Comments on: “Let’s get this damn thing started!” — Climate envoy Todd Stern on U.S. climate action and the possibility of deal with China

By: Green Energy Reporter

Green Energy Reporter — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 15:56:29 +0000

I am curios. Is this the first time China and the U.S. sit down for what seem to be serious climate change cooperation? How similar are their agendas…?

By: Peter Wood

Peter Wood — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 05:37:48 +0000

The talk was definitely worth viewing, but unless the west gets serious with its targets or financing, I don’t see how developing countries will adjust their emissions much. A possible way of getting around this deadlock may be for more permit auction revenue to be used to finance emissions reductions and adaptation in developing countries.

By: paulm

paulm — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 02:54:47 +0000

dhogaza if there is enough wealth to go round shouldn’t it?

Isn’t that what Globalization is meant to achieve?

By: dhogaza

dhogaza — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 00:28:48 +0000

“Another socialist policy from the Obama administration. This time they want to spread the wealth all over the world” Bill O’Reilly.

Glad to see that billo is down with third-world poverty …

By: ecostew

ecostew — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 00:26:27 +0000

MikeN – you are not grounded in peer-reviewed science – including economics.

By: Konrad

Konrad — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 00:07:10 +0000

While China may have co2 emissions comparable to the US, their aerosol particulate pollution seems far greater. I feel that reducing aerosol particulate pollution should be China’s first priority with regard to emissions.

By: MikeN

MikeN — Sun, 07 Jun 2009 23:19:41 +0000

Ecostew, that study is not reasonable. It assumes the economic conditions of today, but of course with that sea level rise comes a great deal of economic growth and a better ability to adapt. And keep in mind that Galveston is where it is today, because they raised the city up out of the sea.

By: MikeN

MikeN — Sun, 07 Jun 2009 23:17:00 +0000

Strategy suggestion, how about not giving money to the developing world?

By: Leland Palmer

Leland Palmer — Sun, 07 Jun 2009 22:57:30 +0000

I’m so glad we have apparently rational, serious, reality based leadership.

China appears to be a much harder problem to solve than the U.S., in terms of attempting to solve the technological problems and transforming it into first a carbon neutral, and later a carbon negative society.

Looking at China, using the CARMA kml file of powerplants imported into Google Earth, nothing seems familiar, looking at it from above. It’s hard to know what they can do, and what is harder for them to do.

They have the advantage of being able to take direct socialist action, to build windmills and solar plants, for example. They may be able to take the lead in CCS, which appears to be the key to becoming carbon negative.

Plentiful biomass is available in Siberia, but biomass in China may already be utilized for other purposes. China might have to rely much more on biocarbon imports than the U.S., it’s hard to say.

I get the impression that carbon negative bioenergy ideas would be harder to implement in China, but I don’t know if this is the case, or not.

We need massive amounts of mapping information, to come up with reasonable plans to perform this massive transformation, and to know what it is reasonable to ask the Chinese to do, and what is not.

Purdue University has a fledgling project called Hestia that aims to map CO2 emissions worldwide on fine spatial and time scales, and this is urgently needed, IMO.

Fortunately, the Chinese seem to be taking this at least as seriously as we are.

By: Craig

Craig — Sun, 07 Jun 2009 20:16:55 +0000

“I don’t think there is any question that the developed countries are going to have to provide resources to many countries in the developing world,” he [Stern] said.

I can only imagine the howl of protest that will arise from the far right when this sticky issue comes to the floor. Looking into my crystal ball, here are some predictions.

“The Democrats want to give away our competitive advantage to the Chinese” Senator James Inhofe (R-OK).

“Another socialist policy from the Obama administration. This time they want to spread the wealth all over the world” Bill O’Reilly.

“Developing Nations Demand Rich Nations Pay” Fox News Nation headline.

“This is some UN sponsored plot to take away money from hardworking American families and give it to third world nations” Rep. Mike Pence (R-ID)

“It’s a good thing I told my constituents to arm themselves, cause I can hear those black helicopters coming now” Michelle Bachmann (Wingnut-Minnesota)

The messaging of the clean energy/climate coalition better be spot on to counter this vitriol. Anyone have any strategy suggestions?