I’d like to take a quick moment to interrupt my regularly scheduled tech blogging to post this quick dispatch from my Nature Conservancy colleague, Jenny Denney, who does climate and energy communications for the Conservancy.
She reports here on the early machinations of climate change policy in the House Energy and Commerce Committee:
If the hundreds of people gathered at an early morning press conference yesterday and the later congressional hearing are any indication, Americans are hungry to engage in a debate that will lead to climate legislation – and even hungrier for the road map of how to get there.
Congressman Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) opened his first hearing of the Energy and Commerce Committee yesterday by focusing attention on what he described as “one of the most important challenges our nation will face” — climate change. Waxman committed to move climate policy out of his committee by Memorial Day.
The hearing coincided with the release of a new study – Blueprint for Legislative Action — prepared over the last two years by the U.S. Climate Action Partnership (USCAP).
The Blueprint — or what Francis Beinecke of NRDC called, “The Greenprint” — is a detailed set of policy recommendations for developing legislation that would create an environmentally effective and economically sustainable national climate protection program.
As a member of the Conservancy climate team tasked with communicating the urgency and importance of reducing emissions, I was struck by how little the hearing and pursuant conversation had to do with climate change.
In fact, it was hardly about climate change at all. It was more about market change and changing the model for American energy production and consumption.
While all of these efforts point to reducing emissions, it was clear that actions moving forward are about economic modeling, business forecasting and minimizing economic impacts of changes that must be made.
The process will also be about unleashing the investment dollars and innovative technologies that are waiting for the clarity of legislation.
Somewhere in the last year, we have reached the tipping point on the acceptance of climate science. Today, there was hardly a voice questioning the reality of climate change or the necessity of action. There wasn’t even a question about the correctness of the targets proposed (though I know there is still much debate in the broader community).
The conversation is now about how we transition to the new economy and how to lead that transition with emissions reducing innovation.
Given that we are on the brink of a new U.S. administration, the hearing today was hopeful. It was hopeful that changing the course of carbon emissions around the world is possible within the year. It was hopeful that we can begin the hard work of agreeing to the details that get us to 80 percent reductions by 2050. And hopeful that my kids can raise families in a world less threatened by climate change.
(Image: Coal plant in Dattein, Germany. Credit: Arnold Paul under a Creative Commons license.)
Tags: Climate Change, Energy, global warming, henry waxman, house committee on energy and commerce, house of representatives, jenny denney, legislation, us climate action partnership, USCAP
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Biodiversity provides the foundation for our sustainable biosphere and ecosystems. Our biosphere provides all the resources for our survival. Biodiversity is essential to provide improved opportunities for medical discoveries, improved economic development, and more adaptable responses to challenges such as climate change.
It is well established that genetic defects are caused by in-breeding. To avoid this problem, all living species require a broad gene pool to ensure sustainable survival. Otherwise, the odds of extinction of a species are amplified.
Biodiversity impacts the daily lives of all humans and contributes to our standard of living and well-being. It imparts a variety of basic products such as food and fibers. However, there are many essential services which are not generally known. Bacteria and microbes transform waste into usable products, insects pollinate flowers and crops, coral reefs and salt water coastal habitats protect coastlines. A wide variety of biologically-diverse landscapes and coastlines provide enjoyment for many millions of people.
Experts have opined that genetic diversity has been in rapid decline for many years. When products and services offered by biodiversity are managed poorly, long-term options become more restricted. Local ecosystems are often vulnerable to ecosystem change.
Areas lacking biodiversity have restricted development potential. You may review a broadly based discussion about global warming and biodiversity at http://www.onebiosphere.com
Ecosystems have been transformed and irreversibly degraded. A variety of plant and animal species have become extinct or are threatened with extinction.
There is no doubt that the climate is changing, but where is the scientific evidence that the climate change in this current upward (?) trending portion of cyclical climate change is unusual and altered by human activity. I would just once like to see an honest, balanced, and scientifically rigorous exploration of the question of whether and by how much and through what mechanisms has human activity affected our climate. Based on the “evidence” I have been able to gather thus far, I am forced to conclude that the focus on CO2 emissions is a purely political tool without scientific basis or merit. I would like to see some or most of the resources focused on CO2 emissions allocated to more pressing and immediate environmental threats (heavy metals, industrial chemicals, destruction of coral reefs, sulfur and particulate emissions …). I am using many compact fluorescent bulbs for energy savings, but these bulbs are a mixed bag and they represent a very real environmental threat due to mercury content and nearly non-existent recycling programs. I have held onto the ones that have burned out until I either have so many that inconvenient recycling options become worthwhile or more convenient recycling becomes available.