climate change

The UN and Climate ChangeI’m a climate change believer- you don’t have to convince me that what we are doing as human beings to the earth is messing things up. No matter how big the earth and the atmosphere and the oceans are, what we put out there is going to end up having an effect- in essence, dilution is not a long term solution to pollution. 

We could do whatever when there weren’t that many people- now, with populations rising and resources staying the same, we have issues. We are approaching carrying capacity. There are countless historical examples of this happening on island kingdoms and in more drawn out fashions in larger empires. It’s possible that humans have never been sustainable- just that there have never been enough of us to make a big dent in the earth’s overall health. Read more

U.N. BuildingJonathan Pershing, head of the U.S. delegation at U.N. climate talks, told Reuters that trade wars don’t seem plausible because of all the economic possibilities and opportunities that will result from clean energy developments.

"I think there will be questions about whether other countries are adequately acting. And there's going to be a question about competitiveness. But I wouldn't think there will be a trade war. It doesn't seem plausible.”

Doesn’t seem plausible? In the current economic climate that is gripping the world, who gets what development opportunities could be as contentious and debated as ever. The idea that this time around everyone will get an equal piece of the development pie is equally as implausible from my point of view. Read more

Europe and China both came out this week asking the U.S. to do more than what is in their landmark climate change bill. As countries around the world prepare for the Copenhagen summit where global powers are poised to make pivotal agreements around goals and standards for dealing with climate change, the major powers and emissions producers are clamoring for position and relevance. Politics are by no means reserved to the halls of Washington, and long gone is the time when Washington and the U.S. could think of itself as an island in the midst of the climate change debate. The idea of not participating in the effort to battle the global environmental problems or of not coming out of Copenhagen as part of the agreement the way we did with Kyoto is unacceptable. Read more

The Democrat-controlled Congress is focusing on creating legislation to combat climate change- perhaps the most far-reaching and influential shift in administrative and legislative policy in decades. The New York Times calls it a comprehensive energy and global warming bill- but how the bill will look once it satisfies everyone enough to pass both the House and the Senate is still anyone's guess.

In fact, the Democratic Party still doesn't agree with itself on everything, though the House Democrats say that they are close to an agreement and hope to be ready to move forward next week. Whether they have a bill that will satisfy rural and fiscal conservative Representatives is not apparent.  Read more