The Political Climate: an ongoing commentary on the NH Primary and Climate Change

“The Stern Review: The Economics of Climate Change” was released in Great Britain yesterday creating quite a buzz about global warming.  A flurry of news posts about the report hit US newspapers including this article in the Boston Globe, this article in the Washington Post, and this article in the New York Times.

The report predicts that “failure to tackle climate change could push world temperatures up by 5 degrees Celsius (9 Fahrenheit) over the next century, causing severe floods and harsh droughts and uprooting as many as 200 million.”  This may not come as a shock to someone who keeps on eye on climate change news–predictions such as these have become redundant in recent reports on global warming–however, the economics of climate change presented in the report are rather startling.  This article in the New York Times reports that the net benefits of taking strong action to combat climate change could generate savings of $2.5 trillion annually.  “Failure to act could plunge the world into an economic crisis on par with the 1930s Depression.” 

British Prime Minister Tony Blair responded to the report saying, “it has demolished the last remaining argument for inaction in the face of climate change…urgent action will prevent catastrophe, and investment in preventing it now will pay us back many times.” 

As Americans, we must hope that someone in the White House read the newspaper yesterday…

The New York Times ran an article by Andrew Revkin entitled, “Budgets Falling in Race to Fight Global Warming” today.  The article reviews national and international efforts that are currently being (and more importantly not being) undertaken on energy research.  The challenge of global warming, Revkin reports, is “all the more daunting because research into energy technologies by both government and industry has not been rising, but rather falling.”

The United States, for example, recently announced a new energy plan that will dedicate $3 billion a year for all energy research and development initiatives.  On the surface this may seem like a positive step, but in comparison to the 1979 energy budget, approximately $7.7 billion when taking inflation into account, this is a backwards step.  In fact, military research alone is allotted over $75 billion annually, nearly 20 times that of energy research in the US. 

In response to the lack of action, many scientists and researchers have succumbed to the belief that “the chances of success are so low, unless something breaks the societal impasse, that any technology quest should also include work on increasing the resilience to cilamte extremes–through actions like developing more drought-tolerant crops.”  A report commissioned by the British government announced the risk that global warming could turn “200 million people into refugees.”

While action and funding, especially at the political level, remains passive and voluntary, “many experts, from oil-industry officials to ecologists, agree that the status quo for energy research will not suffice.”

A recent study by Sheldon Jacobson of the University of Illinois and his doctoral student Laura McLay, tells Americans, once again, that “losing weight” could help combat global warming.  This time, however, it’s not the “carbon diet” play-on-words, it’s literal.  This article in the New York Times reports on the paper that was published in The Engineering Economist.  The study concludes that due to American’s growing bellies an estimated one billion gallons of gasoline is burned every year to transport the extra weight.

The Carbon Coalition does not endorse any candidates, but nonetheless it is gratifying to see two potential NH representatives giving the topic of energy attention in the week prior to election day.  Yesterday the Concord Monitor printed ”We Must Change How we Generate Power“ by Democratic candidate Paul Hodes for NH’s 2nd Congressional District, and “I’ve Pushed to Vary Energy Sources” by Hodes’ Republican opponent, Charlie Bass.  

While the content of the pieces differs, the message is more-or-less the same: a strong commitment is needed to “develop, promote and implement programs and policies that will help secure our nation’s energy future and a clean environment” (Bass) and the time has come to find new energy solutions that will “address global warming, bolster our security and create good jobs” (Hodes.)  Lucky for us, either way Granite Staters vote this year, we are assured that energy will be a priority.

If you’re a global warming skeptic, or if you want answers to put one in their place, then you ought to check out the Grist’s “How to Talk to a Climate Skeptic.”  The list provides answers to climate change questions ranging from statements like “there’s nothing happening” and “some sites show cooling,” to “a couple of years is not a trend” and “we cannot trust unproven computer models.”  So the next time someone tells you that “global warming is just a hoax” you can have a strong rebuttal: “Here is a list of “enviro-Nazis” and “left-wing loonies” who believe that Anthropogenic Global Warming is real and well supported by science:” NASA’s Goddard Institute of Space and Studies, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), The Royal Society of the UK (RS), Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), etc. (View the whole list here.)

Fortunately, not everyone is a global warming skeptic.  The European Union (EU), for example, acknowledged the threats of global warming when it agreed to Kyoto’s 8% reduction of greenhouse gas emissions from 1990 levels by 2012.  Agreement is one thing, but actual results is another, and thus far, according to this article from the Washington Post, many members of the EU–Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Ireland, Italy, Portugal, and Spain–are slacking. 

Maybe the upcoming United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and the 2nd Meeting of the Parties of the Kyoto Protocol, scheduled from Nov. 6th-17th in Nairobi, Kenya, will help motivate more action on combating global warming.  In response to the overwhelming turnout of youth at the conference held in Montreal last year, It’s Gettin’ Hot in Here is sending a group of young Canadian and American environmental activists to Nairobi to communicate actions and on-goings during the conference.  Be sure to get your news about the conference from them here. 

And if you’re feeling like a challenge check out “The Slate Green Challenge with Treehugger.“  The goal of the challenge is to go on an eight-week carbon diet, reducing your pounds every week from helpful hints on the site.