Climate Change Action and Strange Bedfellows.
posted by: Dave R. 72 days ago

"Climate change is real...."
"We are advocating aggressive reductions in our emissions of the carbon gases that cause climate change..."
"The best way to make America stronger is to work together to address an urgent crisis facing the world."
Here is a quick quiz for you: Which senator made these remarks?
a> John Kerry (Democrat, Massachusetts)
b> Lindsey Graham (Republican, South Carolina)
Trick question! The answer is "c", both. In The New York Times
the liberal and conservative senators co-wrote an Op-Ed piece entitled "Yes We Can (Pass Climate Change Legislation)", a call to arms for urgency, consensus, and pragmatism in dealing with climate change now. With senators on both sides of the aisle now pushing, it seems that the climate bill again has a pulse. This is critical if the US expects to play a key positive role in the upcoming UN climate talks. As the senators write; "We are confident that a legitimate bipartisan effort can put America back in the lead again and can empower our negotiators to sit down at the table in Copenhagen in December and insist that the rest of the world join us in producing a new international agreement on global warming"... an exciting prospect!
On the other hand, Kerry and Graham are suggesting a something for everyone approach to the bill, in order to get the needed 60 votes. The ambitious aim is to craft consensus legislation that will reduce emissions, break our foreign oil dependence, revitalize our economy, protect current jobs, and create new ones, while making sure consumers and businesses won't feel a thing. Hey, who wouldn't vote for that? It tastes great, is less filling, and cleans your bathroom bowl while you watch TV.
But consensus and compromise are two different things. Their short op-ed piece manages to mention clean coal, nuclear deregulation, offshore and ANWAR drilling, safeguards for large emitters, and tarrifs. Add these items to what was in the house bill - including permit giveaways and farmer and special interest concessions - and we may end up with something that is long on climate goals, but very short on climate impact.
Dwight D Eisenhower once said that "People talk about the middle of the road as though it were unacceptable....There have to be compromises. The middle of the road is all of the usable surface. The extremes, right and left, are in the gutters." On the other hand, Winston Churchill said that "An appeaser is one who feeds a crocodile--hoping it will eat him last." The senators' vision is to "pass on to future generations a strong economy, a clean environment and an energy-independent nation", something we can all hope for. The question is, are we following the only walkable path, or simply feeding the crocodile?
"We are advocating aggressive reductions in our emissions of the carbon gases that cause climate change..."
"The best way to make America stronger is to work together to address an urgent crisis facing the world."
Here is a quick quiz for you: Which senator made these remarks?
a> John Kerry (Democrat, Massachusetts)
b> Lindsey Graham (Republican, South Carolina)
Trick question! The answer is "c", both. In The New York Times
the liberal and conservative senators co-wrote an Op-Ed piece entitled "Yes We Can (Pass Climate Change Legislation)", a call to arms for urgency, consensus, and pragmatism in dealing with climate change now. With senators on both sides of the aisle now pushing, it seems that the climate bill again has a pulse. This is critical if the US expects to play a key positive role in the upcoming UN climate talks. As the senators write; "We are confident that a legitimate bipartisan effort can put America back in the lead again and can empower our negotiators to sit down at the table in Copenhagen in December and insist that the rest of the world join us in producing a new international agreement on global warming"... an exciting prospect!
On the other hand, Kerry and Graham are suggesting a something for everyone approach to the bill, in order to get the needed 60 votes. The ambitious aim is to craft consensus legislation that will reduce emissions, break our foreign oil dependence, revitalize our economy, protect current jobs, and create new ones, while making sure consumers and businesses won't feel a thing. Hey, who wouldn't vote for that? It tastes great, is less filling, and cleans your bathroom bowl while you watch TV.
But consensus and compromise are two different things. Their short op-ed piece manages to mention clean coal, nuclear deregulation, offshore and ANWAR drilling, safeguards for large emitters, and tarrifs. Add these items to what was in the house bill - including permit giveaways and farmer and special interest concessions - and we may end up with something that is long on climate goals, but very short on climate impact.
Dwight D Eisenhower once said that "People talk about the middle of the road as though it were unacceptable....There have to be compromises. The middle of the road is all of the usable surface. The extremes, right and left, are in the gutters." On the other hand, Winston Churchill said that "An appeaser is one who feeds a crocodile--hoping it will eat him last." The senators' vision is to "pass on to future generations a strong economy, a clean environment and an energy-independent nation", something we can all hope for. The question is, are we following the only walkable path, or simply feeding the crocodile?
Read more: global warming





comments
The global warming debate is quiet clearly obvious when one reads the carbon trading scheme documents.
Michael Gorbachov exposed the agenda on CNN in the mid eighties with his statement about communism having limited success under the peace movement but expecting total success under the green movement.
Well its the greens pushing this carbon emissions trading signup which is also a document for establishing a new global government which is very communistic when you read the small print. Such as no country can maintain its independence as the NWO overrides everything. No elections, plenty of tax and enforcement.
send green star
why is this inappropriate?
