AP report: Obama left with little time to curb global warming

[DCBob]

Obama left with little time to curb global warming
Dec 14, 2:07 PM (ET)
By SETH BORENSTEIN

WASHINGTON (AP) - When Bill Clinton took office in 1993, global warming was a slow-moving environmental problem that was easy to ignore. Now it is a ticking time bomb that President-elect Barack Obama can't avoid. Since Clinton's inauguration, summer Arctic sea ice has lost the equivalent of Alaska, California and Texas. The 10 hottest years on record have occurred since Clinton's second inauguration. Global warming is accelerating. Time is close to running out, and Obama knows it.

"The time for delay is over; the time for denial is over," he said on Tuesday after meeting with former Vice President Al Gore, who won a Nobel Peace Prize for his work on global warming. "We all believe what the scientists have been telling us for years now that this is a matter of urgency and national security and it has to be dealt with in a serious way."

more: http://apnews.myway.com/article/20081214/D952LKP00.html
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I dearly hope we and the new administration do not lose focus on this critical issue due to the looming US and world economic crisis. It will be very easy for many to say now we cannot afford to deal with global warming -- of course the answer to that is that we cannot afford NOT to deal with global warming. I remain hopeful PE Obama will keep his eye on the ball and make the tough decisions.

[daninthemoon]

1. just remember to call it climate hange, because global warming

gives jackasses like inhoffe an opening to say: " well shoot, how can there be global warming if there are blizzards in New Orleans."

[DCBob]

3. I call it both: global warming/climate change.

There is also evidence of local "climate change" effects that may be unrelated to "global warming" such as Kilimanjaro. But that does not mean it is insignificant or should be ignored. It is still most likely a man-induced effect.

[OhioBlue]

2. I agree - it would be easy for Pols to say that we have

to focus on the economy.... and not global climate change.

I too hope that it is kept a priority.

I do like the renewable energy initiatives being proposed.

Wind/solar investment = jobs.

[DCBob]

4. Yes. Green technology and green business could be the next big driver of an economic boom.

I think Obama and his team are on board with this concept and are planning to push it.