our stops. A fellow traveler said, “It makes our country look backward.”

Most members of Congress and all Republican candidates for president deny the reality of climate change and fight all efforts to address it, and our General Assembly has ended tax credits for renewables in general and solar in particular.

Is this what is meant by “American exceptionalism”?

This story was originally published October 13, 2015 at 4:35 PM with the headline "Sharon Campbell: Not so exceptional."