Here's the problem: Every time this issue gains some traction, government responds by hiking tobacco taxes to give the illusion that they're actually doing something. The public is then pacified for a few months, and the cycle is repeated, year after year.
Smoking isn't the problem. Under 20% of US adults smoke, few will become ill as a direct result, and restrictions are so stringent that most of us have no exposure to tobacco smoke whatsoever. Meanwhile, breathing-related diseases and cancers continue to escalate.
It's not tobacco that's killing us, folks. The most carcinogenic -- and the most prevalent --- type of smoke is that which contains oil particles. That's from motor vehicles. Little has been done to reduce our excessive use of cars, and there is even less affordable public transportation today than there was 40 years ago!
This is the issue that we have got to get our legislators to actually focus on. Motor vehicle smoke isn't only causing disease, but is destroying the rain forests, melting polar ice, etc. We had better get serious about reducing it.
send green star
why is this inappropriate?
Hi Steve K.,
When discussing models it is really important to distinguish between "weather" and "climate". The former is about short term variations and looking at predicting temperatures, precipitation, etc. locally while the later is looking at average conditions in the long term. For those who believe long term predictions are wrong I have a simple way to prove them wrong. While exact temperatures can't be known I can tell you that here in Las Vegas summers in twenty years will certainly be hotter than summers now and definitely hotter than winter. Does anyone want to bet against me?
send green star
why is this inappropriate?
When it comes to big Company, their only looking at the big picture, I hate to say it is $$$$$$$$ Now this of course is not good for us the people. We are what makes the world move. If not for us the world would be more stale and literally poor, I mean really poor. This will never stop and I am not a negative person...
send green star
why is this inappropriate?
Well models still aren't complex enough to predict everythng; there needs to be an increase of computing power to do that. However the daily weather models do quite well now mouch of the time on the short run. So after computing power increase they might work better..
Still moderate action is probably a good isea for a number of reasopns. But it is good that one does not have to become "no impact man" one just has to walk more gently. remember during a thunderstorm that nature is quite powerfuil;
send green star
why is this inappropriate?
BBC article continued here:
"Both sides have very different forecasts. The Met Office says that warming is set to resume quickly and strongly."
send green star
why is this inappropriate?
Beatrice B. forgot this part of the BBC article and apparently doesn't want readers to see. This is known as cherry picking your facts and is tantamount to fraud.
"The UK Met Office's Hadley Centre, responsible for future climate predictions, says it incorporates solar variation and ocean cycles into its climate models, and that they are nothing new.
In fact, the centre says they are just two of the whole host of known factors that influence global temperatures - all of which are accounted for by its models.
In addition, say Met Office scientists, temperatures have never increased in a straight line, and there will always be periods of slower warming, or even temporary cooling.
What is crucial, they say, is the long-term trend in global temperatures. And that, according to the Met office data, is clearly up.
To confuse the issue even further, last month Mojib Latif, a member of the IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) says that we may indeed be in a period of cooling worldwide temperatures that could last another 10-20 years.
The UK Met Office says that warming is set to resume
Professor Latif is based at the Leibniz Institute of Marine Sciences at Kiel University in Germany and is one of the world's top climate modellers.
But he makes it clear that he has not become a sceptic; he believes that this cooling will be temporary, before the overwhelming force of man-made global warming reasserts itself.
So what can we expect in the next few years?
Both
send green star
why is this inappropriate?
Its about time we admit to Global Warming and start to do something about it. We mustn't be pushed around by the industries that oppose and deny global warming. Just experiencing the weather tells you about the crisis we are facing. When I was growing up we knew what kind of weather to expect with each month of the year. That is gone, we no longer know what to anticipate with each month/season. Why also do we have such an increase in diseases that were minimal or even almost non-existent many years ago. We have to wake to our catastrophe while we still have time to correct it.
send green star
why is this inappropriate?
Good to see so many of you have not been fooled by the hype of people like Al Gore, Maurice Strong etc.who are capitalizing financially of carbon trading. Climate change - YES! - Global Warming from Man's burning fossil fuels and producing CO2 - NO! Follow the money of carbon trading and you'll see why Al Gore's worth has increased 100 fold since his hyping of Global Warming. Let's get on with claening up real pollutants such as I have been engaged in for 40 years. This carbon trading will cost us HUGE amounts of money - further recesion and slow economkic reecovery especially for the lower middle class and poor on Earth. Obama's recent approval for more pipelines from Canada's oil sands are good for the U.S. but at a cost of $40 per ton for carbon capture and storage - wonder who will pay this cost, eh??? (Answer - check your cost-of-living expenses over the next year or so....)
send green star
why is this inappropriate?
If you can handle the truth take a look at this. You really have to lift the veil to understand what is going on behind the scenes.
http://www.rense.com/general53/ker.htm
send green star
why is this inappropriate?
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