Five climate events to be thankful for
Lynn Englum, one of the interns at the Center for American Progress, has been doing some brainstorming in preparation for this year’s Thanksgiving feast. She’s come up with this list:
Let this Thanksgiving be a time for reflection, as there are several events within the past year worth reminiscing. These five occurrences have increased awareness on climate change and moved the U.S. closer to achieving targeted greenhouse gas reductions. Hopefully, these events will prove to be catalysts in creating sustainable energy use and a stable climate for future generations.
1. IPCC & Al Gore won the Nobel Peace Prize for their contributions to bringing awareness to the climate change problem.
2. The 1st CAFÉ standard in 22 years was passed in the Senate–still waiting on the House to approve.
3. All the democratic presidential frontrunners (Obama, Edwards, and Clinton) have proposed a comprehensive energy plan, asking for large carbon dioxide emission reductions (80% by 2050).
4. The 4th IPCC Synthesis report was released providing a blunt and urgent call for action.
While there is still a long way to go, the progress and recognition of climate change as a serious problem has improved enormously from just a few years ago. So as we sit down this Thanksgiving, remember where the climate change movement stood then and be grateful that the nation and the world are finally starting to wake up.
November 21st, 2007 at 10:24 am
I just read an article today that states ” France has a per capita carbon emission of 1.64 tonnes, compared to 2.67 tonnes for the U.K and 5.61 tonnes for the US” on www.realclimate.org. Very informative. It’s enlightening to read that efforts are being made by France to improve global warming conditions. I’ve also added a quiz question from the article to the “Safe Guard the Earth Quiz” on http://www.mystudiyo.com/. The quiz link is http://www.mystudiyo.com/activity.php?act=526
November 21st, 2007 at 12:42 pm
Here’s a REPUBLICAN that you might be able to be thankful for -
http://www.heatison.org/pages/Governor_Mike_Huckabee
November 21st, 2007 at 12:52 pm
Here’s a few more good ones:
* The Ninth Circuit Court eliminated the SUV emissions loophole and will force NHTSA to incorporate greenhouse gas emissions into cost-benefit analyses
* The Democratic frontrunner candidates are all calling for 80% reductions of 1990 levels by 2050.
November 21st, 2007 at 12:55 pm
I should learn to read. You alredy had 80% by 2050. Happy Thanksgiving!
November 21st, 2007 at 1:47 pm
Somehow I doubt Huckabee will be the nominee. If he wins Iowa or comes close, that is probably good for Giuliani. If Romney takes Iowas easily, he may be hard to beat.
Either way, I am more impressed with specific commitments to reduce greenhouse gas emissions than (very) vague statements of concern. This is not reassuring:
“There may be [a human role in climate change]. But whether there is or there isn’t, it doesn’t release us from the responsibility to be good stewards of the environment.”
Humans are the major cause of current warming, according to the scientific community. If we weren’t, then there wouldn’t be much reason to reduce emissions, would there?
November 21st, 2007 at 2:59 pm
By the same token, if it turns out that AGW is mostly or all hype, then reducing emissions would be a waste of time and money better spent in other ways that we can be ‘good stewards’.
You may find his comment to be vague and unreassuring, but I think he’s taking the right tack.
November 27th, 2007 at 3:38 pm
Umm…the reason FRANCE has such a low carbon emission per capita… 80% of France’s power is generated by NUCLEAR power. (Read, Zero emission technology.)
So, umm yeah… as someone who thinks Anthropogenic Global Warming is total BS…I say we should follow France’s example and GO NUCLEAR!! WooHoo!
Doc