When discussing climate change, the old saying needs to be amended to “What do you want first, the somewhat good news, or the astoundingly awful bad news?”
The bad news is piling up fast:
* The ice sheets in the Artic, Antarctic and Greenland are melting twice as fast as earlier projections from just a year or two ago, which will lead to the sea level rising about a foot every 20 or 25 years – meaning a 3-foot rise by the end of the century, enough to wipe out some island nations, flood much of Bangladesh and other low-lying coastal countries, threaten many coastal cities around the world, and increase erosion on coasts.
* Glaciers are melting faster as well – meaning that before the end of this century, glaciers in the Himalayas may disappear, and these glaciers provide water for over a billion people, an environmental, agricultural and human catastrophe. This extra melting will first cause more floods in India and China, and then cause extreme water stress for humans and for agriculture.
* Previous estimates of the massive amounts of carbon dioxide and methane locked up in the permafrost were too small, increasing the likelihood of an unstoppable tipping point if too much of the permafrost melts and releases these greenhouse gases, potentially overwhelming any human efforts to slow and control carbon emissions.
“This is not what I voted for,” Bill Maher said on his HBO show Friday night, arguing that Barack Obama has maintained his personal popularity but failed to make real progress on climate change, the economy and health care in USA.
Well it seems Obama’s solution to man-made climate change is to stick with the Bush climate ruling and paint our cars and roofs white. Although painting our roofs white to reflect the sunlight is a cheap way to fight global warming (some claim white roofs is the equivalent to taking the world’s approximately 600 million cars off the road for 18 years) reversing his pro-coal stance somehow seems like a better and more direct solution to the climate crisis.
And just like Maher said, “this isn’t what I voted for”, or why we endorsed you.
Okay, so the economy is bad. And, yes, we have all had to make changes and/or sacrifices in the name of saving a buck. But can this whole mess be put to good use? Yes it can! While you are already watching your spending closely, try keeping an eye on what you buy and not just how much it costs.
We can blame the big corporations for getting us into this economic mess and much of it may be deserved, but we the people are out there buying stuff up, so let’s make it count. We are still a capitalist country and true to this is supply and demand. We buy it, they keep making it. If we buy cheaply made, toxic-laden products, that is what the big companies will make. If we purchase nontoxic, safe products made with pure ingredients, the makers of these products will keep making them. Not only that, but the producers of organic, wild-crafted and natural ingredients will have to make more of them which is not only good for us but for the planet as a whole. (more…)
DAVOS/SWITZERLAND, 30JAN05 – Al Gore at the Annual Meeting 2005 of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, January 30, 2005. Photo by Severin Nowacki.
In an interview with the Guardian last week Al Gore talked about the climate negotiations in Copenhagen this year, the European carbon market, climate change deniers, smart grids and nuclear energy.
The most surprising comment from Gore was about nuclear energy and its role in fighting climate change. According to Gore nuclear energy is not the answer to our problems because it’s dirty, too expensive, unsafe and that it poses a threat to world peace.
“I’m not a reflexive opponent of nuclear. I used to be enthusiastic about it, but I’m now sceptical about it. There’s a few reasons. Let’s assume for the moment that we will solve the problem of long-term storage of radioactive waste. Let’s assume also that we’ll figure out how to standardise their design as [each plant] is currently unique and that enhances the risk of operator accidents. Let’s assume we can solve the terrorism threat to nuclear reactors. That still leaves a couple of very difficult problems.
Here is the full video of Al Gore’s testimony before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee about repowering America and the need for USA to resume global leadership on the climate crisis. You can read and watch his opening statement here.
Yesterday Al Gore testified before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee about repowering America and the need for USA to resume global leadership on the climate crisis. You can read his opening statement below.
Al Gore is also calling for you to support his energy and climate plan which will create 100% electricity from carbon-free sources within 10 years while creating millions of green high-tech jobs:
Just days after his inauguration it seems we will see the first letdown from President Barack Obama. In the stimulus package, proposed by Obama, which is designed to ease the financial crisis only 18% of the money will go to infrastructure, such as public transportation systems and a more modern and energy efficient electrical grid.
It seems that Obama in a foolish effort to please the Republicans have agreed to allow over 30% of the stimulus package to go towards pointless tax cuts. Democrat Peter DeFazio, of Oregon’s 4th Congressional District, interviewed by Rachel Maddow puts the blame on the Republicans and Lawrence Summers, Obama’s own adviser:
In his first interview since the election Barack Obama talked with 60 Minutes about the economy, energy and about the failing auto industry in USA.
In the interview Obama said that “the challenges that we’re confronting are enormous” and many, and that he sometimes asks himself “where do I start?” Obama also said that the American people are looking for “action” instead of “a lot of speeches”.
I would just like to add that the whole world is looking for action, not just the American people. Watch the interview below:
Al Gore writes that the next President of USA “must take immediate steps to deal with” climate change:
In one week Americans will go to the polls and elect our next President. Whoever wins, (and I certainly hope and believe it will be Barack Obama) must take immediate steps to deal with the climate crisis.
[…]
The challenges we face are immense – a global economy in crisis, and two ongoing wars. However, the solution to the climate crisis will also help us solve the economic crisis by putting people to work in green jobs and stimulating the economy with the large investment necessary to convert our energy infrastructure to renewable energy.
Yvo de Boer, who heads the Bonn-based U.N. Climate Change Secretariat, is a bit more optimistic about the current financial crisis than George Monbiot is. Yvo de Boer says that the current financial crisis could “hasten” countries efforts to create a greener and more sustainable economy.
“The credit crisis can be used to make progress in a new direction, an opportunity for global green economic growth,” Yvo de Boer told a news conference.
“The credit crunch I believe is an opportunity to rebuild the financial system that would underpin sustainable growth,” and that “governments now have an opportunity to create and enforce policy which stimulates private competition to fund clean industry”, Yvo de Boer said.
Yvo de Boer said that to be able to “create new markets, investment opportunities and job creation” the climate meeting in Copenhagen, Denmark, in December 2009 must be successful.
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Just days after his inauguration it seems we will see the first letdown from President 
