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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsAl Gore: The Most Important Step Taken to Combat Climate Change in Our Country's History
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/al-gore/the-most-important-step-t_b_5435702.htmlChairman, Generation Investment Management and The Climate Reality Project
The Most Important Step Taken to Combat Climate Change in Our Country's History
Posted: 06/03/2014 12:25 am EDT Updated: 06/03/2014 8:59 am EDT
Today's announcement by the Obama administration to reduce our nation's global warming pollution from power plants is the most important step taken to combat the climate crisis in our country's history.
We simply cannot continue to use the atmosphere as an open sewer for dirty and dangerous global warming pollution that endangers our health and makes storms, floods, mudslides and droughts much more dangerous and threatening -- not only in the future, but here and now. As with the connection between tobacco and lung cancer, special interests have vehemently denied the linkage between carbon emissions and the climate crisis. But the reality of global warming is now much more apparent and many more people are beginning to demand action. These same special interests now recognize that change is inevitable, but continue to trot out misleading and false claims to spread confusion and delay action for as long as they can. However, it is now clear that further inaction would be extremely dangerous and destructive for America and the rest of the world.
Fortunately, because of the innovation and hard work of America's businesses, scientists and engineers, we now have clean energy solutions that are way more efficient, economically competitive and more widely available than ever before. Solar and wind power are already cheaper than the old dirty sources of energy in many areas, and are getting cheaper every year -- the same way cellphones and computers did.
Following years of stronger and more frequent storms, unprecedented flooding and killer mudslides, widespread drought and spreading wildfires -- not to mention record-breaking heat waves, the need for bold action is obvious and urgent. President Obama has taken hold of the challenges we face through a series of critical actions, empowering the EPA to enforce limits on CO2 emissions for new power plants, accelerating the adoption of renewable energy and enforcing bold new standards for fuel economy, while continuing to raise awareness of the urgency of the climate crisis and reestablish American leadership on the global stage.
Solving the climate crisis will no doubt be difficult, but -- thanks to this action by President Obama and many others -- we are now in a position to put ourselves on the path to a sustainable future.
Uncle Joe
(58,355 posts)Thanks for the thread, babylonsister.
mylye2222
(2,992 posts)Powerfull statement, continuing his honorable fight, well awarded by his documentary " An inconvenient truth"
RainDog
(28,784 posts)randys1
(16,286 posts)Figure out how to see this series from James Cameron
astounding stuff
We are in real bad shape climate change wise, real proud of Obama today
Prophet 451
(9,796 posts)Gore's Law: As a discussion on climate change goes on, the chances that a denier will devolve to insulting Al Gore approaches 1.
He's right, of course.
CTyankee
(63,912 posts)I say yes, it should be. But look at you slackers, you deniers, you standing against the doors of progress to refuse to do anything and let us all bake and rot to death...you don't even care about your own children and grandchildren....it's all about Obama and your insane belief that human activity had NOTHING to do with climate change (you know who you are!).
I have been in a rant all day about the storm in Congress that I know is coming and I am fed up...
Demeter
(85,373 posts)All kinds of pollution would drop immediately.
joshcryer
(62,270 posts)Rather than keeping the coal in the ground.
geek tragedy
(68,868 posts)to extract it--shipping costs etc.
joshcryer
(62,270 posts)Particularly because we refuse to export cleaner intellectual property (it's one reason Rio+20 was an abject failure).
rosesaylavee
(12,126 posts)The US and the UK are the clunkers in this regard - changing what we do here just may save the planet. Even China is on board and working on a carbon tax for 2015.
joshcryer
(62,270 posts)Here's where developing nations are to make coal the most used energy source in 10 years: http://www.csmonitor.com/Environment/Energy-Voices/2012/1219/Coal-on-the-rise-as-developing-nations-seek-cheap-fuel
Here's where developing countries denounced the World Bank for putting restrictions on coal loans: http://www.nytimes.com/cwire/2011/04/12/12climatewire-developing-countries-denounce-world-bank-res-51099.html
Uncle Joe
(58,355 posts)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Renewable_energy_in_developing_countries
Most developing countries have abundant renewable energy resources, including solar energy, wind power, geothermal energy, and biomass, as well as the ability to manufacture the relatively labor-intensive systems that harness these. By developing such energy sources developing countries can reduce their dependence on oil and natural gas, creating energy portfolios that are less vulnerable to price rises. In many circumstances, these investments can be less expensive than fossil fuel energy systems.[1]
(snip)
Kenya is the world leader in the number of solar power systems installed per capita (but not the number of watts added). More than 30,000 small solar panels, each producing 12 to 30 watts, are sold in Kenya annually. Kenya was the first African country to use geothermal power, and still has the largest installed capacity of geothermal power in Africa at 200 MW, with a potential of up to 10 GW.[3]
(snip)
Many recent the importance of developing countries in advancing renewable energy. Collectively, developing countries have more than half of global renewable power capacity. China and India are rapidly expanding markets for renewable. Brazil produces most of the worlds sugar-derived ethanol and has been adding new biomass and wind power plants. Many renewable markets are growing at rapid rates in countries such as Argentina, Costa Rica, Egypt, Indonesia, Kenya, Tanzania, Thailand, Tunisia, and Uruguay.[6]
(snip)
The Philippines could be considered a world leader in renewable energy, with its 30 percent of its power generation being powered by the renewable energy sector. The Philippines is the world's second largest genarator of geothermal energy and was the first Southeast Asian nation to invest in large-scale solar and wind technologies.[15]
There is more on the link.
rosesaylavee
(12,126 posts)Hi Uncle Joe! Fancy seeing you on this thread.
Uncle Joe
(58,355 posts)it's great to see you as well.
joshcryer
(62,270 posts)http://co2scorecard.org/home/researchitem/29
There's more at the link. For CO2 limitations to be meaningful the coal must stay in the ground.
Uncle Joe
(58,355 posts)becomes ever more severe and sustainable energy development and financing increases.
I hope it's in time.
rosesaylavee
(12,126 posts)those articles you posted - tho only a scant couple years old - do not reflect the new focus that china and india are undergoing...
http://www.china-briefing.com/news/2014/06/03/east-green-future-chinas-environmental-regime-part-2-2.html
http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2014/05/20/3439254/india-prime-minister-modi-solar/
joshcryer
(62,270 posts)I'm saying the US isn't leaving coal in the ground.
rosesaylavee
(12,126 posts)Personally working on making that happen on a few different fronts. It is a fight we have on our hands but one we will win.
joshcryer
(62,270 posts)rosesaylavee
(12,126 posts)but out of the 150 coal plants proposed in the mid 2000s, 65 were cancelled. Working on getting one of the dirtiest ones to go away here in my state... and with luck and the legal system working properly, that just may happen. People are engaged now - more than ever - and this business as usual thing is just not going to continue.
joshcryer
(62,270 posts)Because of more stringent pollution standards. They just refurbish them. There probably won't be any more new MW power plants ever built again. My concern isn't the draw down in coal plants, I think that trajectory could be forseen a decade ago. My concern is coal exports, and I think it's in the US's interests (whether good or bad; the policy makers) to make sure coal is exported. And that's why Rio+20 failed. The US wants developing countries to be dependent on its coal because there's still a crapton still left in the ground (I think Peak Coal is about 15 years from now).
rosesaylavee
(12,126 posts)Maybe better jobs for those people working in the mines and at the coal plants?
joshcryer
(62,270 posts)Set aside a fund for all miners and associated workers from the carbon taxes. Extremely difficult to pass politically, unfortunately. Thus my cynicism.
rosesaylavee
(12,126 posts)This video is like a tonic. I watch this when I begin to doubt we can fix this ... but we will turn this craziness around ... we just need to do it together and we will.
You're welcome.
Uncle Joe
(58,355 posts)rosesaylavee
(12,126 posts)Yes it is. I am doing climate presentations now and end them with this to rally the crowd. It's a pretty grim scenario out there ... but it certainly helps to have AG state unequivocally that we are up to the challenge and will 'transcend' ourselves.
saidsimplesimon
(7,888 posts)WHEN CRABS ROAR
(3,813 posts)we will shake our heads and ask ourselves, what could we have been thinking, not to realize what we were doing to ourselves and the earth.
CTyankee
(63,912 posts)us extinct on the planet.
WHEN CRABS ROAR
(3,813 posts)ohheckyeah
(9,314 posts)to be great urgency about the matter. The streets of Miami Beach and Norfolk, VA are flooding at high tide; Sacramento is experiencing salt-water infiltration in the ground water; drought abounds in some areas of the country, and people are still burying their heads in the sand. One of my sisters said "I can't do anything about it, God has our back and maybe Jesus will come back soon and it won't matter." I wanted to scream.
dawg
(10,624 posts)President Obama has shown real leadership in making this move. He deserves all the credit in the world for this.
Cha
(297,196 posts)David Zephyr
(22,785 posts)K&R.
Hekate
(90,674 posts)... something Bush/Cheney will never be.
Thank you sir for your vision.
daleanime
(17,796 posts)malaise
(268,976 posts)for truth
JDPriestly
(57,936 posts)navarth
(5,927 posts)Yes I am pretty bugged with him about some things but I really like to have an opportunity to say thanks to him. It gives me some hope.
skepticscott
(13,029 posts)No one, and I mean no one, is daring to speak the real truth here. Even if all of this works exactly as planned, legislatively and environmentally, by the time 2035 rolls around, greenhouse gas levels will still be significantly higher than they are now. The best any of these proposals will do is to slow the rate of increase of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, but it will still go up and up, almost certainly taking us past tipping points that we cannot recover from (assuming we're not past them already). We're not even close to being able to do anything to reduce overall greenhouse gas levels in the atmosphere, and will likely not be until it is far too late (again, assuming that it isn't already).
None of the people talking "cap-and-trade" and other policy wonkish things will come right out and say this, but they know it's true.
Uncle Joe
(58,355 posts)and in alleviating the worst effects of global warming.
This is just one successful battle in an ongoing political war and I believe it is a good step forward but more environmental reforms must follow.
The situation is not static certainly not from an environmental standpoint and the same can be said for the political realm as well, Mother Nature will simply not allow it, nor can we.
skepticscott
(13,029 posts)What does that mean exactly? Have you talked to her?
"Mother Nature" does not care about human beings, human civilization or human inconvenience or suffering. "She" doesn't care about anything at all, in fact. The notion that "things could never get THAT bad" may be comforting, but it has no basis in reality.
Uncle Joe
(58,355 posts)every time there is a record breaking drought, fire, flood, mudslide, catastrophic storm, with the increase in number and magnitude of tornadoes, as the oceans become more acidic and sea life dies off increasing the cost of food.
The insurance industry is waking up to Mother Nature's screams and if there is one thing the Republicans and the American People in general (even if they're in denial) do and will hear is the cries of the almighty dollar as the ever increasing cost of doing nothing becomes more and more apparent.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jack-skelley/cities-take-the-heat-for-_b_5442980.html
Cities Take the Heat for Global Warming
Meanwhile, the disastrous climate studies pile up: The earth is facing mass extinctions Antarctic glacier collapse is unstoppable, and hundreds of cities will be swamped by sea-level rise.
(snip)
But while Washington fiddles, America's cities are responding -- if only by necessity. A very interesting development on this front happened in April: Farmers Insurance filed class-action lawsuits against the city of Chicago, arguing it is not sufficiently preparing for disastrous heavy rainfall resulting from climate change.
You can see where this is headed: Unless we do something big soon, climate disasters are only getting worse, and the insurance giant doesn't want to be left holding the bag. Someone has to pay homeowners and other policy holders the cost of ruined property.
As Climate Progress reporter Ari Phillips explained, the lawsuits aim to force cities "to take a more forward-looking approach in designing and engineering for a future made different by climate change."
It's a case of one big industry (insurance companies) attempting to get someone to take responsibility for the disastrous by-products of another industry (fossil fuel companies). Insurers are also cutting their ties to industry groups that deny climate change is real. In 2012, State Farm stopped giving money to right-wing think tank and global-warming skeptic The Heartland Institute.
Mother Nature is going to show them the money.